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