Duck Island

So I was finally able to break out my bike and go riding for the first time this year. I went down to Duck Island just south of Trenton. I was always curious about the area - oh I know - people warned me that it's really not a good area - gang killings, baby's body found, the old Lover's Lane serial murders in 1939... but hey, I wasn't scared, I had my camera. Anyway, a leg of the D&R Canal runs right thru Duck Island and the Trenton Bordentown Marsh, right alongside the Delaware River. It's only accessible by foot or bicycle.

There was so much trash on the outskirts of Trenton - roofing shingles, refrigerators, washers, dryers - it was like going into Sears - there were also a ton of tires. The tires were everywhere. I came upon this old car bench seat that was overlooking the canal. I guess maybe it was romantic at one time (Lover's Lane Murders) but right now it was just creepy. The bench overlooks dozens of tires in the canal. I have a real problem understanding why people dump - who was the first person that threw their old tires in the canal and what were they thinking? "Gee, this is a real pretty place to dumped these ugly old tires"... Hello.

So I jumped off my soapbox and got back on my bike. I went down a little further and there was this rectangular thing sitting at the bottom of the canal. It was filled with thick, murky mud. I wonder if this is an old sunken canal barge? It's about the right size. It was pretty cool, whatever it was.

I wasn't sure where the trail was going to take me but I kept going. It was a pretty nice ride after getting out of Trenton. I rode about 8 miles thinking that it might run into Bordentown and I could just loop around, go up 206 and be home. Wrong. It dead ended. Ugh. But it dead ended at a canal lock that was semi washed away. It was really cool to see what these locks are made of and how it was constructed. I was able to jump down to the bottom of the lock and make this image above. I really dig the movement of the water and light reflecting off the water - this is a keeper.

While I was making that image I looked down and found this old old broken plate. It was ancient. Anyone that knows Trenton knows about their rich pottery history. Back around 1850 Trenton was a pottery mecca. I'm pretty sure this plate was from around that era. There's a dig going on right next to the Statehouse and some of the relics they are pulling up look very similar to this piece.

Oh, I almost forgot - Road Kill.