Canalway Challenge Testimonial: On the Water
Guest blogger Paul Comstock shares his experience paddling the length of the Erie Canal and becoming an “End-to-Ender.”
The Erie Canalway 360 Challenge is an opportunity for individuals to move beyond their regional comfort zone and explore the incredibly rich heritage of the route that connected the country. The Erie Canal opened movement between local environments to the vastness of the growing United States and the markets of the European homelands so many who settled along the pathway of this “great waterway connector” journeyed from.
A picture of Paul Comstock reaching the Hudson from the Niagara. “It was a cold fall day in Waterford, hence the dry suit. The wind was so strong as I entered the Waterford Flight that there were actually waves in each of the locks.”
Now you, in the current moment, can experience connections of an incredible nature along this history-laden body of water. Hop on a bike, plan a series of hikes, paddle your kayak or canoe, rent a packet boat or plan you own water transport voyage and meet the challenge. Be an end-to-ender. Your life will change beyond your imagination. Your connection of the past and the present along this 360 mile treasured expanse will unequal any other journey you can undertake. Move out of your local comfort area of a regional canal experience and explore its entire journey from the Niagara to the Hudson.
You will find it is not a journey on water alone, it is a journey into the lives of those you will meet and those who you will read about who preceded you on this same trek. It may be, as it was for me, a connection to family lines of the past who were also end-to-enders. If you want to connect with a people, a waterway of incredible history, and those you will meet now and those who preceded you, meet the challenge. Become an end-to-ender. I did and the vistas of experience that opened up changed my understanding and appreciation for the visionaries and seekers of a richer life experience of those who traveled this waterway before me. Join me and become a visionary of what the possibilities are and what richer life experiences you and those who follow your example will have as a result of taking full advantage of this incredible waterway. Join me as an end-to-ender. Join the Preservation League of NYS in being a voice for the continuation of the end-to-end experience for those now and those who will seek to understand the heritage of this great connector waterway, the Erie Canal.