Day Tripping in NNY

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Here are some pics from the last two rides I took on my TW. First set of pics is the ride home from my brother's house via back roads, after my stator got caught by the rotor and tore up all sorts of stuff and we put it all back together with parts from a '98.





This is a nice little pond. Called the wife from here (last point of cell reception before home) and told her I took "the back way" and since this was a test ride, if she didn't see me in a couple hours she better come looking





Shortly before that last pic, I dumped the bike for the first time while riding. Was on a dirt road in some deep forest where the sun could not penetrate the evergreens, with about 2-3" of solid ice covering the entire road. Front tire caught a rut and down we went at low speed. I was able to merely step off the bike, and the tusk handguards and passenger peg took all the impact, leaving the bike without any damage. Sweet!


The next day after work though, decided to go on a 100mile loop from the house through some remote areas, but on pavement due to the nasty conditions in the woods.





YAYYYYYY riding again!

The main purpose of this trip was to shake down the bike.

Secondary purpose was to tour one particular road that follows The Raquette River here in Upstate NY. This river has a succession of 15 dams owned by Brookfield Power. Thirty of its plants are located in the St. Lawrence region, which includes St. Lawrence and Franklin counties. Those 30 plants feature 55 hydropower turbines with a generating capacity of 223 megawatts (!!!).

Here is a picture of the bike next to a penstock for the first dam encountered on the road (depending on travel direction of course)



And the powerhouse:





There is a dam at the top of the penstock, which raises the water level in the river. The energy from water flowing downhill through the penstock is converted to electricity to power our homes by spinning a turbine in the powerhouse. To make hydropower, you need "head" (elevation change) and "flow." The vertical drop creates pressure at the bottom end of the pipeline. The pressurized water emerging from the end of the pipe creates the force that drives the turbine. More flow or more head produces more electricity.


After poking around the powerhouse (there are cameras watching your every move, now... those were never around before...) I went up the road a bit, and took the access road to the dam.

[operose]

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Looking down from the dam, over the penstock to the powerhouse:





Then it was on up the road to the next one.






One of the themes of my rides seems to be that I am always "chasing the sunset"

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Down another access road











Dam. Another dam.

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Dam+penstock



Penstock+powerhouse




Next dam down the line:





After I pulled out of this spot, back onto the paved road, everything went south. Bike died and rear tire locked up. Managed to pull the clutch and coast into a little picnic area by the next dam.

Called my brother to come pick me up. Oh by the way, happy birthday to me... a screwed up motor always makes a nice gift, right? :blink:

Started tearing her down right there on the grass in case it was something i could fix. Not so lucky.





Almost beat the sunset though!!! Could have picked a way worse spot to break down


Thanks for riding along :)

[operose]

I hope to be able to finish this ride report with pics and history for all the dams...

We have a rich history in the area, largely attributable to The Raquette River. It facilitated logging, transportation, power generation, tourism, and is one of Northern New York's greatest natural assets (in my opinion, at least).

This website has some historic photos from around the Colton area, including logs being run down the river, and the old powerhouses that were first used to harness the energy of the river. http://www.northofseveycorners.com/s...olton_pics.htm



Raquette River, 1912




Snell Water Plant at Higley Falls 1908
Bertrand Hollis Snell was the proprietor



Above Higley Dam


From http://northcountryguide.com/Visitin...wrence-Fishing

Raquette River & Reservoirs

The Raquette River is one of the longest rivers in the State, from the headwaters in Hamilton County through St. Lawrence, the river empties into the St. Lawrence near Massena.

From the headwaters to the dam at Colton Flow, the Raquette is typical of other small rivers that flow through the county. Access is available at numerous points, fishing pressure is light. Game fish along the river range from crappies, panfish and muskie on the lower sections to trout in the upper regions.

The construction of hydroelectric dams on the Raquette River created a series of eight reservoirs called the Upper Impoundments. Carry Falls, Stark Falls, Blake Falls, Rainbow Falls, South Colton, Higley Flow, and Colton Flow reservoirs comprise this 30 mile stretch of river.

The upper Raquette River has good bass fishing and fair angling for pike and walleye, but this 17 mile stretch above the impoundments receives minimal pressure because access is limited and strong rapids are common.

