D&R Canal: Lock 5 to Landing Lane

D & R Canal State Park, Lock 5 to Landing Lane (12/8/2012)

Just like six days ago, this morning was foggy, misty and overcast. And just like six days ago, we headed to the D & R Canal to walk a few more sections of the narrowest state park in New Jersey.

This time we parked at Lock 5 on Easton Avenue and headed as far as we could towards New Brunswick, which is where the operational canal ended. The last stretch no longer exists, but we were still able to walk the towpath all the way to Landing Lane Bridge at the western border of Rutgers campus. During the last part of the walk, with Rutger's football stadium right across the Raritan River on River Road, we were able to follow a live game call-by-call reaching Landing Land Bridge at the end of the first quarter. Today was a spectacular day for wildlife! We saw ducks, gulls, woodpeckers, hawks, herons, cormorants, buffleheads, geese, squirrels and deer. Some of them were quite brave, allowing me a few terrific close-ups!

Total distance covered was about 7.5 miles in 2 hours and 45 minutes.

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