Mechanicville to Westport, NY on Lake Champlain

On Wednesday we left Mechanicville for the 28 mile run to Fort Edward. This stretch of the canal system includes 5 more locks #3 - #7. So far, we have seen fairly consistent depth in the canal of 10 - 15+ feet but welcome the calm weather as shown in the first picture as we departed our free dock. The locks were dug to create a bypass beside the dam so commercial and pleasure boats can travel from The Hudson River to Lake Champlain. As we departed one of the locks, we were quite surprised at how close we came to the dam beside the lock. Fortunately, the 28 mile trip was uneventful until we were informed at Lock 6 that we could not access the town dock in Fort Edward due to dredging and we would need to travel beyond Lock 7 today. We were able to use some floating docks beyond lock 7 instead of continuing up the canal. This next picture is us tied up to the dock - not electricity or water - but adequate for us for one night. We walked into Fort Edward and discovered a local restaurant with quite a history. The Anvil Restaurant has served this community as a number of canal and farming businesses including as a blacksmith shop and the building was over 200 years old. In fact, according to local legend, one of the original owners was still living there as a "friendly" ghost that plays tricks on the staff. Everyone in the restaurant had a ghost story to add but we did not see him! Very disappointing. Here is a picture taken of us at the bar in the restaurant in the afternoon. We enjoyed the place and the people so much, we returned in the evening for dinner.

On Thursday morning, we left Fort Edward for Whitehall, NY - another 24 mile run. The weather has warmed overnight and Jack took this next picture as we prepared to leave early morning. Hopefully, you can see the fog as it lifts from the calm water. Another picture you may find amusing, we saw this house for sale before we reached Whitehall - can't understand why there were no takers - it is waterfront. Take note of the For Sales sign on the front.

So far, all the locks have raised us anywhere from 12 - 20 feet. At lock 9 we began the steady locking down and arrived in Whitehall around noon. This is a picture of Whitehall as we approached the lock and, based on the early arrival and the looks of the town, decided to continue on to Westport, NY on Lake Champlain - another 49 miles and a total of 73 miles today. We were quite taken by the views on Lake Champlain and will provide more pictures on the next posting. Lake Champlain has to be one of the most beautiful places we have seen and we look forward to spending some time in the coming week exploring this 120 mile long lake. What we have seen so far is breathtaking! Here are 3 closing pictures of this day on the lake, the first of a mountain view as we approached the Lake, the 2nd looking toward Westport Marina with the Adirondack Mountains in NY State in the background, and the final picture is from our marina looking across the Lake at the mountains in Vermont.