We were up early today. Jerry wanted to get to our accommodations early so he could really enjoy the bucks he was dropping tonight lol. It is a bit of an unusual place, Amsterdam Castle, and more expensive than the other available accommodations, but I had no interest in staying out on the highway and walking a mile to get a bite to eat. So Amsterdam Castle got our business.
The other reason to rise early was the threat of rain, which we always take with a grain of salt these days. It was predicted for later in the day and at a high probability. That had fallen off by morning, but by then, we were up already, eating another disagreeable hotel breakfast.
But in Little Falls, as in Amsterdam, the pickings are slim for any kind of food. So if you're particularly fussy, and I can be when I have choices, plan your overnight stays carefully!
Our ride today was very flat and relatively short, only 41 miles or so . . . and all on the south side of the canal, which through these parts means the Mohawk River unless locks are required to navigate around rapids, such as those at Little Falls.
I guess it is called Little Falls for a reason . . . because these sure are little!
As soon as we had crossed the bridge to the south side of the river, we turned onto this very nice trail. Nicely shaded and nicely cut through rock, on BOTH sides. Clearly we were no longer on a towpath . . . this is a rail trail!
So today was mostly trail riding, along a rail trail. In these parts, the "canal" is the river, with locks to bypass rapids. Plus, as you can see in some of the photos, the "mountains" (big hills, which are just old mountains) are closing in on the river. Which means the turf was starting to get crowded! Everyone — highways, railroads, canal, AND river — need to get through the narrow passage and flatlands that remain.
The scenery was nice when we were close to the river, which wasn't too often.
And we saw some new water control structures like this one. At first I thought it was a bridge . . . turned out to be a bridge to nowhere! That's a lot of bridge for a water control structure (i.e., dam).
At the midpoint of the ride, we actually had I-90, the New York State Thruway, between us and the river. But we were well-shielded by a tree barrier, so while we heard it, we didn't really see it.
The well-shaded trail to Amsterdam, newly paved (but not so smooth).
But not only were the mountains closing in, but so were the rain clouds . . . and thunder. So I picked up the pace at six or seven miles out and pushed hard to beat the possible rain. And I did, so I decided to take a tour of downtown, such as it is. I discovered a nice pedestrian bridge over the Mohawk River, which I rode halfway across before feeling the first drop of rain. That did it, and I made a beeline for the Amsterdam Castle and was checked in by 2:30. Jerry was somewhere behind, caught in a major downpour; such is the weather here.
On the pedestrian bridge over the Mohawk River. Somebody dropped some bucks on this improvement, one that was sorely needed.
