Category Archives: Recreation

Finale

09 Sunday Aug 2020

Posted by in Bringing Tourists to the Byway, Mohawk Towpath, Recreation, stewardship, Uncategorized, Volunteering

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Or is it a new beginning?

Friends of the Mohawk Towpath Byway installed the final of a dozen interpretive kiosks envisioned in the Byway’s Corridor Management Plan almost twenty years ago. It started out as a cool, cloudy Saturday. Two hours later the job was done and the posts set plumb and true, ready for the first eye curious about our agricultural heritage or about recreation on the Mohawk.

Innovation was the watch word for this kiosk. Federal Byway funds were dwindling and we needed a less expensive way to produce the panels. Metal panels were used with a graffiti resistant finish. These panels were glued to an exterior plywood with a urethane based caulk. The panels were then mounted in a frame of cedar.

Once in place in two excavated post holes the holes were backfilled with an expanding foam backfill. Bill Gutelius steadied the kiosk for a critical 15 minutes while the backfill set. Nancy Papish maintained an eye on the vertical plumb bubble.

This kiosk is located in Mohawk Landing Preserve on the southern boundary of Riverview Orchards on Riverview Road in Rexford. Check it out on your next visit to the Byway. The spot is quite accessible just a short walk from the parking lot, at the end of the first board walk. You can see the kiosk from the entrance (note the handicap parking space in the foreground and the kiosk just to Nancy Papish’s right in the background.

Besides Nancy Papish’s help We are most grateful for Bill Gutelius’ assistance with construction of the frame, and hauling the finished kiosk assembly to the site. In short this kiosk installation cost about half the cost of conventional polycarbonate resin panels with square aluminum frame.

Spring is Coming…

07 Saturday Mar 2020

Posted by in Byway Administration, Recreation, stewardship, Telling the Byway Stories, Uncategorized, Volunteering

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As the snow and ice retreats we are starting to plan our activities and projects for the coming year. We have a limited budget but several low cost projects include…

The foot bridge on the 1825 towpath trail just west of the Water Authority Access Road in the Vischer Ferry Preserve. The deck needs work so that it is safe for pedestrian, mountain bike, and light trail maintenance equipment.

Friends of the Byway clean up ready for the summer season.

Interpretive Signs within the Vischer Ferry Preserve need to be cleaned. These are lacquered metal panels that tend to attract a grimy dark film over the years that needs to be washed and waxed with a quality automotive wax. We have done this in past years as a “flash mob” activity.

Self Guided Tour needs to be updated; narratives shortened so not to loose audience and add historic photos to bring the history of the site to life. We also need to add archived Erie Blvd narratives.

Wayfinding Signs need to be replaced. After 10 years some of the signs have faded, especially the south facing signs. This will start by inventorying the signs that need to be replaced and then working with the Town Highway Departments to install the replacements.

Duathlon planning is high on our priority list. This event highlights the recreational features of the Byway and provides a substantial amount of the organization’s revenue. We need sponsors and volunteers to pitch in to make this a success!

Writing and photography helps provide content for this blog as well as publicity and keeping our fellow volunteers energized and informed. Volunteering to “man” our booth at various functions provides an opportunity to “meet our public.”

Building a frame and installing an interpretive sign at the Mohawk Landing Park in Rexford. This will round out the interpretive signs envisioned 20 years ago when the Corridor Management Plan was prepared. The panels described our agricultural heritage and growing leisure time during the Industrial Revolution.

Baking healthy snacks for our work details, meetings, and events is always appreciated and helps keep the enthusiasm and energy flowing.

Roadside Cleanups twice a year where you live or work helps keep the Byway attractive for our visitors. Adopt a segment of roadway and take credit with a sign that recognizes your stewardship.

If you would like to help out with any one of these projects please let us know. Obviously some may have better appeal than others and you are certainly allowed to “cherry pick” the one or two that most appeal to you!

Comment: An informal poll of active members the Friends listed the above projects in order of priority.

