Photos by Tom Rivers – This barn is on Sheeler Road out in the mucklands.

This barn is on Oak Orchard Road, not far from Route 98. The corn crop was recently harvested.

BARRE – Orleans Hub is going to have 2014 calendar available soon. We have all the pictures lined up and ready to go, but I thought we could improve one of the winters months.

So earlier today I set out on a mission: get a photo of a barn with some snow. I had a feeling something special was waiting for me in Barre. I headed out towards to the muck, taking Oak Orchard Road with a short detour on Angevine Road.

A barn and its neighbor have been fixtures along Angevine Road.

I took this looking through a culvert along Transit Road. There’s a barn in the background.

Barre is the most rural town in Orleans County. It includes muckland and many current and former dairy farms. Barre is a gold mine for rustic old barns. The town signs proclaims that Barre is “A Right To Farm Community.”

I think I got what we wanted for the calendar and I’m not revealing that image today. But I’ve included several others that have loomed large on the landscape for many years.

This barn is still standing on Oak Orchard Road close to the Angevine Road intersection.

These drainage pipes escort water off the muck and into a drainage ditch that runs along Transit Road. This was taken at the intersection with Sheelar Road.

A barn is the background and cattails are in the foreground in this photo taken from what appeared to be an unnamed dirt road off Transit Road.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Portage Road in Ridgeway is another winding road in the countryside.

The first big snowfall hit Tuesday evening and continued throughout the night. Orleans County residents woke up to 5 to 7 inches of snow on the ground.

I headed out for a drive this morning to get some photos.

The Beals Road canal bridge in Ridgeway was built in 1909. This one is in good shape. It had a major rehab in 2003.

A view from the Beals Road bridge, looking west at the Erie Canal.

These snow-covered apple trees are along Telegraph Road in Ridgeway.

This nice-looking old barn is not far from the apple orchard on Telegraph Road.

This Grand Army of the Republican marker notes the grave for a veteran of the Civil War. It is part of the Tanner Cemetery on Telegraph Road near Route 31.

The railroad crossing sign is hard to make out on Albion-Eagle Harbor Road in Albion.

CLARENDON – Orleans County is home to several waterfalls, but I think the one in Clarendon is the most visible.

This waterfalls is along Route 237, just a little south of the Route 31A intersection. I stopped by this morning at about 7:20 a.m. When I parked in a spot by a small park, I could hear the roar and splash of the 25-foot-high waterfalls.

This one isn’t as big or as majestic as the nearby waterfalls in Holley, but this is no weak trickle. Clarendon has long been proud of this site, which was next to a mill long ago. Some of the foundation from the mill remains in a hill by the waterfalls.

The waterfalls is fed from Sandy Creek. It is more powerful after a heavy rain.

Photo by Tom Rivers

GAINES – Two turkeys were roaming along West Bacon Road in Gaines this morning. Thanksgiving is now less than a week away.

Photos by Tom Rivers

It’s been a tranquil day of weather in Orleans County with temperatures at about 50 degrees. I didn’t bother with the winter coat.

The sky has been gray all day and there has been a little rain. I drove to Carlton and Kent earlier today and took the back roads on the drive home to Albion.

I stopped for a picture of the one-lane canal bridge on Keitel Road in Albion (top photo).

Just before that I passed by an orchard on Zig-Zag Road. It had been nearly picked clean of all its apples, but I noticed a few were still hanging on the trees. There is also some corn left to be harvested in the county.

The temperature is forecast to drop to the 30s on Saturday with Sunday at a high of only 25. I’ll have to get out the winter coat.

Photo by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – A cyclist passes by the Erie Canal in Medina’s canal basin. Main Street is a block away. A row of historic Medina sandstone buildings back up near the canal.

This photo was taken from the north side of the canal. The historic waterway officially closed for the season on Friday and will soon be drained for the winter.

The canal’s 190^th annual season kicks off in May.

Nature trail at wildlife refuge leads to wonderland

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALABAMA – When we all woke up to a dusting of snow on Wednesday, the first snowfall in many months, I cancelled my morning plans and headed out to the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge.

I’ve been having an awakening of sorts in recent months to the natural wonders all around those of us who live in Orleans County. This place is stunning. My favorite time of the year may in the spring when the fruit trees are in their blossoming glory.

Nature reigns supreme on the 1.3 mile trail in the wildlife refuge.

This past summer was a joy with what felt like day after day of spectacular sunsets. They were orange, red, purple, and some had an array of colors. I have friends in the big cities and they hardly ever see a decent sunset.

Fast forward to Wednesday morning. I was going to Swallow Hollow, period. Everything else could wait about two hours.

