Chapter 11- The River
Aqueduct to I-87
Our Last Hoorah - The Adventure Continues
Aqueduct 
While there were many Erie Canal aqueducts across tributary streams,
there was only two across the Mohawk River; one was at Aqueduct. Today
all that remains of that 748-foot structure are a few stone arches and
the community of Aqueduct. This is also the location of the Route 146 Bridge,
the Niskayuna Park and the High School Rowing Club.
were told to "get over to your own side of the river."
Day 2 -
Discovery: Where Cliffs, "Shells,"
Wetlands and Waterfowl Reign
October 3, 2002, 60 degrees, Rain Showers
What a difference a day makes.
The evening before while we were landing canoes on the small dock at
Aqueduct, the Niskayuna Crew was launching their shells from the
big dock. We watched them row up river, leaving V-shaped wakes in the placid
Mohawk. A pale blue sky reflected in the rippled water, and the air was
warm and dry. When we launched the next morning the sky was grey and showers
were moving in.
The Niskayuna Crew launched their shells and rowed up river. (Photos
by Dave Hamilton)
There were no shells on the big dock, but a young
woman was preparing to launch a kayak from the small dock. She graciously
moved aside so we could put our laden canoes in the river. As we pushed
off, she said with a smile, "It would be nice if you could take the logs
out of the river."
Until that moment I hadn't realized how much of
a hazard floating logs could be to shells running at high speed. Those
long, low watercraft don't turn fast or easy. At the very least a log could
mess up rowing rhythm; at the worst damage craft, oars and occupants.
No time for logs. We had 10 miles of river to explore,
and got right to it by paddling straight for the south end of the Route
146 Bridge and the remnants of the Erie Canal Aqueduct. When Bob caught
a bass from under one of the stone arches Ron yelled, "Get over to
your own side of the river."
Not wanting to antagonize a Fishing Pole, we turned
about and headed north.This is an area of limestone and shale cliffs; good
places to build aqueducts and bridges. The highest cliffs are on the north
side of the river at the top of the loop and on the east side as the river
runs south. The cliffs on both sides of the river were partially covered
with vegetation including trees, vines and clumps of blue aster.
The gorge between the cliffs acted like a wind tunnel and for awhile a
brisk breeze pushed us downriver.
There is an excellent view of this area from River
View Road on the north side of the river. An acquaintance told me that
many years ago a young man was teaching his girlfriend to drive and she
accidentally drove off one of the cliffs and landed in the river. They
survived the ordeal. When I traveled the riverside roads I couldn't locate
an area where a road was that close to the cliffs.
Despite the rain Dave took this photograph that
illustrates how the cliffs near Aqueduct dwarf
Bob and I in a 16-foot canoe.
Across from Aqueduct and the Town of
Niskayuna are the Town of Clifton Park, and the hamlets of Alplaus and
Rexford. Niskayuna, an Indian word meaning "flat land where the corn grows,"
once encompassed both sides of the river and included lands all the way
to the Hudson River. As the population increased, additional townships
were formed. Today Niskayuna is the smallest town in Schenectady County.
Canada geese flew overhead and great blue herons preceded us downriver.
Some 50 feet from shore at the bottom of the cliff was a weedline. All
along the weedline tiny fish, we guessed were minnows or small herring,
were coming to the surface. Occasionally they came out of the water, perhaps
spooked by bigger fish or by our fishing lines and lures. But most of them
just poked their heads through the surface as if feeding on tiny organisms.
floating water chestnut and duck weed . . .
For almost a half-hour Bob cast a plug to the edge
of the weedline. His diving lure produced a couple of hits and pounds
of weeds. When he switched to a hammered-silver Little Cleo spoon and worked
it just under the surface, well above the weeds, a big bass ate it, dove
for the bottom, jumped out of the river and dove again. It measured 17
inches and weighed just shy of 3 pounds.
Moving down the east shore of the river, we entered a vast area of water
chestnut and duckweed. Ducks filled every open area in the floating vegetation.
We didn't realize there were also ducks right in the weeds. When we paddled
into the "matte" hundreds of mallards erupted from the river and flew downstream.
We had never seen so many mallards in one place.
While we were enjoying one of nature's spectacles,
Ron and Dave were paddling down the other side of the river past the General
Electric Corporate Research and Development Center, and the Lockheed-Martin
Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory. They discovered waterfalls dropping off
the side of the gorge. One tributary cascaded into the river through a
grotto-like glen.
