I’ve got me a canoe but her name’s not Sal
Goin’ eight miles on the Erie Canal
With a good old paddler and a good old pal
Goin’ eight miles on the Erie Canal

Okay, it wasn’t exactly the Erie Canal, but the Cayuga-Seneca Canal, which links the northern ends of those two lakes, does connect to the Erie Canal. It follows the Seneca River and is part of the New York State Canalway Water Trail’s over 450 miles of canals and interconnected lakes and rivers. And it has locks. In my fifties, I’m always looking for new adventures that won’t make me sore for days afterwards. And I’d never paddled a canal.

A two-hour drive from Wellsboro brought my intrepid companion (intrepid because no one else would join me) and I to the boat launch at 35 Water Street in Seneca Falls where we’d end our trip. As we transferred my boat to David’s vehicle, he remarked on how light it was and pointed out the kayak ramp beside the dock. The ramp would let us pull right in, making disembarking easier and drier and saving boats from scraping on the concrete ramp. David’s thirteen-foot kayak is plastic and hardy, but my almost fifteen-foot pack canoe (I sit on the bottom and use a double blade) is carbon fusion, a pricey but super-light laminate that needs more care than I ever gave my kids. I call it Precious.

Bob, a water trail steward, was picking up litter around the launch. Sun sparkled on the green steel truss bridge just downstream from the launch, a bridge that figures prominently in the town’s claim as an inspiration to Frank Capra for Bedford Falls. Today it truly was “A Wonderful Life.”

After loading my twenty-five-pound boat, we drove twenty minutes to Geneva. Since we weren’t getting an early start, we opted not to put in at the Finger Lakes Welcome Center, which is free but would add another mile crossing the northern tip of the lake. Instead, we pulled into Seneca Lake State Park at 1 Lakefront Drive. Bob had assured us there was a launch right where the canal starts. A vehicle fee of eight dollars is charged, but the attendant didn’t have change for a twenty and her machine wasn’t cooperating, so she ended up waving us through. (It’s also free if you arrive before 10 a.m. when the booth opens.)

This launch wasn’t as nice, but cormorants made up for it, growling and meowing from the eastern cottonwoods along the bank. As we unloaded, it started sprinkling. We waded in and shoved off just before noon, passing the marina and going under our first rusted bridge. There was no current to speak of. At first the headwind made us put some effort in, but the wind wasn’t constant, and the clouds moved on.

This former industrial byway felt surprisingly remote. Reeds swayed around motionless herons, and kingfishers perched on branches over the water. Sometimes a fish would jump, and sometimes a blue and white blur darted in to snatch it when it did. The water was opaque green, but not stinky. Homes with small docks dotted the north bank. Then we heard a toot. A coaching boat for Hobart and William Smith Colleges was behind us. On our left was Hellstrom Boathouse and Docks, the base for the colleges’ rowing teams. No rowing shells were out, but they have the right of way when they are.

Buildings became even fewer. Starting in 1813, improvements to the Seneca River made various falls and rapids navigable so trade could be faster and cheaper than by wagon. According to the Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor, “New York’s canal system has been in continuous operation since 1825, longer than any other constructed transportation system on the North American continent.” Now, most traffic is pleasure crafts, including canalboats that sleep a couple or a family. Many towns have public moorings free for up to forty-eight hours.

A green and yellow canal boat was moored ahead. At forty-four feet, it’s the largest size European lockmaster boat available for rent on the Erie Canal. Ahead, a quaint rusty water tower rose over the trees. Beyond that was Hidden Harbor Marina and Waterloo Harbor Campground, which also has a canoe and kayak company. We’d thought about eating lunch just ahead at Oak Island Park, but when we got there, we knew we couldn’t stop. Just past it, a large blue steel frame held a concrete slab in the air like a guillotine. This was Lock CS4. I called the lock operator (I’d added the number to my contacts the night before), and a friendly voice said he’d open it up. A dark wall across the water broke in half. Gates swung toward us until the red light turned green, and we paddled into the chamber and held onto ropes on the side that keep boats in place. Somewhere secret words were said, and the water slowly began to lower us ten feet. Underground tunnels and valves control these liquid elevators, but even in the twenty-first century it felt like magic. We laughed and hooted like children.

I thanked the lock operator watching us paddle out. Mike’s been doing this for twenty years and still seemed to enjoy our glee. Above, a woman on a bicycle waved. The bike trail starts in Waterloo and follows the south edge of the canal back to Seneca Lake. David and I ate lunch as we floated, then pushed on to Seneca Falls, about three-and-a-half miles farther.

Approaching the town, sculptures appeared on the south bank. Then the bridge was in view, and all too soon we were at the ramp, where a woman fished with a magnet (she’d once caught a machete). We loaded the boats at 4 p.m. and hit some museums, starting with the Seneca Museum of Waterways and Industry. Next we stood in the Wesleyan Chapel where Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frederick Douglas, and others started to rock the boat in 1848 at the first Convention on Women’s Rights. The “It’s a Wonderful Life” Museum, National Women’s Hall of Fame and Seneca Knitting Mill, and Ludovico Sculpture Trail are worth visiting, too.

Having crossed a new frontier, David and I drove back to get his car in Geneva, planning more adventures on the New York Canalway Water Trail. Those interested in exploring it can go to eriecanalway.org. Their guidebook is one of the most helpful and clear I’ve seen. It’s downloadable, but I recommend ordering it and the water-resistant maps for twenty bucks.

Then grab an old pal and go navigate on the Erie canal!