Columbia Lake into Paulinskill River

Today was a PERFECT weather day for paddling.  The weather was clear, crisp and calm.  I had been wanting to paddle Columbia Lake and today I decided it was my destination of choice.  I'm really glad I did. First of all, I was alone at the lake which is always a big plus. When you first put in at the launch, the water is covered in lily pads with only a narrow channel to paddle into the lake.  We haven't had any rain so the water was really shallow, even in the lake.  My first impression, other than the Route 80 noise, was the beautiful flowers that seemed to be everywhere.  I paddled to the backside of the lake and then upstream into the Paulinskill.  As all of the trip, it was beautiful the entire way upstream.  It was scratchy at some points and hard to paddle up, but there was enough water for me to float down afterwards.  I just had to make sure to pick the right channels.  This is a place I will come back to.  Here are some pictures
Columbia Lake in Pictures
Here is the route I took
Map of Columbia Lake Route

The musky on canoe this time...

It was a lazy summer Sunday afternoon.  I wanted to get away for a bit and canoeing seemed like the perfect choice.  It was quite warm but also pretty windy.  I figured that it would be tough going on the canoe but i didn't care.  I headed over to the Musconetcong River and put in.  Almost immediately I was passed by two paddlers in a canoe and then I shortly thereafter came upon a whole lot of kayakers going downstream.  The rest of the way was quiet and beautiful.  Here is a video of some pictures I took.


Musky in a canoe

D&R Canal

I took the day off of work to do a little paddling.  I had a nice time the last time that I went on the D&R canal that I wanted to do it again.  It's a really easy, flat, straight paddle so I thought it would be fun with my canoe for a nice relaxing day.  I was right, it was both...fun and relaxing.  I tried to launch at the first causeway that I came to from 287 but they were doing construction so I had to make my way to Amwell road.  It was a nice easy launch and away I went.  I paddled for a total of 8 miles.  At my turn around there was a nice little area on the side of the canal, over a hill, that I could stop for lunch.  It was such a nice day.

Here is a link to some pictures:  D&R Canal in pictures

Caribbean paddle - or just White Lake

I paddled White Lake in Stillwater (or Hope or somewhere near there) today.  What a fantastic experience!  The lake is really more of a pond, it's not all that big and it's essentially round but the water was crystal clear and due to the bottom consisting of marl, which is a prehistoric deposit of aquatic shells, it was white which gave it the appearance of a Caribbean sea. It was a pretty neat experience.  There were quite a few paddlers/fisherman on the lake and you can see the fish swimming all over.  Here is a link to a video:

White Lake Paddle in Pictures

Cranberry paddle

I had a few hours to kill this morning before I go to a bbq for Memorial Day.  I decided to hit Cranberry Lake as I haven't been there since I was in college with Billy Hoffman.  It's funny how the memories of a place doesn't leave you...even after so many years.  I still remembered much of the lake.

It started out a nice, calm paddle.  I left the launch and headed to the "old lake".  I got over to the rocks and decided to do a little fishing.  Got a bite but that was about it.  I then paddled the circumference of the whole lake.  I think my favorite spot was a little hidden cove that was even too shallow for my boat but it was nice and peaceful.  After a while of paddling, and going under the bridge, I headed back to the launch and it became fairly windy and the boats were all starting to zoom around.

As a whole, I wasn't crazy about this lake to paddle.  It was all back yards and to me, dodging boats and seeing backyards isn't all that fun for me.

Lake Aeroflux

I had a little bit of time to go paddling and had wanted to try Lake Aeroflux for a bit so I headed up there to check it out.   I got there fairly early in the day, it was by 7:30 and the morning was gorgeous!  When I got there, there were a few boats there fishing.  I got in the water and paddled around.  I did stop, every so often to do a little fishing, but i paddled more than fished.  I did catch one crappy and one pickerel.  I also stopped off at the side so I can go grab a cache that was hidden near the bank.  I made my way around the entire lake and came back, towards the put in and decided to just lay in the boat for a bit and let the planes land over me.  It is really cool how the Andover airport is so close to the bank of the lake and the planes literally landed right over my head.  All in all it was a great day on the water.  The link below will take you to a video clip of my day.