I’ve been on this 1.3 mile loop through the woods a couple times before, both times with little kids so I couldn’t really take in nature’s glory. I couldn’t let my guard down. I had to stay vigilant in case a child fell in the swamp.

So Wednesday, after the first light snowfall of the season, I embarked on a nature hike all by myself. Swallow Hollow is part of a wildlife refuge that covers about 11,000 acres in Shelby in Orleans County and Alabama in Genesee County.

Swallow Hollow is on Knowlesville Road, east of Route 63. I hoped Swallow Hollow was in Orleans County so we could claim this as one of our assets. But I think it’s slightly to the south in Genesee County. Close enough. We have about half the refuge in our county so why quibble over a technicality?

Swallow Hollow has an elevated boardwalk over the swamp. It makes for a wild walk. I give the refuge and whoever made this happen a lot of credit. I’m sure there were some naysayers when the idea was put out there: Let’s put a boardwalk in the swamp.

I’m grateful the project became a reality and we have public access to such a special place. Swallow Hollow was closed to the public for five years until the boardwalk was upgraded for about $500,000 in 2006. This was met with great fanfare by the public when the trail reopened.

You’re on the boardwalk at the beginning and the end of the trail. You spend most of your time walking on a dirt trail. (It was covered in snow on Wednesday.)

The birds are happy in the refuge. They sound like an enormous joyful chorus.

It was a chilly morning Wednesday and the autofocus didn’t work on my camera. I had to use the manual focus and a lot of photos that I thought were winners were actually slightly fuzzy. But it’s hard to walk out of Swallow Hollow without some good ones.

Historic waterway ends 189^th year

Photos by Tom Rivers

The tenders, tugboats and barges are lining up today between the Main and Ingersoll Street lift bridges in Albion, where the vessels will spend the winter before the canal reopens next May.

The canal is closing at 5 p.m. today, ending its 189^th season since the waterway opened in 1825, transforming New York state into an economic powerhouse and giving birth to numerous canal towns, including Albion.

The 524-mile state canal system runs through Orleans County. I live a few blocks from the canal. I enjoy the old bridges and tugboats that are part of our landscape.

I took a lot of photos of the canal this year. I like this one of a sunset on Aug. 12 the best. It shows the Main Street lift bridge in Albion.

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – I took this picture of a bunch of Canada geese in a field along Albion-Eagle Harbor Road this morning.

These birds are awfully skittish. I don’t understand why. They outnumbered me about 1,000 to 1. I tried to get close and they took off in a flock. The little black marks in the sky are all geese.

Photos by Tom Rivers – The waterfalls plunges the east branch of Sandy Creek about 35 feet.

HOLLEY – I was in Holley today and stopped by the Holley Waterfalls, which seem to burst out of the side of a hill in wooded area off Frisbee Terrace.

The village of Holley worked hard about 15 years ago to create a canal park, trail system and picnic area by the waterfalls.

This is one of Orleans County’s best spots and seems half the high schoolers I know have their senior pictures taken here.

Holley is trying to draw more attention to this site with signs along Route 31. If you’re wondering how to get there you turn towards the Save-A-Lot on Frisbee Terrace and follow the road down past the DPW garage.

You can even explore on the hill and get some pictures from up top. If you go to the Canal Park and walk a little to the east, you can also see how the east branch of Sandy Creek flows under the canal and then tumbles down the falls.

Sandy Creek seems to be racing towards the falls, ready for the big drop.

This is as close as I was willing to get looking down the waterfalls.

I give Holley high marks for developing a trail system and canal park with the waterfalls the exclamation point. The village has also added benches, a pavilion and some grills. I stop by the waterfalls a few times a year and people are always there. Two people were fishing when I stopped by around 4 p.m.

Nature shows its grit on the side of the hill.

Some of the leaves won’t budge despite the fast-moving water.

Oak Orchard Creek plunges 40 feet near canal in Medina

Photos by Tom Rivers

MEDINA – I’ve heard it and seen it from a distance. But I had never been close to the Medina Waterfalls – until this afternoon.

We ran a Vintage Orleans photo earlier today from 1905 of the Aqueduct in Medina. The Aqueduct gives the Oak Orchard Creek a path to run under the Erie Canal in Medina. Not long after, the creek plunges in a waterfalls.

I wanted to see it, but it wasn’t easy. There’s no signage (that I could see) directing pedestrians to see this attraction. I was stumped on how to get there. But long-time Medina resident Denise Adams was out walking her dog along the towpath, on the north side near the Horan Road bridge. She knew the drop-off point where people went to go see the falls.

We headed west, past the creek. It’s a long drop off from the concrete path to get down to the trails leading to the waterfalls. Some people made a mound of dirt at one spot so the drop wouldn’t be so far. It’s still probably 8 to 10 feet below.