  • Repair footbridge (done early April)
  • Cleaning interpretive signs (done April 14)
  • Planning Duathlon (unfortunately canceled June 9)
  • Building a Frame for interpretive sign (design complete Apr 28, Installation completed August 10)
  • Replacing Faded Wayfinding signs (inventory under way)
  • Up Dating the Self-Guided Tour (two sites added another one edited)
  • Writing and Photography (continuing)
  • Roadside Cleanups (unfortunately didn’t get done this year) and
  • Refreshments for meetings and work crews (Moved to virtual meetings).

Three write-in activities included develop public access along the Byway in new locations, partnering with other groups to do joint projects and events, and representing the Byway in the National Scenic Byway Foundation.

– added by Eric Hamilton, Apr 13, 2020.

– Updated August 29, 2020.

New Post

11 Thursday Oct 2018

Posted by in Birding, Nature along the Byway, Partners, Recreation

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Birding Trail

John Loz and Eric Hamilton install an IBA sign to the introductory stop on the Birding Trail in the Vischer Ferry Preserve. – photo by Maryanne Mackey.

Actually there are four new posts just off the Mohawk Towpath Byway within the Vischer Ferry Nature and Historic Preserve.  They mark spots on the new birding trail added to our self guided tour of features along the Byway.  This is a joint project, long in planning, between the Audubon Society of the Capital Region and the Friends of the Mohawk Towpath Byway.

The tour points out four different habitats within the preserve each different types of bird species.  These habitats are described as open water habitat (in the background of the accompanying photo); cattail marsh; river and river edge habitat; and forest and shrub habitat.

“The Vischer Ferry Preserve was named an Important Bird Area in 1997 by Audubon New York and Bird Life International,” explains John Loz.  “This partnership between the birding community and the Byway community is most significant.”

“It is partnerships like this that broaden the appeal of the Mohawk Towpath Byway to local, regional and international visitors.  It is yet another story to add to the overall Byway experience,” adds Eric Hamilton.

Try it!  Stop at the the main entrance to the Preserve located at the intersection of Riverview Road and Van Vranken Road.  Scan the QR code posted on the wooden kiosk with the area map or key in 518-649-9990 and listen to the narrative for stop 4.  Then walk over the historic Whipple truss that bridges the 1842 enlarged Erie Canal and look for stop 31 on the right (as pictured here).

It’s all right here in our backyard!  Get out and enjoy it as the fall colors reach their peak and the bird migration along the eastern flyway is in full swing.

Intrinsic Qualities

31 Saturday Mar 2018

Posted by in Byway Administration, Historic Assets, Recreation, stewardship

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QualitiesWhat’s a scenic byway? …a road less traveled? “…a road or track not following a main route; a minor road or path.” Spring time is as good a time as any to reflect on what makes a byway.

All national scenic byways have at least one of the six intrinsic qualities: archaeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational and scenic. I think you will agree that the Mohawk Towpath Byway is rich with each one of these qualities and I would like to share share the thoughts, ideas, and suggestions that went into our Corridor Management Plan.  It was put together by our “Advocacy Committee” under the guidance of the Mohawk Valley Heritage Corridor nearly two decades ago.

Let us look at each of these qualities, each with it’s own entry, and see if they are still as relevant today as they were twenty years ago. Your comments, ideas, and perspective would be greatly appreciated!

Cultural Intrinsic Qualities – see https://wp.me/p8Z8Z1-Sd

Natural Intrinsic Qualities – see https://wp.me/p8Z8Z1-RB

Recreational Intrinsic Qualities – see  https://wp.me/p8Z8Z1-RN

Scenic Intrinsic Qualities – see https://wp.me/p8Z8Z1-ST

Archaeology as an Intrinsic Quality – see https://wp.me/p8Z8Z1-Tl

Historic Intrinsic Quality – see https://wp.me/p8Z8Z1-Tr   This is our intrinsic quality, the one we focus all our efforts on.   In fact the Mohawk Towpath Byway has been described as, “the short Byway with the longest history.”   Now, how does your story fold into the Byway story?

Byway on the Move

21 Tuesday Nov 2017

Posted by in Bringing Tourists to the Byway, Event, Recreation, recreational assets

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2017Start

DUATHLON START – photo by Kristen Hislop

Thank you all for a most successful Mohawk Towpath Byway Duathlon!  Some 110 competitors started a 2 mile run followed by a 17 mile biking leg and another 2 mile run to finish.

