Fort Erie, ON to Niagara Falls, ON. 35.2 miles.
By Judd Curran.
Victoria awoke sore from her fall yesterday with a bruise on her ankle and tenderness on the right side of her chest. But, after a good night's rest in a hotel room, and the anticipation of seeing Niagara Falls for the first time today, she took a few aspirin and was ready to go. Surprisingly, she had no problem pedaling.
We rode from the town center of Fort Erie back to Lake Erie, and then continued following the shoreline northeastward. Within a mile, the forested neighborhood opened up to an expansive view of the lake. New York, and the skyscrapers of Buffalo were just across the water.
Victoria was very excited about what was to come. I could tell. She has never visited Niagara Falls before. I thought it would be a good idea for her to lead today. She agreed. It was awesome for us to be together on this route. I'm excited to watch her see and experience a section of our route that now overlaps with the Northern Tier bicycle route that I followed in 2014 on my coast-to-coast bicycle tour.
The USA is now in sight for the first time since August 3rd. I started thinking about the home of the original buffalo wings, a Buffalo eatery I visited in 2014 known as The Anchor Bar.
But, we weren't headed to NY just yet. Our plan was to stay on the Canadian side, following the bike path we've been on as it continues all the way to Niagara Falls.
Really, we were just following the water, as we had been for our entire trip. Water starts in Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. Lake Superior, the highest in elevation of the Great Lakes at 600 feet, it is also the largest by volume, containing more water than all of the other four Great Lakes combined, and water entering the lake stays there on average for 191 years. Water also starts in Lake Michigan. Lake Michigan is the second largest of the Great Lakes and the only one entirely in the United States. It's less than half the volume of Lake Superior, and water entering the lake stays there on average for about 99 years. From Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, water then flows into Lake Huron. Lake Huron, at the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, moves water through much quicker, with an average resonance time of only 22 years. Through the St. Clair and then the Detroit Rivers, water then flows from Lake Huron to Lake Erie. Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes. As such, it is more susceptible to temperature fluctuations and intense wave action, and the water entering the Lake Erie basin is only around on average for 3 years. From the Northeast corner of Lake Erie (between Fort Erie and Buffalo), the waters of Lake Erie begin a swift journey through what becomes the Niagara River, flowing through Niagara Falls to Lake Ontario.
As we approached the Northeast corner of the lake, we could see the water adjacent to the bike path begin to move, the riffle in the water indicating the point at which the movement begins to break out of the lake and form the Niagara River. The international "Peace Bridge" is in the background, and will eventually be our connection back to the USA in a few days.
Our excitement really ramped up the more we pedaled away from Lake Erie, trying to keep up with the velocity of the water molecules off to our right side.
A few miles after passing under the Peace Bridge, we came to the start of the Niagara River Recreation Trail, a paved bike path extending all the way to Lake Ontario.
Along this path, several historical markers at significant sites from the War of 1812 could be found. We stopped at the field where the Battle of Chippawa took place.
There is so much interesting history here, and numerous plaques could entertain those interested for hours.
Given the heat and humidity of the day, combined with the excitement of the falls downstream of our location, we couldn't last in the sun for very long, retreating to a shady spot to rest. The easiest thing to do was keep pedaling, as the self-generated wind provided a welcomed cooling effect.
After about 18 miles, we could begin to see the infrastructure surrounding the falls -- tall hotels, observation towers, and casinos. We new we were getting close.
Then came the river control systems, operating on both the American and Canadian sides, that divert a notable portion of the river to large pipelines that feed hydroelectric power systems located downstream of the waterfalls.
I watched Victoria take it all in. Soon, we could see a cloud of mist in the distance, appearing to rise from the river surface.
The more we traveled downstream, the more the cloud of mist dominated the landscape.
Eventually, we were so close that we could begin to hear the roar.
We had to stop a lot. At various stages along the way, a pause was needed to allow time for our minds to attempt to comprehend the magnitude of the Niagara River drama unfolding.
For me, as much enjoyment came from watching Victoria observe as seeing for myself the changes in the river -- from calm, tranquil waters to raging rapids.
I wondered what was going through her mind, and how her imagination about what the falls might look like will pale in comparison to the dramatic awe of nature that can only be understood by experiencing it in person.
Another half mile and we were so close that the roar of the falls was persistent and took center-stage. We could begin to see through the cloud of mist that the river was disappearing. The bike path had evolved into a wide pedestrian walkway alongside the river, and we walked our bikes here, enjoying the even-slower pace, and weaving safely between tourists.
