Bellingham Walks

More rain…

Today we walked 14 miles to the town of Canastota. This was also the day we would pass 650 or so bicyclists on the annual “Bike the Erie Canal” ride, which begins in Buffalo and ends in Albany. The morning sky was clear and blue. As we dried the tent before packing it away, we were alone at the lock, except for our constant companions, the Canadian Geese. We set off at about 7:30 am.

We passed many farms and corn fields.

This area is known as “The Long Level.” I think you should be able to read why in this picture.

Around noon, the sky let loose and soaked us to the bone. Luckily, we had had the sense to stash our electronics in our packs and put our backpack covers on before the rain began. We only had time to don rain jackets before we were totally soaked, shoes and all. We are spending two nights in Canastota just to dry out. My sleeping bag got wet from water running between me and my pack. We passed many soaked bicyclists too…all with big smiles. Seems we should get soaked like this once in a while. Once we accepted what was happening, and that there was nothing we could do but keep going, it was kind of fun…kind of.

Next steps…

We will go to Syracuse in the morning and stay at the youth hostel there for two nights.There’s an Erie Canal Museum we’d like to visit. Canastota has one too that we’ll visit today.

Thank you for all your comments and words of support. They always uplift us! This is a challenging walk, peppered with some amazing places and people, which we have said, more than once, “make it worth the effort.”

In gratitude,

Ann