Adams told me she sees high schoolers head down to the waterfalls. I decided to make the descent, although I wondered how I’d get back up.

Trails take you to the creek but it’s slippery. You could easily fall and slide right the creek. I kept my wits and footing and worked my way towards the waterfalls, passing sandstone walls and sandstone chunks along the path.

One slip and you could end up in the creek.

I’ve had the waterfalls on a to-do list for a few months. I waited until the fall when the leaves wouldn’t block the view and would add some color.

This waterfall is powerful. It’s not a babbling brook, trickling down a hill. It’s far more ferocious than the waterfalls in Holley, Clarendon or Waterport.

The waterfalls roars with the Horan Road bridge in the background.

I grabbed several photos and headed back. I reached the spot where I descended, but I didn’t think I could jump, grab the concrete ledge and hoist myself up. Some of the teens made a wobbly stack of stone to try to get up, but that seemed too unsteady.

I kept walking west, looking for a way to get back up. I had to dodge cesspools, rotted trees, branches and other obstacles, all while trying to avoid a slip off the cliff.

Be prepared for an adventure if you want to see the Medina Waterfalls. I’d recommend some stairs be installed to make it safer for people to climb off and then back up the towpath.

I finally found a spot maybe 100 yards down. Adams was relieved to see me. She said she went home and her husband made her come back in case I ended up in the creek.

It really wasn’t too risky, but I’m surprised something this nice has to be so difficult to go see. Medina could have an attraction with the waterfalls if it was clearly marked along the canal, and if there were sturdy steps so people could go down and then come back up on the towpath.

I’m not sure who owns this property. The owner may not want people to go exploring. But people clearly are. So why not make it a little easier?

There should be some railings near the paths by the creek. One slip and someone could end up in the water.

St. Mary’s Catholic Church looms in the distance in this photo of the Oak Orchard Creek in Medina. The waterfalls (not pictured) are close, a little to the east.

This part of the Erie Canal was a particularly difficult challenge for the engineers and workers nearly 200 years ago. They built the aqueduct over the creek, and the canal followed the contours of the Oak Orchard Gorge. That’s why there is the wide area in Medina at the canal basin.

I don’t know the whole story, but after today I’m quite fascinated by this spot. I just wish I didn’t have to be a daredevil to experience it.

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The sun rises over the railroad tracks looking east from the Clarendon Street bridge this morning in Albion.

I rushed out to get a few photos after my 9-year-old son came downstairs exclaiming about the colors in the sky at 7 this morning. He instructed me to “go take a picture.”

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – No need to take a ride out in the country to see the fall foliage in its glory. I stopped by the Courthouse Square in Albion this afternoon and took these photos.

The top photo is on the Courthouse lawn with the First Baptist Church in back in the center. The Episcopal Church is at right and St. Joseph’s Catholic Church is at left.

The top of the Orleans County Courthouse dome shows while some leaves cling to one of the trees on the lawn.

The County Clerk’s Building is framed by a mostly barren branch in this photo. The Courthouse Square and the seven churches nearby are part of a district named to the National Register of Historic Places.

188 years ago the canal opened, turning Orleans County into a hot spot

Photo by Tom Rivers

ALBION – The Erie Canal opened 188 years ago. It was a marvelous day.

The new man-made wonder ran 363 miles, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean, greatly reducing the time and cost of shipping goods and personal travel.

Gov. DeWitt Clinton rode a canal boat from Buffalo to New York City to celebrate the new waterway. He convinced the state Legislature in 1817 to commence on the monumental task of digging a 40-foot-wide ditch that would be 4 feet deep.

The canal would turn Orleans County and several of its villages and hamlets into thriving communities.

I took the photo of the flag this evening in Albion with the Ingersoll Street lift bridge in the background. Here’s wishing the canal many more years of good health.

Photos by Tom Rivers

MIDDLEPORT – The tugboat and a barge rest in front of a canal bridge. That is dominant image of a mural on a Middleport building. The artwork was added to the community just west of the Orleans County line in 2007.

Albion native Stacey Kirby created that mural and two others: a train depot between Main and Vernon streets that was torn down in the 1960s while the other scene depicts the building (in a different era) at the corner of Main and State streets, where the mural is painted.

Above the three scenes Kirby painted the community’s motto: “Middleport, NY a friendly community.”

I was in Middleport last evening to do a story on the Lake Plains Players’ production of Les Miserables. I had a few minutes to spare and wanted to check out Kirby’s artwork. She has some others in this canal village as well.

I’m hoping we can come up with a project for her in Albion. She said she wants to do one in her hometown.