Palatine Bridge is where the lodging was, but the trail runs on the south side here, so when I departed at a bit past 0700, I needed to cross back to the Canajoharie side and then head east. In the middle of the river/canal, a boat heads east as well, to get out of the canalized river before the locks close . . . a few days hence. As I write this, the canal has closed for the season. The photo below was taken in the same location as photo 4 here.

Visible to the east of Canajoharie is the Noses, a geological fault, the gap that has made this a trail since time immemorial. See the fog between the two ridges?

Here’s a shot from the Thruway a bit to the west, but the photo illustrates the localization of fog in the Mohawk valley in early fall . . . the water is still warm whereas the air is at least 20 degrees cooler. The fog effectively illustrates the water course. Yes, I have a crack starting in my windshield.

Back to the gap, I took this photo from the bike trail, the southernmost thoroughfare through the gap. Next is 5S, next are the four lanes of the Thruway aka I-90, next . . . where the boat is is the Mohawk, and beyond that and not visible in this photo are the existing railroad–Amtrak and freight–and then 5N. The vessel is Hornblower Express, being repositioned to Toronto, also getting through the system before it closes for the season

The bike trail here looks like this.

The next town headed east is Fultonville, across the river from Fonda. Traveling on the water, you barely sense Fultonville, but named for the artist and tinkerer associated with steam-powered river transportation, this town has been here since the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825. Below, that’s the Fultonville Reformed Church.

A bit east of the church is the old West Shore freight house, a remnant of the previous life of the bike trail . . . once the railed trail

A half dozen miles to the east, we cross Schoharie Creek. That’s the Thruway bridge in the distance; Schoharie Creek is the Mohawk’s largest tributary. The Mohawk and lock E-12 lie behind the photographer here.

Still see the Thruway bridge in the distance? The bridge serving as my photo platform and bike trail here no longer serves cars and trucks . .

As I rode I craved fruit. This time of year, the wild grapes are very tasty.

A half dozen miles east of Schoharie Creek is the old lock 28 and Yankee lock. The ridge in the distance is the location of Amsterdam NY.

Here that ridge continues as part of western Amsterdam NY. Note the rail traffic on the opposite side of the Mohawk? Pink containers come from pink ships . . .

A half dozen miles east of Amsterdam is Rotterdam Junction NY, the home of the Mabee farm, and this the oldest house extant in the Mohawk Valley. Adjacent to it is the old Mabee family cemetery. I first came to the Mabee farm more than a decade ago for the building and splashing of Onrust.

And another stretch beyond that, just before lock E8 is the Hungry Chicken Market and country store in an excellent location not 500 feet from the bike trail. I knew I was approaching my day’s objective . . . Schenectady, so it was a good place to have a snack before the end of the day’s ride.

That’s it for reportage and photos from my day 6. I could have continued on to Waterford that day, but I was ready for a shower and a rest.
3 comments
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October 19, 2020 at 6:46 am
Daniel J Meeter
I love this series, of course. But once again I will contest you about the Noses being a gap in the Appalachians. Too far NW. The Hudson, north of Kingston, and the whole of the Mohawk are beyond the Appalachians. Apart from that, thanks for all the geographical and personal information.
October 19, 2020 at 6:56 am
tugster
Thx, Daniel. I actually hesitated before writing that. I’m not up on geological taxonomies… but a chain of mountains blocked travel from the NA coast into the interior in all places except at this break channeling and likely created by the Mohawk’s flow. We need to pull out to geology books.
October 19, 2020 at 7:17 am
Linda Roorda
I, too, love your canal series and photos! Envious of ability to bike it. Once upon a time I could, but… This region is also full of my maternal ancestry. The Jan Pieterse Mabee house/farm with slave quarters (their housing “built on stone foundation of earliest structure built abt 1670” per Jon van Schaick on his research in “The Van Antwerp Mabee Farm”) is on land Mabee bought from my ancestor, Daniel Janse van Antwerpen, a deputy schout in Fort Orange/Albany, fur trader/interpreter with the Indians, rec’d his land patent in 1680 from Gov. Andros. Early writings I’ve read in research indicate van Antwerpen built a stone house btwn 1670-1680, expanded by Mabee. Our son took us there several years ago for a great tour. We also stood on site honoring original Schenectady inside stockade built on edge of Binnekill and Mohawk River where a number of my ancestors were killed or escaped the 1690 Schenectady massacre, notably Adam Vrooman who so valiantly fought an Indian that said brave released him because of that, later buying much land from Indians in Schoharie Co. Willem Abrahamse Tietsoort also survived, removing to and buying land from Indians in Port Jervis/Sussex, NJ area, where my Dad worked as dairy herdsman for Tietsoort’s direct descendant, we not knowing then my Mom was also a Tietsoort descendant! In fact, Tietsoort’s house had strong similarities to the van Antwerpen/Mabee House per research.