Fantastic

16 Sunday Oct 2016

Posted by Eric Hamilton in Event, Mohawk Towpath, Recreation

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“Hi, I’m Rick Lage from Manotick, Ontario. My wife and I come down every year to this race and you folks do such a great job! It’s the only race we do in New York State and we love it! All those out on the course and the great people, we come back every year! Thank you.” The words and the warm handshake left me speechless.

That’s the sort of feedback that warns my heart to the point that I have to share it with the Friends of the Mohawk Towpath Byway. In deed, these people from a rural suburb of Ottawa have, for the last five years, made the event an international experience by driving four and a half hours to share what we have to offer.

With that I want to thank each and every one of you out volunteers for your help in making the Duathlon and the Mohawk Towpath Byway a success.

Over the next few days I will be crunching the numbers, collecting facts, and linking photographs for our sanctioning body, for the respective Boards of Directors, and for our own gratification. But finishing the day with a safe race, happy competitors at the awards ceremony, and competitors and hosts sharing the post race feed… what could be more perfect? Thank you, each of you.

Connecting

09 Sunday Oct 2016

Posted by Eric Hamilton in Event, Mohawk Towpath, Recreation

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The Mohawk Towpath Byway had an information booth today at the Adirondack Sports and Fitness Health Fair for the Mohawk Hudson Marathon. There were two types of people who visited the booth: long distance runners and friends or families accompanying them. For the athletes we were trying to interest them in a fun recovery workout next Sunday morning, the Mohawk Towpath Byway Duathlon.

The other group consisted of family members or friends that are in-town with their favorite athlete and might be interested in discovering something new in the afternoon or later in the weekend. We were trying to encourage them to discover something unique along the Byway corridor. We provided them with a copy of our self guided cell phone based tour.

While I was doing a stint in the booth we got one registration for the Duathlon. However, there also was a spike in on-line registrations today. It will also be interesting to see if there are a spie in the number of calls to the cell phone tour number 518-649-9990.

I would like to thank Mary MacDonald of the Friends of the Mohawk Towpath Byway, Chris Brownell, who has, over the years, volunteered many hours, many times for the Byway, and Darryl Caron who has helped the Byway publicize some of our stories and events. Each were an immense help with the booth and the Byway!
marathonstart

Good luck to all the runners in this great event along the Mohawk Towpath Byway corridor.

Towpath Trail

26 Friday Aug 2016

Posted by Eric Hamilton in Mohawk Towpath, Recreation, Telling the Byway Stories

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Early advocates of the Mohawk Towpath Byway envisioned a reconstructed Towpath through the Vischer Ferry Nature and Historic Preserve into the Town of Halfmoon. The eastern end of the trail will connect to Canal Road, rise a slope in a northerly direction just west of the abutment of the I-87 Northway southbound right of way and drop in elevation to meet the historic 1842 Erie Canal towpath and then proceed westerly across the outlet of Weger’s Pond, pass on the south side of the Canal in the vicinity of Clutes Dry Dock, and emerge on the Water Authority Access Road in the Preserve.

The Towpath Trail with the 1842 enlarged Erie Canal beyond the trees to the left.

The two Towns began the project in very early spring by cutting larger trees along what will be a 10 foot wide trail. The trees had to be removed before the end of March when endangered species start their return for the nesting season. This is in one of the remotest parts of the two towns.

Construction crews are now just east of Clutes Dry Dock near the power lines with a chipper and saws clearing for better access and more refined trail work.

It is hard to imagine this being part of the major route through the Appalachian Mountains almost 200 years ago. By 1842 more than 100 canal boats a day would pass through this part of the Erie Canal, propelled by draft animals, mostly mules on this south berm of the Erie Canal. By December we will all be able to hike the reconstructed trail from the Preserve through to Canal Road then east along the Crescent Park Trail to the Route 9 Bridge at Crescent.

Meetings

14 Sunday Aug 2016

Posted by Eric Hamilton in Byway Administration, Mohawk Towpath

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You are invited to the meeting of the Friends of the Mohawk Towpath Byway at 7 PM on Tuesday, August 16 at the historic Grooms Tavern. It’s located at the intersection of Sugar Hill and Grooms Road. The parking lot is located behind the Tavern with a driveway a bit further west on Grooms Road.

Generally, the organization meets on the second Tuesday of every other month, but our August meeting had to be postponed because of other conflicts.

Items on the agenda include

Planning update on the 14th Annual Mohawk Towpath Byway Duathlon
Updates for the Friends Action Plan
Discussion and critique of the new Byway website
Publishing a kids (or seniors) coloring book
A proposal for a gate tenders shed at lock 19 by Shenendehowa Rotary
Planning for our Annual Meeting

We will have reports on Byway projects like

Towpath Connector Trail
The Self guided birding trail

Our next meeting will not be until October 11 so come to this meeting to express your views on how the Byway is run.

Apple Blossom Time Trial

09 Monday May 2016

Posted by Eric Hamilton in Event, Mohawk Towpath, Recreation, Uncategorized

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Cycling Mohawk Towpath Byway

The lineup for the pre-race meeting. Nice show of color!

