Niagara Falls and Erie Canal

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The trip to the park where I was staying in Lockport, New York ran very close to the Erie Canal and, as the name suggests, a section of the locks system is close by.
My first day however, was ear-marked for Niagara Falls. I knew I wanted to take a ride on the "Maid of the Mist" and see as much of both the American Falls and the Horseshoe Falls as I could. What a treat. Niagara is right up there with Crater Lake as one of the most exciting places I have visited.

I picked up a flyer for a 15 mile trip down the Erie Canal and took that opportunity too. Another great experience. The purpose of the canal was to link New York with the undeveloped land to the west. The canal links the Great Lakes with the Hudson River and is 363 miles long; a series of locks used to raise barges 565’ in elevation, today it is mostly used by recreational boaters. Started in 1817 and opened in 1825, a lot of new immigrants worked on the canal digging out with shovels, building locks and aqueducts. Considering the terrain, labor intensive work, and weeks during the winters when little or no digging could go on, it was completed remarkably quickly.

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Photos

Niagara Falls
The American Falls are on the U.S. side of the Niagara River.

Horseshoe Falls
It was so hard to get a frontage photo, the spray from both falls was pretty strong.

Power
What is unbelievable is that both these waterfalls are running like this 24/7, 365 days/year

American Falls
There is a pathway up the side of the American Falls which gets you about as close as you would like to go. I shot this photo from the overlook at the top of this pathway

Maid of the Mist
You can just see the Maid of the Mist in the front of Horseshoe Falls. It's impossible to take a photo when you get this close.

Maid of the Mist
Each passenger is handed a plastic poncho to wear for the trip and believe me it is needed.

Locks
There are 50 locks on the Erie Canal, this one is #34. It is quite a thrill to see the water start to come into the lock and raise the boat by about 10'

Peek-a-boo
Just a peak through the opening of the enormous doors

Canal
The original canal was 4' deep and 40' wide. Donkeys and carts were used to carry away what was dug out. The donkeys were led by young boys know as "hoggies."

Quite a drop
It is quite amazing that this change in the terrain didn't put the builders of the canal off.

Low Bridge
The builders of the canal wanted to discourage very large boats from using the canal so some of the bridges are quite low. This one elevates in one piece. One line in the song about the canal is "low bridge, everybody down!"

Businesses
A lot of the buildings along the canal are being renovated to encourage folks to stop and shop, or eat.