Monday, May 30, 2011

Passaic River, Florham Park to Summit - 5/30/11

After working on the yard and doing the family thing this weekend, I wanted to paddle for Memorial Day.   It was raining this morning but I knew it would pass soon so I set out to hit the river at 9:00.  I got to the launch area on Columbia Turnpike in Florham Park and it was a nice easy launch.  It was a bit muddy but it was easy access and soon I was on my way.  I headed upstream and all of a sudden found myself in, what appeared to be, a lake.  


That wasn't too bad except for the fact that it was really shallow and I couldn't find the channel to the river.  Everywhere I went I just ran aground and had to push myself to get going.  I had my GPS with me and it was hard to navigate by GPS AND paddle.  I eventually found my way into a narrow channel and slowly paddled my way between high weeds until I came to the river again.  I turned right and headed back upstream. By now it was much easier going to find the channel.


I certainly did see my share of wildlife.  It started with me following a snake that was swimming in the river.  I saw a bunch of ducks, including several flocks of ducklings that would almost skitter on top of the water as I approached.  I also saw a lot of deer.  Many ran away as soon as they saw me coming but a few stood long enough for me to take a picture or two.  At one point, I heard a turkey gobbling.  When I got to the area that I heard him I tried to call him just using my voice.  It worked once but not any more after that.  On the way back downstream, I saw an animal that resembles an otter.  Not quiet sure what it was.  


I did see some interesting "stuff" while I was paddling.  At one point in the trip I saw an old, I don't know, "house".  It was in the middle of no-where and I am not sure what kind of building it was. I also saw, a company that seemed to have a gas powered pump with a hose into the river. I am tempted to call the DEP to see if it's ok that this company does this.  Here are some pictures that I took while I was out there.
Passaic River - 5/30/11

So that is how I spent my Memorial Day.  It was a lot of fun.  All in all I went 11.6 miles.  I went from Florham Park almost to Route 24 in Summit.  I stopped just short.  Here is the map for the route I took:



View Florham Park to Summit - 5/30/11 in a larger map

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Bloomfield Avenue upstream to W. Essex Park

Ok, I admit it, I'm obsessed with paddling.  I did all my yard work and stuff as fast as I could today so that I had a little time to paddle.  I knew I didn't have a lot of time and I looked at the map to see how long it would take me to hit the Passaic river upstream from Bloomfield Ave.  It looked like a very manageable paddle for the time I had.  I had hoped to reach South Orange Avenue because I knew I had put in there once before.  I got in the water on a beautiful sunny/hazy day.  The weather is about 70.  I headed up stream and almost as soon as I started I came across two paddlers coming downstream.  We said hello and I continued on my way.  Almost as soon as I got past the Bloomfield Avenue bridge it became very secluded.  It was very flooded timber and I couldn't tell if it was always like that or because of all the rain we've had.  It was hard to follow the river and there were many parts that I paddled not sure of where I was going.  I was hoping that I would be able to find my way back!  I continued on for about an hour in one direction.  I came upon a blockage that I couldn't get around and so I decided to turn around and float my way back.  I did manage to poke in and out of some areas that were flooded just to look around.  It was a short trip, but a beautiful one.  It amazes me how beautiful and remote some of these areas are.  I think that the Passaic river is a very misunderstood body of water and has a really bad reputation, and it's unwarranted.  I think I like it that way...it leaves it more untouched that way.

Passaic River - 5/1/11


Here's the track I took.  All in all, it was just short of 5 miles


View Bloomfield Ave upstream 5.1.11 in a larger map