The St.Lawrence River

Just to the west of the Adirondacks, past the foothills of the mountains, lies the St.Lawrence River Valley. The St.Lawrence River flows to the Atlantic Ocean from Lake Ontario and is navigable by a system of locks. My favorite campground is on the shore of the St.Lawrence River. Coles Creek State Park. From your lawn chair by the campfire you can watch the ships slide by, and hear their horns as they greet each other in passing.




In this shot my grandson fishes on the shore of our campsite at Coles Creek while out on the river a freighter travels downriver toward Montreal.


I am fascinated by the lakers,…. freighter ships carrying all sorts of things from ports farther west in the Great Lakes such as Thunder Bay, Ontario; Duluth, Minnesota; Toledo, Ohio and north of us in Montreal, Quebec. I have been to the Eisenhower Lock in Massena, NY, many times and watched the freighters go up and down with the water level in the lock so that they can continue either up river or downbound.

A bit farther upriver from Coles Creek is Alexandria Bay, NY. This is the home of Boldt Castle built by George C. Boldt, one-time owner of the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City. Mr. Boldt began building it in honor of his beloved wife, Louise. The castle grew to six stories and 120 rooms. But in 1904 Louise died suddenly and Mr. Boldt, in his great sorrow, stopped all work on the castle. It is now, after many years of being vacant to be ravaged by wind and rain and vandalism, being restored and is a “must see” if you are in northern New York State. Check it out at http://www.boldtcastle.com/.

The pictures today were taken at various times and on various trips to the St.Lawrence River.

Sunset on the St.Lawrence, another great camping day draws to a close at Cole's Creek.