As of today, we have traversed The Western part of the Erie Canal. We got a 10 day pass for 50.00
and have used up 5 days. (4 traversing from lock 35 to lock 23 for a total of
13 locks so far. We are on a wall just past lock # 23 and will be crossing Lake Oneida tomorrow (Sept 11th).
This canal is a real engineering marvel. At 340.7 mile long,
it has a minimum depth of 12 feet from Troy to Buffalo. It traverses 35 locks
(34 on the Erie Canal and the Federal lock at Troy), as it rises, then falls
and finally rises from sea level at Troy to 565 feet above sea level at the
Niagara River. Over 200 highways and railroad bridges cross the canal with a controlled
height of 20 feet from Troy to the Oswego Canal. The locks are numbered from 2
to 35. There is no lock 1 or 31 on the Erie Canal. However, there are two locks
28. A and B. As lock numbers changed over the years, or were eliminated, the
rest of the locks were not renumbered. It would be too costly.
Cruising the Erie Canal from Thursday Sept 6th to
Monday Sept 10th was an adventure. We proceeded slowly (5 to 6 kts)
and stayed at Lockport, Albion, Fairport, a wall east of lock # 25 and lock #
24. It was fun watching the grey herons take off as we got near them, or pass
the scented apple orchards, the cornfields and the many interesting homes.
Although intimidating at first, we are more confident in the locks. We have had
some lower us 25.5 feet and some as little as 6 ft. For the most part, Miss
Ellie and Heritage have been the only two boats in the locks at a time. (lucky
and happy about that). The lock operators have all been friendly, courteous and
helpful.
The pics below are random shots taken along the way in no particular order!
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