Paddling the ancestral Genesee

Today could have gone really well, or really poorly, and I'm happy to say that it was the former. My husband and I decided to take our twin daughters (3.5 yo) out to do one of our favorite outdoor activities, kayaking. We used to kayak fairly regularly before the kids arrived, but haven't made time to since then.

So we next realized that two tandem kayaks might not be the idea either, since someone is always arguing about who sits where, etc., so opted instead to rent a canoe. We headed to Bay Creek Paddling Center in Rochester, where we had previously rented kayaks. Bay Creek has very friendly staff and reasonable prices; I highly recommend them if you're looking for a fun way to spend a nice morning or afternoon. They seemed unimpressed with our pint-sized riders, which gave me some confidence that our endeavor wasn't necessarily doomed. The kids got a kick out of wearing life vests and seemed to enjoy the scenery, wildlife, and overall experience for over an hour, which is an eternity in toddler-years.

We started by paddling up Irondequoit Creek, which flows north and empties into Lake Ontario in Irondequoit Bay. While the water level was fairly high (neither of us remembered being so close to the Empire Blvd underpass on previous excursions), the flow was gentle, and we paddled for a bit though the meandering creek amid the cattails. While we never did find the otter my daughter was seeking, we did encounter a few families of ducks, a turtle sunning itself on a downed tree, a blue heron, and a few giant white swans.

Irondequoit Creek is a large, buried glacial valley just west of Rochester, NY. The Genesee River, the only river to completely cut through NYS, empties into Lake Ontario just to the east in Charlotte. However, the current channel for the Genesee River was created during the waning Late Wisconsin glaciation, when a moraine, or large pile of unsorted glacial sediment, was deposited in Portageville, NY, blocking the river and created a proglacial lake. It is during this time that the Genesee River cut a new path through Letchworth State Park, creating a series of three cataracts. Further deposition of glacial sediment near Avon, NY resulted in a diversion of the Genesee River yet again, this time from its ancient path through Irondequoit Creek and through the city of Rochester, again creating a series of three waterfalls as the river eroded through Silurian and Ordovician sedimentary layers.

The valley walls of the ancestral Genesee are easily visible paddling up the creek, as are large, poorly consolidated deposits of glacial channel sands. When we ventured into the bay a bit, a nice exposure of thinly bedded sand deposits are visible and relatively accessible by canoe or kayak on the east side of the bay.

All in all, a nice way to spend a day outdoors, see some cool geology, and wear out the children.