Lake Aeroflux in pictures

The mighty Delaware/Raritan Canal

Ok, so maybe it's not so mighty.  I sent out to paddle with the club on the canal.  The day was partly sunny and very breezy (13 mph) so I was really contemplating leaving the canoe at home and taking the kayak instead.  I opted to take the canoe and just deal with it as, part of the reason I really wanted to go on this particular trip was because the river is slow, straight and has no strainers.  I thought it would be a great time to continue practicing my canoeing skills.  I'm happy that I did...the wind certainly was challenging at times but overall, i think i did a really good job paddling, didn't have too many problems and based on what I saw from the other canoeists I have come a long way.

Wallkill River

Went paddling on the Wallkill River, through the Wallkill Refuse with the HRCKC yesterday.  It was a beautiful day!!  Started out a little chilly but with the sun shining and the wind dying down, it was a beautiful 60 degree day!  The River started as a mild flow with some twisting and turning but slowed and widened later.  The paddling, for the most part, took us through farm country with the occasional piece of woods.  We did, however, pass what they refer to as "redneck campground".  A bunch of folks, mostly young and dressed in camo, with fires, dilapidated picnic benches, swing sets and campers and they were all four wheeling.  There was one "rapid' section that we went through, but took only a second and because of the high water level wasn't very challenging.

Click on the link below for more pictures

Pictures

Wallkill River at EveryTrail

First time on my new (to me) canoe

I bought my Old Town Pathfinder used so that I can use it to paddle others around, do some fishing, have more storage room, etc.  Well, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.  To me, however, there's something about learning how to paddle a canoe (correctly) and there's something very ...um, I don't know, romantic about paddling a canoe that just doesn't seem to have the same thing with kayaks.

So the weather finally turned and it is a beautiful day today.  Although the wind is really kicking up, more than 20 mph are predicted, I needed to get out.  I went to the Passaic from South Orange Ave. in Livingston with the intention of paddling as close as I could to Route 24 in Summit.  I made it most of the way but then came to a blow-down and I couldn't find a way around.  Besides, by the time I got there i had a huge headache and I was ready to turn around.  On the way, however, not quite half way, when I got to the powerlines, I found a nice little place to pull over and half a lunch and rest.  I brought a blanket with me and laid it out on a high spot so it wasn't wet.  I was right next to one of those mystery buildings that I've seen at this part of the river.  I had some lunch, laid down on the blanket and closed my eyes for a bit.  After my rest i continued upstream until I hit the point to turn around.  I did stop along the way back at another spot to rest again.  Along the trip I saw so many waterfowl and deer.  I tried to take pictures and movies but the effort to keep the canoe going straight was just about all i can do.  As I get better with the J-stroke I'll hopefully make it easier on myself.  All in all it was a great trip.

First time on canoe at EveryTrail

Short Black River Trip

I tried to paddle on the Musconetcong River but it wasn't to be.  I headed off the the Musky, having never paddled there before, and came to what I thought was the launch.  I unloaded my boat and after checking a map, realized i was not at the launch.  The water seemed to be moving fairly well and it was cold.  I reloaded the boat and headed to the real launch only to discover it was iced over.  Back to the original spot I went.  I unloaded and launched without any issues.  It did seem to be moving fairly well and I paddled upstream for a little bit.  After only a short time, however, I decided that it was moving too quickly and not knowing the river, and it being cold, I didn't want to risk it so back I went.  I took out and decided to head over to Black River.  I had been wanting to try the "other side of the road" from the lake so that's where I went.  It was a nice, short twisty trip.  I was surprised at how clear the water was and how sandy the bottom was.  I didn't make it too far and then headed back.

Short Black River at EveryTrail

Just had to....

This weekend was the first really nice weather we've had in a while.  It got into the 50's and it felt so wonderful.  Having to deal with above normal snow fall and below normal temps this past winter had me wanting...um, NEEDING to do some paddling.  I was painting a few rooms in the house on Saturday but that left me free for Sunday.  I didn't have a lot of time and I also wanted to see what it was like entering black river from the Ironia road (I think that's what it is)...I got in with no problem and only made it for a very short while before there wasn't enough water for me to paddle.  I MAY have been able to fight my way through but the water was too cold for me to risk dumping so I tootled around for a bit and came back to the launch.  Essentially, I just paddled what they call, Lake Lillian.  It was a short trip but it felt so wonderful to get on the water again!