There were only a couple of other boats
on the river. One was a cruiser passing through, the other a bass boat
with three men in it. We learned later they were taking water samples near
the Atomic Power Laboratory. They wouldn't tell us what they were looking
for.
Showers followed us---sometimes drizzle, sometimes
downpour---making it difficult to fish and almost impossible to take photographs.
For awhile we just paddled; green canoe on one side of the river, red on
the other. Around 11 a.m. Bob and I paddled to the top of Goat Island in
the middle of the Lock 7 Dam so we could look over the power station across
from the lock. From there it was a short paddle to the boat launch at the
upper end of the lock wall. When we pulled the canoes ashore at the Lock
7 Park it was 11:15.
at the boat launch at Lock 7.
Before embarking on this two-day adventure
I promised to bring the "world's best hotdogs" from Wergen's Market in
Barneveld (New York of course) for a cookout on our second day. I'm not
sure that "carrot" had anything to do with the unanimous decision to canoe
10 miles in the rain, but I like to think it did.
Although
I had scouted the Lock 7 Park to be sure there were grills and picnic tables,
and asked Dave to bring some dry wood from camp, I didn't relish
the idea of cooking and eating hotdogs in the pouring rain. Fortunately,
the rain stopped while we were carrying the canoes and gear to the lower
end of the lock.
Fifteen minutes after we landed, hotdogs were cooking
on the grill. It's hard to explain why burned hotdogs taste so good outside,
but I can tell you they taste twice as good when you're tired, cold and
damp.
Ron Gugnacki, Dave Hamilton and Paul Keesler.
The canoes were back in the water
at 12:25. We made a few casts along the channel below the lock and around
islands in the river, but our enthusiasm dwindled as the rain and wind
returned. This time the wind was in our face, and stayed in our face even
when the river turned east and then north again.
Below Lock 7 the Mohawk is wide and the shoreline flat. Ron and Dave
continued down the south side, passing Niska Isle, the site of an ancient
Mohawk Village, and the mouth of the Lisha Kill.
Bob and I stayed on "our side of the river" passing close to Vischer Ferry,
and an area marked on a topo map as a "State Game Management Area."
Although we saw hundreds of ducks, several great blue herons, a couple
of egrets and a half-dozen cormorant on the edge of this vast area of undeveloped
wetlands, we didn't see one DEC Wildlife Management Area sign.
There were only a few boats on the river that rainy day.
11/30/02(
DEC no longer manages this wetland. It is now a part of the Vischer Ferry
Nature & Historic Preserve and is managed by the Town of Clifton Park,
Office of Parks & Recreation)
12/5/02No hunting is allowed in the Preserve
except for the first 7 days of the duck hunting season - when duck hunting
is allowed and it is closed to recreational users.
Across from the Game Management Area we discovered
mid-river islands covered with cattails, phragmities and purple loosestrife,
and saw more ducks, herons and egrets. Just past the islands, where the
river swings north, we could see a small community overlooking the
river. We passed Mohawk View at 1:30, noting the camps near the water and
Swiss chalet hotel-like buildings on higher ground. Although we were more
than a mile away when we rounded the next bend in the river, we could hear
the traffic on the Northway.
Past Mohawk View the river snakes north and then
south as it approaches the mouth of the Delphus Kill where once again
rock outcrops and cliffs dominate the scenery. We made a few casts to the
outcrops and the docks near camps on the island across from Dunsbach Ferry,
but our hearts weren't in it. We were "headed for the barn."
The I-87 Bridge and a victory salute marked the end of a 2 1/2-year,
161-mile adventure on the Mohawk River. (I had already explored the river
from I-87 to the Hudson River.}
When we landed the canoes under the I-87 Bridge at
3 o'clock, I raised my arms in salute and thanked Bob, Dave and Ron for
joining me on this "last hoorah," but somehow it was a letdown for me.
I had traveled the entire length of the river on foot and by canoe, perhaps
the first person to do so, yet I barely scratched the surface of all there
is to discover.
In retrospect, I'm consoled by the fact that through
writings and photographs, I've made others aware of the historic significance
of the Mohawk River and highlighted its potential for outdoor recreation.
Photographs by David W. Hamilton and M. Paul Keesler
Follow the path of this discovery trip by clicking on Mohawk Valley Maps: by Maptech.
Type Aqueduct select New York, press GO!
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