Lake Ontario is a shared great lake between Canada and New York. I can't recall the details but it produces hydroelectric power for both countries. Most of it supplied by Canada.
As is Niagara Falls, which feeds into it. I was lucky to visit Niagara Falls when I did as I was able to cross a bridge to take in the immense natural power of both sides of the Falls. We took the the ride called lady of the mist (or something like that). A boat that took us close to the bottom of the Falls. We were given long rain coats as we basically drove into spray and mist. Should have taken goggles as the "rain" made it difficult to see anything. It was so loud that even wow was drowned out.
It was spectacular and beautiful. The adjoining towns can only be described as campy low end Las Vegas. One is called Niagara Falls NY the other Niagara Falls Ontario. The Canadian side is more beautiful and dramatic. My friend did not want to walk through either town, but I insisted to at least see them. After an hour walk through we drove to Niagara on the lake. A picturesque beautiful little town where we found a cozy restaurant with a real fire place which turned the slightly hassled tourist experience into a wonderful day. Fond memories.
Those beautiful memories are now being disturbed. Additional friends and relatives who had the Falls on their to do list when they visited are part of those memories.
So. Google maps has already decided to call it lake America (at worst shouldn't it be lake new york/lake ontario?) for Americans and lake ontario for everyone else. More confusion.
Water is an important resource.
What's next? Niagara Falls becomes America Falls?
Please do not insult any politicians.
Never been to Niagara Falls but I fully understand the power of water from my days as a river guide.
ReplyDeleteI see you've made this blog public again.
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DeleteWould love to hear about it. Don't even know what that would entail.
For now. See how it goes. Too much of a hassle.
For about 10 years I worked for an outfitter who ran 3 day wilderness canoe camping trips through Boquillas Canyon in Big Bend National Park 4 times a year herding 20 - 30 people along with other trips on different rivers in Texas navigating rapids and private trips with my friends. Hiked back into side canyons to see 12,000 - 30,000 year old pictographs and petroglyphs, explored ancient shelters.
DeleteMore details. Pre-trip meeting told them what they needed to bring and how to pack their clothes watertight. Once at the river we loaded the canoes and showed them how to tie everything down so that if they flipped none of their belongings would go downstream, explained basic safety and what to do if they flipped or came broadside to a boulder, how to get in and out, stuff like that. Once on the river the lead boat (often me) would guide them through the current and small fast water, make camp, fix dinner then breakfast, break camp (pack it in, pack it out), lunch on the river. While we had tents for emergencies (I think we only broke them out one time in 10 years because of the weather), we slept under the stars. Lots of stories, LOTS of stories. I've written about these trips but not for years.
DeleteNow that I've looked at it, the second group is barely about the river and guiding.
DeleteIf you type in 'river trips' in the upper left hand corner search bar, those posts will come up. Depending on how interested you are, how much you want to read, if you get through those, click on 'next posts' at the bottom for more.
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ReplyDeleteWhoa. That's amazing. Looked into doing one of those in my twenties. Wilderness trip or wild water rafting. Same thing?
Didn't end up doing it. Regret it now.
And a guide no less. You lived life to the fullest, didn't you? I'm so impressed. River guide doesn't do It justice.
Do you remember which prehistoric culture it was?
Thank you. I'll have a look.
Oops, not as old as I wrote, maybe 10,000.
ReplyDeleteWe canoed as opposed to rafting although the outfitter did do rafting trips through Santa elena Canyon in Big Bend. I prefer the canoe, being in charge of my own boat. But yeah, totally isolated especially once we were in the canyon. If we didn't bring it with us, we did without. Had to bring all the water we would need as well. We did carry a satellite phone with us in case of an actual emergency. It was a fun time.
Lower Pecos Canyonlands culture. If you read all the way through the link where it mentions Hinds Cave, I've been in that shelter, climbed up the midden. Sifting through the detritus in the bottom of the shelter I came up with a child's woven sandal complete with twine laces. I reburied it before we left.
https://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/pecos/
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ReplyDeleteSounds like a real exploratory trip. Your stories would make a fun post. You did this for a decade?
It reminds me that Frank Herbert was also a pearl diver. Such exceptional jobs.