It’s 72 days since Ed and I began America’s Great Loop and one thing is certain, everyday is an adventure.
After being awestruck by the Statue of Liberty, Ed and I embarked on a portion of the 315 mile long Hudson River. Our destination was Half Moon Bay Marina, named not just for the explorer, but for the ship of 17th century Henry Hudson. Rounding Bear Mountain, the spectacular view of U.S. Military Academy West Point came into view. Ed and I found ourselves standing at attention while looking for remnants of the Continental Army’s iron chain that blocked enemy British ships. The whole scene was amazing.
The day prior, Ed and I had driven to West Point, coincidentally the day prior to graduation. The campus was filled with graduates-to-be and their parents. It was a privilege to be there and I was struck by the diversity of the students. “How wonderful I thought.” West Point’s museum had stressed the evolution of curriculum due to sweeping revisions and dramatic developments in science and technology- a far cry from putting a chain across the river…
After our visit, Ed and I grabbed lunch at a nearby Mexican restaurant. I started thinking environment. “Ed, didn’t the Hudson River have pollution issues? It looks so beautiful today,” I casually said while putting hot sauce on my burrito.
“Yeah,” Ed replied, “it was a Superfund site.”
“A Superfund site?” I gasped, almost choking. “Really?”
Between 1947 and 1977 General Electric released 1.3 million pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls into the Hudson River – these PCBs were so toxic they were soon banned in the United States. The EPA ended up classifying 200 miles of the Hudson River a federal Superfund site and the upper river’s prolific fishery was closed. General Electric was not the first to pollute the Hudson River. Long before, the Industrial Revolution had led to plants of many kinds. For over a century iron, steel, dye, textile, tanneries, candle, soap and slaughterhouses spewed waste into the gorgeous river.
Ed and I talked about this for a long time. “Every water has a story,” Ed said. “The industry gave people jobs.” I decided not to argue and our adventure continued taking trawler Finito from Croton-on -the Hudson (Half Moon Bay Marina) to Kingston; Kingston to Albany; Albany to Waterford; Waterford to Amsterdam; Amsterdam to Little Falls; Little Falls to Sylvan Beach; and Sylvan Beach to Brewerton not far from Lake Ontario.
Looking at the map, beginning east at Troy, Ed and I began our travels west along the Erie Canal through a series of 35 locks. It is at Troy that the Hudson River meets the Erie Canal. What a work out!
First completed in 1825, with an elevation of 571 feet above sea level, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes. It brought massive economic success, as always, at the expense of rivers such as the Mohawk in Little Falls. The tiny hamlet once considered “the most beautiful,” had her waterfalls blown up to create her portion of the lock system- the most famous- Lock Number 17 that has a whopping 40 feet difference.
So far Ed and I have gone through 22 locks and are sitting at another marina, Winter Harbor along the Oneida River. The adventure and our education continues…
