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.
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
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.
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
