• About
  • Calendar
    • Ride into History
  • Library
  • In The News
  • Membership
  • Contact

Friends of the Mohawk Towpath Byway

~ …a bridge to our communities

Friends of the Mohawk Towpath Byway

Monthly Archives: April 2022

Clean Sweep

23 Saturday Apr 2022

Posted by Eric Hamilton in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

By Nancy Papish

Nine stalwarts from North River Friends of Clearwater joined forty-five volunteers from a combined group of pickers from Shenendehowa Rotary, Interact of Southern Saratoga and Friends of the Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway in and around the Vischer Ferry Nature and Historic Preserve. NRFC selected a portion of the towpath between Ferry Drive and Erie Canal Lock 19. The main trail had numerous pickers so the trail got pretty clean fairly quickly. Several of us, therefore, decided to fan out on various side trails where we had better luck, and resent flooding provided more stuff closer to the banks of the Mohawk River in Saratoga County.

Collected trash to the left and lunch for all!

One member drove his van along the historic towpath and picked up the full bags and items retrieved that would not fit into the bags. Back at the foot of Ferry Drive, we were rewarded with pizza and water next to “the pile.”

After lunch we went back down to Lock 19 and joined the celebration where Friends of the Byway gave a plaque to Peter Bardunias for his ten years of dedicated mowing and brush clearing around this beautiful double lock. Several years ago Peter also engaged a group of high school students to design and build a wooden footbridge across one chamber. Visitors can now more closely examine the second chamber which was doubled in length almost forty years after the first chambers were built. Peter was thankful for our clean up, and we were thankful for all his work all these years.

Peter Bardunias (third from left) is awarded the Stewardship Award by Eric Hamilton and Paul Olund, Friends of the Mohawk Towpath Byway.

One of our NRFC members, Kitty Trimarco, is a ninth generation descendant of the original settler – Nicholas Vischer (1734) on Ferry Drive. His house still stands and Nicholas’ son Eldert Vischer, operated the Ferry across the Mohawk River before the many versions of the N Y S Canals ran along or in the river. Her family stories added to the joy of the day shared by all of us canalers. Kitty Trimarco is pictured here congratulating Peter Bardunias.

[A footnote observation: blood root and coltsfoot were in bloom.]

Byway Flooding

10 Sunday Apr 2022

Posted by Eric Hamilton in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

One of the seasonal problems on the Mohawk River is the build up of ice on the river as much as a foot thick.  If we have a winter thaw involving a significant amount of rain the ice tends to break up and accumulate making an ice dam restricting downstream flow.  This is the second winter the the tug Margot has been tied up above lock 7 to break up the ice as it forms between there and Schenectady.  With this winter’s mercuric freeze/thaw cycles the tactic worked.  However seeing a tug boat landlocked on the otherwise closed and frozen waterway is an unusual and strange sight.

Flooding also occurs from unusually heavy spring rains. Such weather occurred this spring specifically April 6 and 7. The Vischer Ferry Preserve with all its wetland acts as a flood control structure naturally holding flood waters that might overwhelm downstream residences and riverside structures. As frustrating as it seems to not be able to use some of the recreational facilities in the Preserve, it could be worse. Flooding pictured here was just below the level of the Riverview Road pavement.

Worse flooding occurred after the area was inundated with the two hurricanes during late August 2011. The following photograph shows the resulting flooding over Riverview Road in Halfmoon just west of the Boyack Road intersection. The Byway was impassable for the better part of two days until the water receded.

Officers:

Paul Olund, President
John Loz, Vice President
Maryanne Mackey, Treasurer
Eric Hamilton, Secretary

Board Members

Mary MacDonald
Jeffrey Slater
Lawrence D. Syzdek

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 524 other subscribers

Previous Posts

  • December 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • March 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • December 2015
  • October 2015
  • July 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • August 2014
  • May 2014
  • November 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • March 2012

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Friends of the Mohawk Towpath Byway
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Friends of the Mohawk Towpath Byway
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...