Mohawk Valley

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WIthin 25 Miles of the Barge Canal.svg.svg

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Not sure if the latest Census numbers agree with the 85% number often bandied around, but it depends what you define Upstate as and what part of the canal system you consider the Erie Canal.

WIthin 25 Miles of the Barge Canal.svg.svg

Driving through Mohawk Valley Farm Country

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Driving up to Piseco Powley Road the other weekend weekend I decided to go via US 20 to Duanesville Churches Road past the Mariaville pig farm, down to Fort Hunter and then up to Gloversville via Stoners Trail.

It’s really nice farm country in the Mohawk Valley that produces the raw materials that go into a lot of foods, but most notably dairy, the nutrient rich food that goes into everything from milk for drinking to cheeses and ice cream to many other products.

Farm families have a significant legacy on their land. Many farm houses and barns are historic – they’ve housed families and livestock for generations. It’s beautiful, open country, a land that works and produces food while also providing wildlife habitats and a rural lifestyle for those who farm it or live the life in the country.

Every time I drive through Fort Hunter I tell myself I need to stop and visit the historic site and walk some of the Canalway trail, but I’m always in a hurry to get to the Adirondacks or head home. Those little villages are so cute and historic, even if in many ways they’ve been forgotten by time.

Colorized LiDAR, The Noses

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The Noses of the Mohawk River are a break in the hills where the Mohawk River Runs. This is a scared site for many of the Native Americans and an important travel corridor since the Colonial era. Today, this natural passageway is crossed by the Erie Canal/Mohawk River, then to the north of the river two railroad tracks, a two-lane section of NY 5. To the south of the river is four lanes of the NYS Thruway (built on filled in portion of the Mohawk River), and two lanes of NY 5S. There also is the Mohawk Valley Welcome Center, brought there by the Thruway Authority and Power Authority. This site has not always been considered that sacred -- the Sprakers Unlined Landfill for Canjahoharie's waste from the 1960s to 1980s is located one portion of the bank mined away for travel, and much of the travel corridors through the valley are built on rubble through former marshlands.

Colorized LiDAR, The Noses