Lots of locks—August 22

 Today was a planned day off in Lockport, about 30 miles northeast of Buffalo and home to the only step locks on the Erie Canal.  Warning—I love locks.  We had plenty of time to walk around the locks, read about them, and take a two hour boat trip that gave us a chance to ride through the locks. The locks at Lockport have a fifty foot drop, and the original construction in the 19th century was a flight of five locks which took about 2 1/2 hours to navigate.  In the early 20th century, the canal was expanded, and the five locks were replaced with a two step lock which we navigated today.  There is very little commercial traffic on the Erie Canal today, but lots of recreational travel.  

                                        Looking up at part of the original five flight locks. 

A view of a boat going from the upper lock into lower lock.

A contemporary sculpture (based on a photograph) honoring early lock tenders

Going through the lower lock after we had dropped 25 feet as the water level was lowered. 

 

                                                           Shadows on the lock gates 

                                        I’ve added to my bucket list paddling through a lock.

                   Happy campers after a fine day and a good dinner at a Japanese restaurant 

                                       Even without biking we earned our ice cream today