Two bridges up the Pequannock - 4/26/11

I went turkey hunting in the morning and decided to paddle in the afternoon because it was such a beautiful day.  I started at Two Bridges Road in Fairfield and paddled up the Pequannock.  The river was flowing pretty good, so it was a stiff paddle all the way upstream.  This was certainly a different experience than my past paddles.  It wasn't beautiful at all...it was all through the flood devastated area.  There was nothing but destruction all the way up the river.  It's amazing and sad how these people have to live.  

Some guy rode past me in a motor boat and said he was going on a scavenger hunt...looking for stuff that was washed away in the flood.  He said it's mostly coolers.  The one very interesting thing I saw was an island that had 5 houses on it.  It was very cute and there is no way to the island but by boat.

 On the other side was a dock with stairs up to some parking spaces.  It was really neat.  The interesting thing is that the houses didn't look affected by the flood.


Here's one last picture...just because I like it.



All in all it was a less than eventful paddle...but the weather was 85 and sunny (actually pretty breezy at the end of the trip).  Here is the map of my trip.  It totaled 6.9 miles.



View Two Bridges up the Pequannock - 4/26/11 in a larger map

Easter paddle

Buona Pasqua!!  The sun actually came out this morning...Jeannie said, "you should be kayaking"...and so I did!  lol.  I didn't have a lot of time because we're going to Aunt Carol's today, but I went over to Pompton Lake for a little paddle and fishing.  It was a beautiful calm morning and I greatly enjoyed my time on the water.  I did catch one fish, a pickerel...my first from the kayak.  I have to say, it's a lot of fun.  The only other thing that happened is, my lure got stuck on the red flag I keep dangling from the bow of the boat (for towing purposes) so I had to row all the way back to the boat ramp, get out, unstick it, and then get back in.  A great morning and great way to start Easter.

Essex Environmental Center to South Orange Ave.

I decided to take the day off of work and go paddling.  I have a little time that I have to use and the weather was supposed to be outstanding today...and it was.  It was sunny and 72, what a beautiful day.  I decided to try putting in at the Essex County Environmental Center which is on Eagle Rock Avenue in Roseland.  The river came right up to the shore and it gently sloped away into the water.  It was a very easy launch and I managed to launch without even getting muddy at all.  I started paddling upstream and it appeared to me that it was pretty flooded from the recent rains.  I have nothing to compare it to considering I've never been here before, but there were a lot of submerged trees that just seemed out of place.  The water was brown and muddy but there was hardly any current whatsoever so it was an easy paddle.

Shortly after getting underway, I came upon a power generation station.  One of the workers was perched high up on a tower and yelled down to me "ahoy matey"...I think he was just jealous. :)  I continued upstream and came to a blockage.  This was the first time that I ever had to portage while I was paddling.  Luckily for me, the area was just like when I got in the boat...a slow sloping bank and it made portaging easy.  I took the opportunity to take a picture of my boat..

After moving up stream from there I came upon a railroad bridge...not sure if it's still used or not.  .  I continued on my way...it was fairly uneventful.  There wasn't much wildlife to be seen and the scenery was not as interesting as the last time I went out.  The Passaic from this point runs behind companies and houses mostly.  There were some areas that were more remote, but not much.  I made it up to the Route 10 bridge in East Hanover. .  After leaving the bridge behind, I continued as far as I could, up to South Orange Avenue.  It was then that I hit an impassable blockage.  I may have been able to portage but at this point I had gone so far it was time to turn around.  I started to paddle back downstream and enjoyed a leisurely float back.  As there wasn't much current, it wasn't just sitting back and enjoying the ride.  I did have to still paddle.  On the way back, I did manage to see some wildlife.  I actually saw a whole bunch of deer at different points.  One time I managed to get a picture.  .  I also happened to see a whole bunch of turkeys at various points on my way back.  

All in all it was a great trip.  I managed to to go almost 11 miles on this trip.  My shoulders are screaming!  :)  It was a great day on the river and I can't wait to get back out.  Here is the route that I took.  It is tracked by an application on my phone.

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Here are some other pictures I took on the trip.  I can't wait for the foliage to come in.

...it's not all beautiful on the river!

Passaic river from Two Bridges into Peace Meadows 4.3.11

Today was my first real day that I took the kayak out. I started off at Two Bridges Road and went into Peace Meadows. The weather was mostly sunny, around 54 and windy as all get out. I decided to paddle upstream the whole way so that coming back was easier. I was certainly nervous getting in the boat and into the river for the first time.  I wasn't sure how steady I would be, could I paddle upstream, etc.  All the newbie concerns I suppose.  I got into the kayak easier than I expected and started out paddling upstream on the Pequonnock just to see how easy it would be to go upstream (if i wasn't able to, I could get out now before it's too late).  It was certainly easy enough so I continued down and under the two bridges into the Passaic and upstream I went.  As I started out I was surprised at the run down houses that lined the shoreline. Once I made it past the last house, and route 80 to my left I entered Peace Meadows. It was beautiful there, although the trees were still in the winter gray.  It was almost as though I left New Jersey and entered the flooded swamps of Louisiana.  At least that's how it felt to me.  As I made my way up the river I saw a hawk circling above.  Shortly after that I came upon a crane (or whatever those big blueish looking birds are),  He took off from wherever he was and flew up the river.  His wingspan is so wide.  He and I would play cat and mouse for a bit of time.  He would fly ahead and as I approached where he landed, he would once again take off.  I saw two deer on the left side as I made my way up river.  As I came around a bend in the river, I noticed the two deer crossing the river! 

The river was beautiful and although it was still gray from winter, I took a bunch of pictures...here are a few.



At one point, I pulled into a little off shoot of the river just to rest from paddling (or drift downstream) and I shared my space with this little guy

It was a great first day on the river and in the kayak.  I went a total of 7.2 miles, roundtrip and totally enjoyed it.  I can't wait for my next adventure.  Here's the route that I took.

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