canal path, northampton

The original canal path in Northampton runs next to the canal, not the river. The current D&L in this section is a rail to trail. Today we followed the path that follows the canal.

It's interesting because on one side of the street the canal is filled in and there are parking lots and streets and buildings. On the other side there is a canal.

The first part has ruins of a canal lock. We found two, or was it three, locks. This is also were there used to be a sunken canal boat. They must have pulled it out at some point. The things that look like railroad track above are what's left of the gates to the lock. The cold cellar is self-evident.

This portion runs thru some sort of RV campground. There were signs for scavenger hunts. There were many people fishing (without masks).

Much of the canal is filled with algae and duck weed. This section is crisp and clear. There were three bridges that went over to a quarry lake.

Pam was the first to find turtles. When we stopped this log had a family of 5 on it. They jumped in quickly.

Then we came to this boardwalk across the canal, and this set of steep stairs going up to the railroad tracks. There were treads missing. I had a hard time going up and a worse time coming back. I should listen to my body and stop having these kind of adventures.

We returned to the trail and found another lock. This one had a partial gate.

I'm guessing these rings were used to hitch the mules while taking the boat thru the locks. And the crane above is to pull the ropes. I could be wrong.

I decided to take a selfie here at the lock. I'm pretty bad at it since we can't see the lock.

Even I'm not stupid enough to take this ladder across the creek.

Earlier someone passed us (without a mask) and we saw him coming back. When we asked how much further the trail went he said a half-mile. It ends at a power tower. He also told us there were turkey and deer. We didn't see any. I guess we were too nosey.

This log across the road was the end of the trail. The power tower is over my right shoulder. We turned around and headed back.

Miles/Steps:              4.5 miles 

Weather:                   didn't look. It was warm, breezy, cloudy 
Wildlife:                    mallards, geese, goslings, blue jays, northern red-bellied turtle (Pseudemys rubriventris, and the cutest chocolate mini poodle. 
PPE found:                NONE!