Paddling the Lower Genesee

One fine June morning, Jim and I put the Hornbeck canoe in near the mouth of the Genesee.  The river was running pretty fast, so we actually wore our PFDs.  Yes, I know, one should always wear his Personal Flotation Device.

The Colonel Patrick O'Rourke Lift Bridge.
Paddy was killed at Gettysburg while urging his counterattacking men
down the west slope of Little Round Top.

Jim was attacked by a jumping fish as we took the shore-side route under the bridge.  Have Asian Carp come this far north?  Luckily, the denizen did not manage to clear the gunwale.  But is certainly gave him a scare, and provided me with a good laugh.

Captain Zeke, ready for action.

We passed a multitude of docked boats with creative names.  My favorite?  "Miss Demeanor."

What's that ahead, listing to its side?
No, I don't mean Jim's head.

Why it's the Spirit of Rochester!
This is just sad.  The cruise boat has seen much better days.
A metaphor for the city?

This is the Turning Point.
But we kept on paddling upstream.

The walkway you see at the right extends across the water in the distance.  It connects to the path than now occupies the right-of-way once carrying the tracks for coal trains from Pennsylvania.   Rochester was once one of the leading coal export ports in the country.

By the way, the walkway is the only thing that Mayor Bill Johnson's administration did right.

Here's where the cement ships unload.
They are the ones using the turning point these days.

Ship bumpers in need of repair.

There is a small waterfall behind the angled bench.
Creeks fell into the gorge here and there.
I suppose this should not have surprised me.

The heron watched our progress.

Kings Landing is the site of the first European settlement west of the Genesee.
We have memorialized it with an industrial sewage treatment plant.
Note the appropriately faded Kodak logo on the white tank.

More commonly appreciated as a footbridge, here the storm sewers cross the river.
A fine multi-use solution, don't you think?

The outlets for storm overflow.
I wouldn't want to be paddling here when they are active.
And from the smell, it's not just pure rainwater running out of these sluiceways.

I didn't take this shot until we were too far under
to see the graffiti way up there on the side of bridge, beyond the railing.
Risking one's life for graffiti almost no one sees...
Now that's dedication to your art.

People call this the Veterans Memorial Bridge,
but I've renamed it the "Circle Bridge."

I wonder if those openings at the peak of the arc are to let rainwater escape.
It must be a nice show in a storm.

One impressive structure.
More reasonable graffiti, too.

The bridge also offers a good spot for stretching legs.

Aside from the farm-runoff tainted water,
There are many places on the river where you'd never know
you were surrounded by the city.

This is as far upstream as we got.
I wanted to paddle up the little rapids in the distance, but Jim said, "No."
Actually, here below the falls, the river is shallow and runs fast.
Plus it is full of canoe-eating rocks.

Interesting stratified rock from the Pre-Drivingparkbridge period.

The Genesee conveys an impressive amount of water after a rain.

Heading back, we noted lines of bubbles created by unseen creatures below,
heading upstream.  What could they be?
Jim provided a more pedestrian and reasonable explanation...
something rotting on the bottom produced methane,
and the current dragged the bubbles downstream.

The ugly duckling bid us adieu.

Click on the video below for a better appreciation of the power of the Genesee.

(And why we wimped out at this point.)

I think I'm up for another paddle up the Genesee, come fall.  When the leaves are turning, I'm sure the gorge is gorgeous.  Who wants to go?