I’m told Moss Island has some of the oldest rocks in the world, but no one needs to tell me about the potential faces in the rocks, likely the spirits recognized by folks who lived here a half millennium or more ago.  Those spirits are likely still here, recognized or not.

But what alarmed the geese the other day was not the ancients, but rather . . . blue metal.

 

guided by a skilled crew through this dramatic section of the Mohawk gorge.

 

If not for lock E17, this tow would soon tumble over a precipice, a niagara of the Mohawk.

 

Early 20th-century technology, still efficient as ever, drops vessels over 40 feet here,

and when the guillotine door opens,

they can head downriver  . . . eventually to the sea.

 

 

All photos by Will Van Dorp.

 

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