Day 15 (Aug 28)

Breakfast at the Red Coach Inn is pretty good. The dining room has a nice view of the Niagara River rapids above the falls. Plus they let me use the computer at their reception desk for a bit, and they even have a mini sewing kit for us. It's getting harder to find those at hotels these days. So this place is all right, I guess.

From Niagara Falls, NY we head out of town on the Conservation Trail, which here is a broad bike/hike path that follows the Niagara River upstream from the falls toward Grand Island. The rapids here are intense. Don't fall in! (Not without a barrel, anyway.)

Further upstream, the river widens and relaxes a bit, and the path includes some nice fishing spots. The bustle of Niagara Falls behind us, nothing remains but the highway to our left and the river to our right. The trail is sunny and peaceful, empty except for a few cyclists.

Next up is Grand Island, which sits in the middle of the Niagara River northwest of Buffalo. The trail is supposed to follow the pedestrian path on the northbound side of the bridge, but...

Some kind of work being done... so we have to wiggle around to the southbound side, no problem, we're game.

The bridge is unnervingly high and windy. Below, motorboats with construction works zip back and forth. A porta-potty is carefully lowered by crane onto a flat-bottomed boat. Delicate work.

On the south end we expect to reconnect with the blazed trail. (The Conservation Trail is blazed with orange paint, unlike the Bruce Trail and most other major trails -- like the Appalacian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Finger Lakes Trail -- which use white.) But instead we're discharged into the parking area for the construction crew, with no way to get to the trail on the other side of the highway. Annoying, but we can roll with the punches, right? So it's about a half mile hike along the shoulder of the Niagara Thruway until we reach the next trail crossing.

Actually it's a little harrowing, especially walking out on the exit ramp with confused drivers speeding past. A great relief to finally see our orange blazes again, which lead us to a pleasant bike trail down the west side of Grand Island, with lovely river views... until...

"BIKE ROUTE - END" Crap. And no sign of our orange blazes anywhere. Now what?

A careful re-reading of the map suggests that we walk on the grass strip next to the road. This grass sports a very prominent "NO PEDESTRIANS" sign. At this point the trail is re-christened "Consternation Trail."

Our plans for Grand Island are already a little iffy... There's no lodging or camping anywhere near the trail. Our best hope is to make it to the state park at the south end of the island (which sadly has no campground) and stealth-camp somewhere in the greenery. But we're honestly a little fed up with the shabby way this trail is treating us, and we fear the prospects ahead -- sauntering for days down the bike paths of Tonawanda and Getzville with no lodging or legal camping -- will continue to irritate. So we opt to cut out as much of of the Consternation Trail as we can, by grabbing a bus to Buffalo. We'll stock up on supplies there and see a bit of the real city that we'd miss if we stuck to the trail. Tomorrow we'll head out to East Aurora, as far as the Buffalo transit system will take us, and pick up the trail there. Hopefully it will be a real trail, where we can legally walk and camp, and feel a little less absurd.

We need change for the bus, but the only business open on the deserted end of the island is this general store:

All they really sell is candy. So we eat candy, and ride straight to downtown Buffalo to the hotel that happens to be closest to the bus route to East Aurora, Hotel Lafayette.

This place is crazy cool. It was designed by America's first female architect, Louise Bethune, in honor of the 1901 Pan-Am Exposition World's Fair, and at the time was the grandest hotel in the city. As Buffalo declined, the hotel suffered and was eventually abandoned as a going concern. At one point it was used as a homeless shelter. Now it's been restored and re-opened, and it's quite delightful. Wish I had pictures of the lobby with its gorgeous murals, but here's our room:

We had a nice meal at a nearby brewery, including Buffalo's specialty, beef on weck. But shopping in downtown Buffalo is a bit of a challenge. We finally find a CVS that stocks some trailworthy foods, hopefully enough to get us to the next decent grocery store somewhere down the trail. Goodnight, Buffalo!