Champlain Hudson guide
• Friday, May 8, 2009 - The Champlain-Hudso Waterway
Until late in the 19th century the Champlain-Hudson waterway, the
north-south passage through the valleys of Lake Champlain and theHud-
son River, was the principal means of transportation and shipping
between the Canadian border and the ocean port of New York. Originally,
a gap in themiddle required portages – either into and out of Lake George
or directly from Whitehall to the Hudson. That gap was permanently
closed during the canal-building era in the early 19th century, when the
Champlain Canal connected Whitehall with the Hudson; the navigable
status of the waterway was completed by the Richelieu Canal connect-
ing the northern outlet of Lake Champlain with the St. Lawrence River.
Though commerce shifted to railroad and road transportation, the com-
pleted waterway remains, now as a resource for recreation High in the Adirondacks, Lake Tear of the Clouds on the southwestern
slope of Mount Marcy spawns a trickle that eventually turns into th
Hudson. Feldspar Brook is the outlet, flowing into the Opalescen
River or main branch of the Hudson. It continues south, receiving wate
from several branches, past North River, Riparius, Stony Creek, Luzern
and on to the damand falls atGlens Falls. The distance is 115miles from
Lake Tear of the Clouds to Glens Falls, via the Hudson River, which fo
many years was the major artery of the logging industry. The waterwa
bounces along over rapids through Hudson Falls and Fort Edward, meet
ing the Champlain Canal and continuing on to Troy. The river below th
last dam becomes tidewater, clearly brackish just north of Poughkeepsi
and salty near Newburgh.Just as important as the waterway itself was the development of the
broad valleys that surround it – full of arable land and opportune sites for
towns and cities. The Champlain Valley and the Hudson River Valley are essentially one huge slot between the mountain ranges that define their
boundaries. The Champlain Valley is bordered on the west by the
Adirondacks and on the east by the Green Mountains.
As the Hudson River flows southward, the Berkshire Mountains lie to
the east and the Catskills to the west. Farther downstream, the Taconic
Range runs parallel to the river on the east and the Shawangunk
Mountains on the west. The river cuts through the Appalachian chain
at Hudson Highlands, then broadens as it nears the New York Bay and
the Atlantic. |
Post A Comment! :: Send to a Friend!
|
|
|
|
|
