July 7, 2018
Four Mile Creek State Park, NY to Niagara Falls, NY
Day 2
Weather: Hot / Calm
We got off to a slow start this morning as I let Cameron sleep in. I got up about 6:30 a.m. and made coffee and enjoyed a relaxing breakfast. We had just over 20 miles today and the first lighthouse, Fort Niagara didn’t open until 9 a.m. so I was in no hurry.
Checking out of the camp at about 8:45 a.m. we arrived at Fort Niagara by 9:15 a.m. The lighthouse itself wasn’t open until 12 noon but the visitors center had the passport stamp.
Fort Niagara Lighthouse
Three forts have stood at the point where the Niagara River empties in Lake Ontario.
Built by the French, the first, Fort Conti was built in 1679, the second Fort Denonville built in 1687, and the current fort was built in 1726.
In 1759, the British captured Fort Niagara from the French in the French and Indian War and a beacon was placed on the roof of the fort in 1781. The roof light remained active until 1803.
A new light was established in 1823, however shipping on the river reduced in 1825 after the Erie Canal was opened and in 1829, the Welland Canal was opened further reducing shipping on the river.
A tornado in 1855 damaged the keepers dwelling and in 1857 a new fourth-order Fresnel lens with a new lantern room were added to the tower
By 1868, the old wooden lighthouse was beyond repair and in 1871 Congress provided $16,000 for a new lighthouse.
The design was a fifty-foot octagonal limestone tower to be situated outside the fort walls. Work commenced in July of 1871 and the light from the fourth-order Fresnel lens, transferred from the old tower, was first exhibited on June 10, 1872.
In 1896, a six-room, two-story keeper’s house was built using the same plans as for houses at Dunkirk and Oswego lighthouses.
On August 28, 1919, the lighthouse was electrified.
In 1993, trees has started to obscure the lighthouse so the Coast Guard replaced the lighthouse with a light on a radio tower. The Fresnel lens was removed from the tower in 1995 and is on display at the visitors center at Old Fort Niagara.
While there, I managed to climb down a steep bank and take some photos of the Niagara Range lighthouses on the Canadian side of the Niagara River. We will visit these tomorrow when we reach Canada.
I would have liked to visit the fort but we wanted to get over to Niagara Falls to do some exploring. We did however take a short detour over to the lake front.
We made our way up the Niagara river towards the Niagara Falls. Well it would make no sense to be going down would it. Stopping a few times to take photos.
The toughest part of the day was the long hill up Lewiston Road. It was the hill that kept giving.
My original route was to make a detour off Lewiston Road (Hwy 104) at Military road and then detour through the university, however I decided to keep straight on Lewiston Road and it wasn’t that bad.
Later we joined the trail where they have closed one lane of an expressway and made it exclusive for walkers and cyclists.
Once up over the hill, we stopped and walked down to Whirlpool State Park.
We arrived in Niagara Falls, NY at noon and as we were hungry and hadn't eaten since breakfast we found a touristy place that was way over priced but loaded up on Hot Dogs, Burgers and Fries. That's hotdogs and fries three days in a row, you can tell I'm riding with a teenager.
After lunch we then rode about 1/2 mile up the hill and checked into our hostel, The Gorge View. The hostel was well run and clean.
After checking in and getting our bikes and gear loaded into our room, we walked back down to Niagara Falls State Park, visiting the American, Bridal Veil and Horseshoe Falls. Each area was crowded with tourists speaking a variety of languages. We looked into taking the Maid of Mist tour on a boat up to the falls but we were discouraged by the 1 1/2 hour wait in the hot sun. The new plan is to get up early tomorrow and catch the first tour in the morning.
We arrived back at the hostel at 4 p.m., sun burnt, hot and tired. After a shower, we both took a nap.
The hostel manager recommended some good local places to eat (cheaper than the Canadian side he said), so we grabbed some pizza at a nearby pizza joint.
Dinner consumed, we walked over the bridge into Canada to see the falls from the other side. We arrived a bit late as the sun was already going down and the Horseshoe Falls was already in shadow.
After wandering around and dealing with more crowds, we found a spot along the rock wall and hung around till dark to see the colored flood lights shine on the falls and the fireworks show at 10 p.m.
Afterwards we walked up the busy street which I affectionately called Vegas of the North. Anytime there is a Ripley's Believe it Not and a Wax Museum you know its going down hill.
Later walking back, we discovered that when leaving Canada you need to pay $1 in US quarters so I had to change a $5 note into all quarters. I will be carrying these all around the lake until we arrive back later next week.
Walking back to the hostel reminded me how run down the USA side is. Hotels of choice, Rodeway Inn, Howard Johnson, Wyndham. Hotels in Canada; Sheridan, Crown Plaza, Marriott.
And a dodgy neighborhood to walk back in the dark.
Today's ride: 23 miles (37 km)
Total: 68 miles (109 km)
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