The middle and lower portions of the Raquette River flow for nearly 50 miles from Colton through the larger communities of Potsdam, Norwood and Massena to the Akwesasne Mohawk Reservation. Long river stretches, numerous dams and several reservoirs characterize the middle stretch of the river, while the lower stretch offers 15 miles of gentle uninterrupted flow. If you wish to fish along the final 5.6 miles which is on the Mohawk Territory, you must first obtain a permit from the Mohawk Tribal Council.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raquette_River

The Raquette River, sometimes spelled Racquette, originates at Raquette Lake in the Adirondack Mountains in New York. 146 miles (235 km) long,[1] it is the third longest river entirely in the state of New York.
The river is a popular destination for canoeing and kayaking. It passes through many natural and man-made lakes to its final destination at Akwesasne on the Saint Lawrence River. The river is the source of 27 hydroelectric plants operated by Brookfield Power, which at capacity can produce up to 181 megawatts of power.[2]
Historically, the river was a part of the "Highway of the Adirondacks", by which it was possible to travel hundreds of miles by canoe or guideboat with short stretches of portage connecting various waterways. This route is still followed by the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, a 740-mile (1,190 km) canoe trail from Old Forge to Fort Kent in Maine. It is also the basis of the route of the Adirondack Canoe Classic, a three-day, 90-mile canoe race from Old Forge to Saranac Lake.

[grizzzly]

that looks like a coooooollllldddddd ride.

sorey to hear about the bike but thaks for sharing the pics

[operose]

Grizzly: thanks for stopping by!

It was not too cold out, had a strange mid-march heatwave. It was somewhere between 45-55F, and I was comfortable in just AXO armored jacket w/ liner and a fleece underneath.

I don't mind if it is a bit cold... did some short rides as low as 17F this winter, some in foot deep snow or hockey-rink type ice. With the "reliability" of my bike, gotta get rides in while I can

[TheAdmiral]

45-55F does seem like a heat wave after a long winter doesn't it? I went on more actual rides this winter than I ever have. Dress accordingly, add windshield, and some of those ATV warmer cover thingy's and all was well. Glad to see you got out some. Now we have the up's and down's of spring weather. Two days ago, upper 40's, Monday forcast near 80F.

[operose]

Admiral: The weather here is supposed to be terrible all week. "Thankfully" the bike is torn apart in my brother's garage


Here are some pics from a 2up ride the wife and I took in July.

We were just exploring and didn't know where we were. From here on out it is known as "Bear shit Wildflower Porcupine Mountain Road" because of the abundance of all of these elements

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Please excuse the cellphone pics. Some of them turned out "OK" though

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Happy trails!

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Off for a camping trip!



Leftover pizza on the exhaust manifold so there will be hot dinner upon arrival


Exploring some local trails


But they ended up here:

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That beaver pond up there looks like this now:




Somebody got mad and decided to drain it so the trail could be used again, I guess.



The wife approves

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Completed a 162 mile loop which took a duration of 7+hrs ( ) - This included everything from one of the nastiest trails around to some of the largest state highways around. Basically a "true dual sport" trip to clear the mind and prepare mentally for a major life change. Here is a map. Picture it continuing from the end back to the beginning, and me not being too lazy to finish it...

http://maps.google.c...704186,1.766052

Starting off, rode out of town on gravel and secondary roads to get the bike inspected for the year. $6 and 10 minutes later, the tw200 and I were back on the road.



Stopped to check out an abandoned farm along the way



After a decent stretch of 55mph county road, it was time to hit the secondary roads again and go searching for the terminus of a road that we used to take on our atv's when we were kids. Did not manage to find that particular road, but did instead find the fabled "Boyd Pond Trail" of our youth, one of the muddiest, rockiest, awesomest atv trails around.

After some not-so-bad rocky downhill descents, it started to get interesting-er. It dropped down into a beaver pond basin and then had a muddy ascent up into the ridges beyond...





Now, the pictures don't make it seem that bad. That's because it wasn't that bad yet. This trail however, has an interesting history. It crosses private land but had been open to public use from before the early 1960s until the late 1990s, when the private property changed hands and the trail was gated. It is now open again and being traversed regularly by ATVs.

Side note: In some of the pics you can see why landowners close trails to public use... The "trail braiding" is terrible on this trail because of the massive amount of mud that is encountered. It seems like everybody wanted to make their own bypasses around mudholes, some of which where then used by others, on and on until the trail was 7 trails wide in some spots, every one of which was just a giant mudhole after some use. If these people spent some time to properly corduroy the trail or dig drainage, this massive attack on the land would not be required, and the trail would be easy to ride. But enough ranting.

Many travelers have been claimed by this trail:





Please keep your appendages inside the vehicle at all times while the ride is operating...




After making it through the rest of the trail, I continued on my way around The North Country.

This place is very close to my childhood home. We always called it "The Big Mudpuddle" -- water level was up to the fins on the jug of my tw200 today. Amazingly, this is a "dry year" for us :lol: