Almost the entire ride in NY was on the Erie Canalway Trail along the Erie Canal. In MN, WI, and MI, I met only one bikepacker (Suzzie at Evart, MI). On the Erie Canalway Trail I met many, too many to talk to every one of them. This might be the most popular trail for bikepackers on my trip.
The trail includes both paved (a smaller portion) and unpaved parts. The unpaved part mostly is smooth and easy to ride on. The trail is next to water most of the time, sometimes along the main canal with boat traffic (on for recreation, no commercial shipping), sometimes next to the old and abandon part of the canal, and occasionally leaving the canal wonderland into the familiar farmland of corn and soybeans. The main canal is wide, going through small towns. It sometimes merges with Mohawk River. There are five types of infrastructure on the main canal: fixed bridges, lift bridges, guard gates, movable dams, and locks. The locks allow boats to move between sections of the canal of different water levels. They work the same as the Ballard lock in Seattle that I had seen many times but were still fun to watch. Guard gates, movable dams and locks regulate the water level between the seasons and in case of flooding. There are more than 30 locks between Albany and Buffalo, making boat traffic very slow. The water level of the canal can be higher than the adjacent waters (rivers, creeks, lakes). Their connections are some sorts of cascades.
Day 47 Spetember 18 Tonawanda to Brockport
Day 48 Spetember 19 Brockport to Weedsport
Day 49 Spetember 20 Weedsport to Herkimer
Day 50 Spetember 21 Herkimer to Albany
Day 51 Spetember 22 Rest in Albany
Day 52 Spetember 23 Albany to Acton by Car
Chidong Zhang's WA2MA Bike Trip 