This was the first time I went on a paddling trip with the folks from the Hackensack River Canoe and Kayak club. I have to say that it was such a pleasure to paddle with these guys (and gals). They couldn’t be nicer. As I’m new to paddling in moving water (other than the Passaic River which really doesn’t move at all) they were extremely helpful in teaching me some of the basics on how to read a river, negotiating the river, eddies, surfing, water flows , etc. I guess I didn’t know how much I didn’t know. As for the trip, the water was very low and the river was scratchy on many spots. I think I took the bottom completely off my boat!! It was a blast, however and I can’t wait to go on another moving water trip. We started off at 11:30 b y the time we launched and about halfway through, we stopped for lunch on an island in the middle of the river. Then paddled the rest of the way, finally starting to drive home around 4:00 (lots of talking time too). There were only one wipe out along the way when one of the members was having a problem and another turned to look at what was going on, causing her to get caught in a strainer and with her fast thinking and the fast thinking of those around her, managed to get her out of trouble and although both women were soaked, no one got hurt. After regrouping we paddled to the end. A great trip!
Here are some pictures from the trip:
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Paulinskill River, - 2/24/12 |
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