We arrived. The entire river swallowed. The massive blue-green Niagara abruptly dropping into a frothy-white foggy mist. We took the opportunity to get a photo, but within a minute, the steady rain of mist from the falls was getting everything wet. It felt great, but kept us moving.
Knowing that we were going to spend three nights and two full days at Niagara, we decided to move on to our Bed & Breakfast to drop off our bags, find some lunch, and ride on to the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake to reach Lake Ontario, the fourth and final Lake we will enter on our tour of the Great Lakes.
We found a place called Taps on Queen Brewhouse near to our BnB, and familiar to me from my previous trip. The food was excellent. Victoria had the green-lip mussels.
I ordered the buffalo chicken wrap with classic Canadian poutine (fries, cheese curds, and brown gravy). Yummmm!
Back along the river, now downstream of the falls, our path was elevated on the Niagara escarpment, with the river and falls having carved out the ravine alongside us.
Around four miles down the bike path, I heard Victoria yell, "Stop -- my contact!" as she was riding behind me. She halted right in the middle of the path and was looking down. I immediately pulled off the bike path and set my bike down in the grass.
While brushing her left eye with her finger to relieve an itch while riding, her hard contact lens popped out of her eye. This was a very odd (and rare) situation, as it had only happened one other time before in the 30 years she has been wearing contact lenses. We searched for a good 45 minutes back and forth along the surface of the bike path through a 20-30 foot section, along the perimeter of the path, and into the adjacent grass. Finding a contact lens on the bathroom floor is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. But, trying to find it outside through a large area of asphalt and grass was virtually impossible. Several cyclists passing through stopped to help us look for short periods of time.
Our efforts seemed futile. Victoria couldn't see well-enough out of her eye with the missing lens to feel comfortable moving on. So, we decided to turn around to retrieve her prescription glasses from the BnB. Just as we are turning around to leave, Victoria now mounted on her bicycle and starting to pedal, caught sight of a flash of sunlight reflecting off an object on the ground. "Wait, I found it!", she said. Unbelievable, I thought to myself. Unfortunately, the lens had broken.
So, we returned to the BnB for her eye glasses. Back at the BnB, Victoria realized that her eye glasses will not work in combination with her cycling sunglasses, an issue that can't be underestimated when riding all-day in the sun. A quick call to her optometrist led us to a fast-paced dash across the bridge in Niagara Falls to the U.S. side to reach an optometrist who had temporary contact lenses in stock that would closely match her prescription. We only had 30 minutes to cross the border and get to the optometrist before they closed. We took our bicycles and rode as fast as we could, reaching the office within 5 minutes of their closing. Phew!
With that behind us, and relieved that she could continue to ride with the temporary solution, we decided to postpone traveling to Lake Ontario until tomorrow.
Instead, we explored the town of Niagara Falls on foot, avoiding the touristy Las Vegas-like hotel and entertainment area and walking further away from the falls through the residential neighborhood to the historic Queens Street district. It was here that we came across a narrow alley with an interesting and quite inconspicuous display.
Upon close inspection, the display told the stories of many of the daredevils and thrill-seekers who have attempted dramatic stunts at Niagara Falls over the years to gain attention and notoriety.
There was Carlisle Graham who dared the treacherous rapids downstream of the falls on several occasions, housed inside a barrel he made.
Clifford Calverly crossed the gorge over the Niagara River on a tightrope with a wheel barrow, among other tight-rope stunts.
And then, there was the amazing Annie Edson Taylor, who on October 24th, 1901, was the first person to go over the falls in a barrel and survive.
Jesse Sharp, in 1990, at 28 years old, attempted to ride over Horseshoe Falls in a kayak. His kayak floated downstream without him, and his body has never been recovered.
There were many more interesting portraits of daredevils, some of whom did not survive their attempts.
We really enjoyed the evening off the beaten path, exploring the less-seen side of Niagara Falls, Ontario.
After a big dinner at a local Italian restaurant, we decided to walk down to the Falls to see them at night, hoping to avoid the crowds of tourists and get a quieter glimpse at their beauty. We were surprised to see the falls lit up in varying colors from red to yellow and purple.
It was after 11 pm, and there were still quite a few people out and about around the falls. The beauty and sound of the falls at night was truly mesmerizing and the perfect end to a great day.
No comments:
Post a Comment