We had a good turn out for the Apple Blossom Time Trial the day before Mother’s Day, 5 female and 10 male. The event was a part of the Apple Blossom Festival a day long celebration of spring on the Byway. The Festival is held at the Riverview Orchards. In addition to events and activities normally available at the Orchard, Shenendehowa Rotary provided picnic fare at reasonable prices and a number of free fun activities for youth and families. The Friends of the Mohawk Towpath Byway cohosted.

The cycling time trial was the activity that wrapped up the day’s events with a 4 pm start. The course was and out and back on Riverview Road going east from the orchard to a turn around just west of the Clifton Park – Halfmoon Town line. All on public roads the first 3+ miles are rolling hills followed by almost 3 miles of flat through the hamlet of Vischer Ferry and along the northern border of the Vischer Ferry Nature and Historic Preserve.

Results:

Position	Bib Number	Last Name	First Name	Gender/Age	Time
1	17	Hackett	John	M 30-39	26:22.6
2	7	Huiest	Robert	M 30-39	30:49.4
3	2	Cooke	Ron	M 70-79	31:27.0
4	5	Walling	Mark	M 20-29	31:59.8
5	8	Rosenberg	Edward	M 50-59	32:49.6
6	3	Forgett	Daniel	M 30-39	33:21.2
7	4	Brennan	Joseph	M 50-59	33:49.8
8	12	Koziol	Jill	F 40-49	34:57.2
9	18	Bologna	Catherine	F 40-49	35:52.9
10	9	Ciolko	Oksana	F 60-69	37:02.4
11	13	Koziol	Nate	M 40-49	40:25.2
12	10	Ellis	Robert	M 50-59	41:57.4
13	21	Stilson	Alicia	F 30-39	45:31.9
14	19	Stilson	Jason	M 30-39	46:38.0
15	20	Larned	Shana	F 30-39	1:03:58

Obviously those who participated missed the Mastodon 15 k race in Cohoes. The race director of the Apple Blossom Time Trial has done the 15 k previously and loved the course. I goes through every park in the City including several stretches of the route of the 1842 Enlarged Erie Canal, the Mohawk Hudson Bikeway, and Cohoes High School Campus. But the run is not for the faint of heart or those out of shape for a 9.3 mile run.

New Kiosks

08 Tuesday Dec 2015

Posted by Eric Hamilton in Mohawk Towpath, Telling the Byway Stories

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New interpretive kiosks have been installed along the Mohawk Towpath Byway to help tell the story and highlight the significance of the individual sites. One will be located at the Old Military Crossing of the Mohawk River between the Towns of Colonie and Waterford. This crossing was used during the Revolutionary War during parts of the year when water was too high to cross at Waterford. Today this is the site of the Crescent Dam on the Cohoes Crescent Road.

The other new kiosk is located at the Lock 7 Overlook at the foot of Sugarhill Road in the Town of Clifton Park. This is the location of one of the most challenging locations for construction of the original Erie Canal prior to its opening in 1825. Before the advent of steam powered excavation equipment the work on the shale bedrock was done by hand labor. Canallers later identified this site as the “young engineer’s cut” and was the deepest cut along the entire Erie Canal with stretched 363 miles across New York State. This is the site boasts an excellent panoramic view overlooking the Mohawk River. This is also the western gateway to the Vischer Ferry Nature and Historic Preserve.

Unveiling and ribbon cutting at the Lock 7 Dam Overlook with Clifton Park Supervisor Phil Barrett, Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, Eric Hamilton, Chamber CEO Peter Bardunias, Larry Sydek, and John Scherer. – photo provided by Phil Barrett.

“These interpretive kiosks were originally envisioned during early planning and preparation of the Mohawk Towpath Byway’s Corridor Management Plan almost 15 years ago,” admitted Eric Hamilton, Executive Director of the Byway. “The kiosks are funded by a Federal Highway Administration Byway Grant through the New York State Department of Transportation Byway Program.

“Uncovering these bits of history along the Erie Canal has been a rewarding process,” adds John Scherer, Town of Clifton Park Historian. “The Mohawk Towpath Byway has many stories from natural history, Native Peoples, and generations of local residents. These kiosks provide a glimpse of some of these stories.”

Colonie Town Historian Kevin Franklin observes that a lot of America’s history happened right here in our own back yards. “Providing these kiosks helps to summarize these stories and tease visitors and local residents to learn more of their community’s heritage,” adds Franklin. The kiosks are on public property and accessible year round. The kiosks also include a QR code that provides access via smart phone to an audio recording by local people explaining the significance of each of the sites.

Spring Brings Fishing

24 Sunday May 2015

Posted by Eric Hamilton in Mohawk Towpath, Recreation, Uncategorized

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Spring brings fishing to the Byway. I don’t have the patience to be a fisher, but many find relaxation, a challenge, a way to commune with nature, and some find a link to the past where life was a struggle for subsistence.

Here are some of the places I have seen people: male, female, young and old fishing. Some of the big trophy results include Bass, Muskies, and Catfish, but there are plenty of small ones to make it a thrill for youth and first timers.