Chapter 11- The River
Lock 8 to I-87
Our Last Hoorah - A Two-Day Adventure
The Mohawk River from Lock 8 near Scotia to I-87 at Dunsbach Ferry
is some 17 miles long. At Schenectady the river loops north for several
miles before turning south to resume its eastern flow. Until the Barge
Canal was built in 1915, much of the river beyond Schenectady was not navigable.
Today canal dams maintain water levels well above the old riverbed.
Lock 8 was the beginning of our Last Hoorah on the Mohawk River.
This stretch of the Mohawk is unique. It flows by the site of the oldest
building and the oldest non-Indian settlement in the valley. It runs around
islands, between old and new bridge abutments and the remains of the only
Erie Canal aqueduct to cross the Mohawk River. This is also the only stretch
of navigable river that flows at the bottom of towering cliffs and through
hundreds of acres of wetlands. And to make it even more inviting, fish
and wildlife abound. Good reasons to save this stretch for our last hoorah.
With the help of family and friends I had walked
or canoed 144 miles of the river from its source on Mohawk Hill to Lock
8, and from it's mouth at Waterford upstream to the I-87 Bridge. To fill
in the 17-mile gap and complete the exploration of the Mohawk River, I
asked Dave Hamilton, Ron Gugnacki and Bob McNitt to join me on a two-day
discovery trip.
Day One
Discovery: Where History and
Wild Things Reign - Scotia to Aqueduct
October 2, 2002, Cloudy, 50 degrees
It was 10:15 a.m. when we launched the canoes below the dam on the north
side of the river, opposite Lock 8. Bob and I paddled up to the bottom
of the dam, and Dave and Ron headed for the run on the other side of the
river. After a flurry of fruitless casts with plugs and jigs, we met downstream
at a small rocky island claimed by ducks, gulls and a great blue heron.
From there we parted ways on opposite sides of the Isle of the Oneidas.
Most of the islands in the Scotia - Schenectady
area are currently named after the original six nations of the Iroquois
Federation. In addition to the significantly larger Oneida Island there
are smaller islands named after the Mohawks, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas.
These islands have had a variety of names over the years, including the
names of the Dutchmen who owned and farmed them in the mid 1600s.
Today, except for wild things, they are uninhabited.
On the north side of the island, opposite a riverside
home with a white teepee and a canoe in the yard, Bob caught a tiny smallmouth
bass and we flushed a flock of mallards. We met Ron and Dave at the lower
end of the Isle of the Oneidas and after a brief discussion about the considerable
mallard population, disappeared from each other's view at the upper end
of the Isle of the Onondagas.
As
I paddled into the out-of-the-main-channel northern branch of the river,
Bob cast to logs and trees along the shoreline, and caught a small bass.
I recalled that I had fished here many years ago, and caught bass in the
middle of the channel. Bob rotated his rod 90 degrees and dropped a lure
straight ahead of the canoe. On the third cast he had a 16-inch smallmouth
dancing on the water.
We discovered dozens of buoys in the river.
At first we thought they were attached to nets placed there by DEC to study
the fish population. Closer examination revealed mostly plastic bottles
and balls anchored to the bottom. Probably an "obstacles" course for water
skiers or jet boaters.
channel on the north side of the Isle of the Onondagas.
Along this same stretch we saw dozens of
mallards and a green heron. Several mallards, sitting on a downed tree,
posed while we moved in for Bob to take a few close-ups. A green heron,
perched on a dead branch, was not as cooperative. Likewise, the great blue
heron that stayed well ahead of the canoe. It was the biggest great blue
either of us had ever seen.
Glen Sanders Mansion at Scotia is the oldest building on the Mohawk River.
As we approached the upper end of the Isle of the
Cayugas, the Glen Sanders Mansion came into view on the Scotia side of
the river. I stopped the canoe to picture the small trading post and dwelling
Alexander Glen built here in 1658. Located right next to the river, it
was washed away in a flood. Parts of its stone foundation were used to
build a larger home on higher ground. Today that larger home is the core
of the Glen Sanders Mansion Restaurant and Hotel. 
