Lock 21 Campground to Lock 16 near Wyanet about 3.9 miles Sept 2 2021

 

This is a fun section of the canal (one of my favorites!).  If you like locks and dams - you should bike these 4 miles. During this stretch, I passed 6 locks -Lock 21 to Lock 16.  The most interesting thing about the locks was that the water goes the other direction which really took me by surprise! I found out that east of the confluence with the feeder canal (which these locks are) the water flows east and west of the feeder canal the water flows west! I didn't know that! The day started out at this parking location that had an outhouse and a concrete boat ramp. It was a beautiful morning. It felt chilly enough that I almost needed a sweater at the start, which was so refreshing after such a hot summer so far. For most of the journey, the path was fine gravel with a lot of pop-up plant growth. There was one portion that was blacktop and also open to vehicular traffic. I even saw evidence that horses had been on the gravel (but I haven't seen them yet)! The canal itself varied from wide sections to places where it looked more like a narrow stream that was banked with plants. I loved seeing all of the changes.  It took me a lot longer than usual to make the trip because I had to stop so many times to take pictures of all the sites. There even was an aqueduct!