A Week in Massena

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We’re heading back to a spot we had stayed at 6 years ago. Robert Moses State Park is in Massena New York, right along the St Lawrence River. When reserving a site for this state park, make sure you have selected the park that is in Massena rather than Long Island. It’s still unclear why the state couldn’t come up with unique names for these state parks that are over 400 miles apart. There are two distinct camping areas: Long Sault and Barnhart Island. This time, we opted for a spot on the latter. We are hoping it won’t be quite so crazy as our last visit which occurred over the July 4th holiday weekend. Access to the park is rather unique in that you drive through a tunnel that actually goes right underneath the Eisenhower Lock. It has 13’ 6” clearance so we have no problem but it is a bit disconcerting when you see a 600 foot long freighter passing overhead as you drive underneath. 

Tunnel Beneath Lock with Ship Passing Through

Bridge to Barnhart Island

Looking Beyond Bridge

We Camped Within 1/4 Mile of 45th Parallel

The place isn’t very full when we first come in and the sites are fairly spacious. For most of our time here, people aren’t in the neighboring sites to ours. The stay is definitely more relaxed than our past visit. The beach area isn’t far away either. It’s a quick bike ride or only slightly longer walk to get there. We do figure out what website to use to know the schedule of big ships coming through the Eisenhower Lock. We make it back there a few times during our week long stay in the park. The whole process is fascinating to me although it all takes place at a pretty slow pace. It only takes about 7 or 8 minutes to fill or empty the lock, but the ships coming in are moving at what seems like a snail’s pace. There is a visitor center and viewing building with a few levels to people can watch the lock in operation. 

Multi-Level Visitor Center

Empty Lock Waiting for Upbound Ship

The Algowood Enters the Lock

Being Raised

Impressive Ship

The Algowood Heads Out

There are 7 locks along the St Lawrence River between Montreal and Lake Ontario. Each can handle a ship as large as 740 feet in length and 78 feet in width. A few of the ships we saw seemed to use up nearly all the usable space. A small crew of men working the lock control the whole operation including working with a larger crew of men on the ship in charge of controlling the 4 lines used to hold the boat against the dock during the fill/empty stage. It would be interesting to be on board one of these large freighters during a crossing from the Atlantic Ocean to Lake Superior. (As long as the ship’s name wasn’t the Edmund Fitzgerald - did this get that song stuck in your head?)

The Federal Baltic Heads Out Downbound

This One is on the "Small" Side 

Intricate Rope System as Ship is Raised

We headed into Canada for a bike ride and some sightseeing on one of the nicer days in the area. There is a border crossing about a 12 mile drive from the campground that takes us into Cornwall Ontario. The crossing seemed a bit odd because we crossed over one bridge onto Cornwall Island which is part of Canada yet there wasn’t any fee or border agents involved. It wasn’t until a bit later that we get to pay the $3 fee to cross the bridge and then go through customs. We then head a bit north east of town to a trail called the Peanut Line. Probably an old rail line now converted to a gravel trail. There are dozens of geocaches places along the trail which was the main draw for us. It’s not a busy trail at least on the Wednesday we were there. We parked along a side road and biked several miles out before getting hungry and turning back to the car. The original plan to eat and then head the opposite direction was ditched and instead we drove into town to find a more scenic spot to have lunch. The trail was fine and the caches were good, but the bugs were very bad and we decided enough was enough.

Looking Down the Peanut Line

Farm Next to Peanut Line

We found the perfect spot. Lamoureux Park is situated right along the waterfront of the St Lawrence River. A spot overlooking the marina worked well for our lunch. There is a paved bike path that runs in both directions along the water. We bike a couple kilometers in each direction to see what the area is like. This trail was much busier but it was still pleasant. When we headed west, we got to see some of the old channels and locks that are now obsolete with the massive ones now controlling the water level and flow. 

Old Gears 

Marina in Cornwall Ontario

We did have our fair share of rain while we were here. This year isn’t anything like last year where rain was scarce. We didn’t have a washout but it did prompt us to modify our plans occasionally. One nice afternoon we drove west along the roads closest to the river. I had brought along my new 200-500 mm lens and had an opportunity to use it at one geocache stop. The parking area for the nature walk has a tall pole with platform on top. An osprey had made its nest up there and was quite vocal while we were standing below watching it. We only ever saw the one adult so it’s not clear if there were any young present, but I suspect not. 

Osprey Perched Above Nest

Giving Us the Evil Eye

Soaring Above

Searching for Prey

We made it into downtown Massena to do a little bit of caching. The parts we saw had numerous buildings for sale - mostly business that are now closed. From the looks of things, the town could stand a bit of a revival. On another day we drove down to Potsdam mainly to use the library. It’s a college town with both Clarkson University and SUNY Potsdam situated on opposite sides of the Raquette River. Although we did minimal exploration in Potsdam, we did stumble across something that we don’t see everyday. In the side yard of a home was a display of dozens of toilets! They were tastefully decorated but did make us wonder “Why?” Turns out the owner had some disagreement with the town and in protest made a display of toilets. Definitely glad we don’t have him as a neighbor. 

Odd Lawn Decorations

Open Air Restroom?

It didn’t seem like we accomplished much while we were here for the week. Admittedly there doesn’t seem to be a ton of stuff to do in the area. Of course, if we were like many of the others that come here, we would have brought a power boat to enjoy the river. During the one weekend we were here, the campground did get full and we had neighbors in the closest sites. One of them was a couple with a travel trailer and two children maybe about 8 and 10. We were simply amazed at how much stuff they brought along with them for a couple night stay. Hammocks, a tent, bikes, toys galore, tables and chairs - lets just say when they weren’t lacking anything. Of course, the heavy rain that was expected Sunday morning came and we got to watch them try to pack everything up during the downpour. Such is the life of weekenders as we call them. Next stop Vermont.