We passed under the Western Gateway Bridge and met
Ron and Dave at the lower end of the Isle of the Cayugas. It was
12:30. Ron had caught several small bass and rockbass. He also hooked a
big fish that cut the line. He guessed it was a tiger muskie. Dave caught
a good-sized smallmouth. It was, according to Ron, "a half-inch longer
than Bob's fish."
sight of the railroad bridge at Schenectady.
As we paddled side by side toward Riverside Park
on the Schenectady side of the river, I explained that a handful of Dutch
farmers came up from Albany in 1660 and founded Schenectady. For many years
the settlement was surrounded by a wooden stockade, making it the only
walled city in the Mohawk Valley. After the French destroyed it in 1690,
Schenectady was enlarged and stockaded again. The stockade is long gone,
but this old section of the city is still called the Stockade District.
Before the Erie Canal was built in 1825 Schenectady
was the major port and boat building center on the river. It was here that
goods were carried to and from Albany by cart and later by the first railroad
in the state. It was also here that the first covered bridge was built
across the Mohawk. When we passed the abutments to that old covered bridge
we could see some of the old homes.
There
was no canoe landing at the park, so we continued on to the unusually low
dock just down river. When we pulled the canoes onto the dock at 1 o'clock,
we discovered the dock and a nearby building belonged to the Union College
(rowing) Crew. Union College was founded in Schenectady in 1795 making
it the oldest chartered college in the Mohawk Valley. Rowing has been a
sport here since the 1870s.
After a half-hour break for lunch and to stretch
cramped muscles, we returned to the river and paddled towards the multi-pier
railroad bridge. Ron caught a 15-inch smallmouth under the bridge. Different
size stone blocks and added concrete sections indicated the bridge
had been enlarged over the years to accommodate more rails. Today only
one rail is in use. Just downstream we passed what was once a sprawling
locomotive manufacturing center. Today these mostly-empty buildings are
reminders of Schenectady's prominent role in the railroad industry
starting with that first railroad in the early 1800s. 
A couple of Jet Skis zoomed up and down the middle
of the river, so Bob and I paddled into the mouth of Collins Lake
Outlet, noting an old iron bridge just upstream. This stream was too shallow
to hold fish, so we returned to the river, paddled under the new highway
bridge and stopped to stretch our legs at the Freeman's Bridge Fishing
Access Site and Boat Launch. Another Jet Ski was being launched when we
left.
Ron and Dave were fishing the towering piers of an
abandoned railroad bridge when we caught up to them. They continued down
the south side of the river and we returned to the north shore. For the
next couple of miles the north side of the river was lined with willow,
soft maple, box elder, cottonwood and patches of wild sunflower.
With
occasional casts to downed trees, piers and stream outlets, Bob and I paddled
past a "gravel" island, acres of boats---on and off the water---at the
Mohawk Valley Marine Mart, the mouth of Alplaus Kill and some old bridge
piers. With the Route 146 Bridge at Aqueduct in sight we crossed the river
to the Niskayuna Town Park.
There were two water-level docks at the park.
Shells were being launched from the larger dock, so we used the smaller
dock to land the canoes. At the time we thought the docks were part of
the park, but we learned later that the big dock belonged to the Niskayuna
Crew; a high school rowing club, and the smaller dock belonged to the Aqueduct
Rowing Club. No one objected to our using their facilities. For which are
eternally grateful.
We landed the canoes at 3:45 p.m., but by the time
we drove back to Lock 8, returned with our vehicles and loaded the canoes,
it was well past five. Fortunately, Dave invited us to spend the night
at his camp at Saratoga Lake, cutting our driving time by almost two hours.
That evening over dinner and liquid libation
we decided to complete the exploration of the Mohawk River the following
day---rain or shine.
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 Scotia select New York, press GO!
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