Day 7 - to Baldwinsville NY

 

Hero Steve holding Al's food box in his right hand and imaginary oars in his left

Brewerton Lock 23 to Baldwinsville NY   

22 miles  6:20 hours

1 lock

Steve arrived at 12:00 sharp, bearing my oars, my food box, and his typically wonderful aura. I am so appreciative of his generosity of spirit. Sure, there was a new boat on top of his van, but that could have been for show.

 Steve, I love ya, man. Thanks!

 My first 7 miles were like a dream; the Oneida River current pushing me along at better than 6 mph … a far cry from the Mohawk’s 1.5! But then the Oneida merges with the Seneca River, and while they go rushing off happily together to Lake Ontario, their waters comingled, singing a happy song, I go west on the Seneca, again upstream against these near-record waters, now slowed to a pedestrian 2.8 to 3.0. But I’m not complaining. Nobody likes a complainer.  

 It poured rain all night last night, hard, so there is still a lot of water running down these valleys, making trouble for septuagenarians. My plan to make a big run at Seneca Falls tomorrow might have to be reconsidered. I’ll be in the Seneca River for all of it, and rowing uphill for a whole day is, well, daunting.

 We’ll see what happens.

 The waters of the Oneida and Seneca seem surprisingly clear, especially considering the present turbidity. Can I say turbidity?  As I waited for Steve, I sat on a dock wall and watched sunnies and bass, I think, darting in the current, and 2 herons stalking the smaller stuff on the far bank. The nasty water chestnuts that so dominate the lower Mohawk are less prominent here … maybe it takes time for them to propagate upstream? They are by far the most fearsome and intrusive of the non-natives I’ve seen … simply dominant, stifling, and the story of its release into North American is typically astounding.    

 Tonight I’m camping at a nice low dock here in Baldwinsville … many other boats here hung up by the closed locks to the east. The fun of a traffic jam on the water is that it creates instant community; people want to tell their stories and they want to hear yours. I’m tied up next to a big catamaran with its mast lashed to its deck. Trey and his wife are on ‘the Loop’ from Florida to Florida, expecting to take a year… and happy that the mayhem of the Mohawk is behind them. I’d love to spend a year on a boat, but not with the mast lashed to the deck, or in a guideboat with no amenities.

 Eating inside in a restaurant tonight on a cushioned seat … luxury! And the Seneca River roars beside me … a promise for tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to rowing through waters I can swim in ... three days away, I hope?       

 Hands are getting hard,

Brain is getting numb,

Odd places are getting wrinkled,

…but gratitude and joy are not abating

 xxoo