Yatesville Falls State Forest

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

The weather for the weekend looked rather promising!  Daytime temperatures in the high 30’s/low 40’s, and the predicted showers would only occur overnight Saturday into Sunday. 

But first things first.  On my last trip the camp site was on the edge of cell phone reception, and my phone battery went dead searching for a signal.  I couldn’t call Mrs. TK when I left, which I usually do, and she was concerned when she didn’t hear from me.  So I invested some time in making an emergency phone charger since my destination was also a rather rural area.

Now, a normal person would have simply brought along a power bank.  Where’s the fun in that?  Besides, I carry AA batteries for my cameras anyway.

A recent thread mentioned dropping the water levels in the NYS Barge Canal.  Here’s Lock 11, just off the Schoharie segment of the Mohawk Hudson Bikeway.  Note the building on the far side, which is Guy Park Manor, built in 1774.  In late August of 2011 the Mohawk River flooded and severely damaged the structure.

 

Right after the flood I took this picture of the next lock downriver.  Lock 11 looked pretty much like this.

 

As for Guy Park Manor here’s what it originally looked like, and a picture I took the same time as the previous picture.  The state is still working on restoring the structure.

 

Much of my route followed the same route as my Rockwood State Forest ride, but I opted for a detour.  I diverted off the Mohawk-Hudson Bikeway to follow the towpath of the Erie Canal which parallels the Bikeway for a short distance.

This towpath led me to Erie Canal Lock 29.  This view looks east back towards Schenectady.  A fair number of these locks remain, as do significant sections of the canal itself.

 

The towpath, of course, parallels the canal.  In the late 1800’s horses and mules trod this path towing canal boats.  I liked the idea of riding a bicycle along the exact same path…

 

I stopped next at the Auriesville Shrine.  The religious history of the Shrine dates back to the mid-1600’s, and it’s one of the more significant religious sites in NY, if not the country.  But the building itself has historical significance too.  It was one of the first circular churches in the country.  Depending on which website you pick, it can seat from 6,000 to 10,000 people.

 

The building was locked, so I suspect they knew I was planning to visit.  This photo, taken through a window, shows only a sliver of the interior but gives an idea of how expansive the structure itself is.

 

As I approached the state forest I noticed a fair number of people in the area appeared to belong to Amish communities.  I saw several horse drawn buggies, and noticed frequent occurrences of horse manure in the road, which I studiously tried to avoid.  I wondered how many of the people in the area were Amish, as it seemed like quite a few.  Then I figured out I could get a good idea by the number of houses that had no electric overhead lines.  It was close to half in one area.

Since I left my house before noon I arrived at Yatesville Falls State Forest before dark (for a change!)  The top photo shows this ride’s arrival.  The lower photo shows my last visit to the falls in October of 2010.

 

While it was light when I arrived, dusk was coming fast.  NY state forest camping rules require 150 feet between a waterway and your selected campsite, so no camping next to the falls.  I had to scramble up a steep bank with the bike and trailer, and set off in fading light to select a site.  I found one, set up the tent, and by the time I made dinner it was dark.  I spent a few hours reading.  Even at the prescribed distance from the creek I could still hear it flowing over the rapids nearby.

Here’s the obligatory next-morning-campsite-photo.  During the night rain showers came and went several times.  To my dismay I discovered my tent was not entirely waterproof, but at least nothing got soaked.

 

The trail leading back out.

 

And – the main reason for the ride – Yatesville Falls.  It’s about 25 feet high.  The rain showers overnight helped put a respectable amount of water into the creek.  I would have stayed longer just to simply listen to the falls, but I’d delayed my departure to let morning fog burn off and had to be on my way.

 

Along the way I spotted this poor tractor abandoned in the field.  You’d think somebody, somewhere, had a hobby of restoring old tractors, would take pity on this poor machine, and give it a good home.

 

I had to stop for this one.  These buggies weren’t here when I rode through the day before.  It’s the equivalent of one of our car dealerships, you might say, with both new and used vehicles.  I wanted to ask the craftsman who built them a few questions, as not too many people have the skills to make these.  I didn’t see anybody, and being Sunday I thought I would be impolite to disturb anyone by inquiring at the nearby house.

 

The marker tells you about a significant figure in our history.  In fact I’ve ridden past McConkey’s house in PA with Philander Seabury in 2017.  How he (McConkey, not Philander) ended up in a remote cemetery in upstate NY is a topic, perhaps, for another day and another thread.

 

One of the other reasons for this ride was to stop here.  The town of Florida, NY is a small community, but they’ve constructed a marvelous park.  The upright stones sit on the perimeter of circular walkway, one marker for each major conflict. 

 

Partway around stands some twisted steel taken from the Twin Towers.  I took off my gloves and lightly touched the cold metal for a few moments…

 

Making boats out of concrete seems counter-intuitive.  But if you think a moment, boats are made of steel and steel itself doesn’t float either.  Anyway these concrete canal boats were made during the WWI.  They did indeed float, and were cheaper to make than wood or steel boats.  Unfortunately, they proved more easily damaged and harder to repair than traditional boats, and soon after most went into service the war ended.  When the canal is full these serve as tie-up points for boats waiting to go east.

 

The profile for the ride, with the state forest at the small 'v' at ~mile 32:

Ride numbers:

Total distance for both days: 68.5

Total elevation: 3,500 feet

Average speed, over both days: 9.4 mph

Max speed: 47.1 mph