Travels in the 2nd half

  Croton Dam Every year, on New Years Day, New York State Parks sponsors “First Day” hikes in parks all across the state. Rangers, along with local experts on the history of the area, lead visitors in walks through the winter landscape. This year, I joined a First Day hike at Croton Gorge Park , in Cortland, New York. Croton River Retaining Wall of the Old Aquaduct The Croton Reservoir is the oldest part of New York City’s vast water supply system. The first dam across the Croton River was finished in 1842, along with an aqueduct that used gravity to bring clean drinking water to the city. It was needed because the Hudson River near the city is actually  a salt-water estuary, and the city’s wells had become infiltrated by the salt water. This reservoir and aqueduct brought 35 million gallons of water to the growing city every day. The water traveled for 22 hours, through Westchester County, and Bronx, crossing the High Bridge aqueduct into Manhattan, before ending up at the 4...