Rochester to Brockport New York Wednesday, April 28, 2021
This is a case of one picture being worth 1000 words. Here is the track of my route today, recorded by my Apple Watch. The big green dot is the starting point, Lindsay‘s house, and the red dot is my destination, a motel in Brockport.
The obvious thing would be to just make a beeline from point A to point B. This is what we did 14 years ago, we had left the canal just beyond Fairport, went directly to Lindsay‘s house, and we rejoined the canal on the Genesee River south of Rochester Center, near the airport on the map.
In doing this, though, we bypassed 12 miles on the canal, miles I heard were beautiful and quite unique. I had not intended to make a fetish of doing the entire Canalway this trip, but except for that short difficult stretch of soft stone dust before Little Falls, it worked out that I had done exactly that. Now that the canal was 3/4 complete, it was hard to break the streak. Smell the roses. How difficult could it be to return to the point where I had left the canal yesterday?
Pretty bloody difficult, it turned out. The Google maps lady tried to take me back via Route 31, but she didn’t know that two bridges were out, necessitating large detours. That’s why my track looks kind of like a bowtie, as I thrashed around trying to get to that starting point at far right. Long story short, I wound up going 48 miles instead of 22. I passed a sign that said “Canal Trail” where somebody had a erased the C. Yeah, that’s about right.
People often ask me why I don’t travel with someone else. Any further questions?
Those “missing” Canal miles were very nice, but nothing particularly special. I waited out a thunderstorm in a Tim Horton’s (thank you, Canada) and the weather got nicer—sunny, warmer, but still with a 10 mph headwind. I had been looking forward to this last stretch between Rochester and Buffalo. The Erie Canal has been revised four times over the years, and up until now you never knew which iteration of the canal you were following. Beyond Rochester, however, all four revisions used the same route, it was cool to think that the original Clinton’s Ditch was the same as the current active canal. In the summer, there would be lots of boats. Now, however, Canal had been partially drained for repairs, so it wasn’t that scenic. It was wide, though, so they were less trees to break that headwind. I had hoped to go father, but wound up stopping at Brockport.
Overall, a nice day, but also kind of whack. Supposed to rain for the next two days. Might as well go see Niagara Falls.
Distance 48 miles, 493.9 total. Time 9 1/2 hours with stops. Elevation gain 1,121 feet.
The Ends of the Earth 
I love your sense of humor as you recognize that you are choosing to be you! And despite how wacky that can be at times, it’s also part of what makes you your magnificent and unique self. I know you know that none of us would think any less of you if you sometimes give yourself the easier option, but if you would think less of you, then that something you need to listen to.
With Love and best wishes,
Anne
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