I am no economist but this event brought in over $11,000 which was all spent locally [except $285 of Sanction and Insurance Fees to a National Governing Body in Colorado].  Every other dollar went to local suppliers, businesses, and contractors here on the Byway, or in the southern Saratoga County area.  That doesn’t include what competitors or their families spent for conveniences, gifts and remembrances, and fuel for the trip home.

During the week before the Duathlon the hits on the website peaked at four times the traffic we normally see for our Byway websites.  The calls to our cell phone based self-guided tour were overshadowed only by the number of calls over the first week of July when we were running spots on local public radio.

No matter how you slice or dice the numbers your help with the Duathlon pays us back many times over.  It reaches a demographic whom we don’t see any other time of the year, at least not in these numbers.

Whether you helped with circulating Byway information, stuffed envelops, helped with registration, volunteered with a traffic flag, scooped mashed potatoes and dished chicken, followed in the sweep car, passed out water, monitored the radio waves, or any other volunteer job… your contribution to the success of the Duathlon and ultimately to the Byway are very much appreciated!

Canal Fest

15 Saturday Jul 2017

Posted by in Event, Recreation, Telling the Byway Stories

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MabieCanalFest3Thanks to the Schenectady County Historical Society for the opportunity to participate in the Canal Fest at the Mabee Farm!  With over 500 cyclists coming through during the morning and the hundreds of people to the other attractions and activities during the day there was plenty of interest and excitement for a broad demographic.  Our booth’s placement just inside the the Dutch barn, with folk music nearby, local food venders. cooling breezes off the river we had plenty of curious, knowledgeable visitors and much interest in canals and the recreation venues around our area. Thanks also to Nancy Papish for these photographs and to her and Maryanne Mackey for help with the booth and visiting with “our public.”MabieCanalFest1

Family Moonlight Ski

10 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by in Recreation

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Sharing marshmallows and hot cider and cocoa after skiing the canal towpaths – photo by Charlie Huff

Moonlight skis are hard to schedule because of changeable weather and even more changeable snow conditions.  The trick is to have them several days before the full moon so that the moon is overhead during the evening.

February 9 we had perfect conditions. Not only did we have an excellent moonlit trails and five inches of new snow, we had eight skiers turn out to kick off the Clifton Park Winterfest.  We skied along the original 1825 Erie Canal,  across the towpath for the 1842 enlarged Erie Canal and back along the now abandoned first town road and the historic reconstructed cast iron Truss Bridge designed by Union College graduate Squire Whipple.  The structural members of the bridge were cast in 1862.

lionelmoonlightski

Bill Koch Youth Ski League skier is king of the mountain – photo by Uwe Wiedmann

To share all that history along with a perfect and memorable moonlit evening reminds us how fortunate we are to have these recreational opportunities right here in our back yard, on the Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway.

Fantastic

16 Sunday Oct 2016

Posted by 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 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 Update

03 Monday Oct 2016

Posted by in Recreation, recreational assets

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towpathtrailConstruction continues on the Towpath Trail.  Clearing a grubbing of the entire length (shown above in red) will be completed shortly.    The contractor is trying to move a barge into Weger’s Pond outlet on which a pile driver can be mounted.  The piles are necessary as a foundation for the 140 foot bridge across the outlet.  The bridge will arrive in 20 foot sections.  The fabricated bridge will be lifted in place by two “small” cranes at either end of the trail.

This dump truck backed over a half mile into the woods to get a load of debris!

This view at left was taken from atop the farmer’s bridge abutment to the east of Clutes Dry Dock. You can see that the trail is wide enough for a good size excavator as well as the construction sized dump truck.  The truck backed over a half mile into the woods to get a load of debris.

This week the Preserve is closed to all but duck hunters, so work on the eastern Halfmoon end of the trail will be the focus.

Work on the 10 foot wide stone dust trail is expected to be complete by the end of the year.  Its is truly exciting to see the progress.  This will be a wonderful recreational recourse for the Byway corridor.