Hackensack River- Riveredge to up river dams November 27th 2011

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Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. Got out on the Hackensack by 9:25. The weather was fabulous for late November- 16 degrees C. (61F)
 Apart from somehow deleting a batch of photos, those showing the dams at which I had to turn around, it was a great two and a half  hours. 
There has been so much flooding this summer and fall, as well as a couple of big storms (including Hurricane Irene) , there was a large amount of trash and fallen timber in the upper reaches of the river.

Found a fishing float wedged up under the bridge - into the fishing box it goes 

A need architectural addo-n 

Trash in the river 

 That said, there were a number of birds, several large cormorants, a great blue heron, a hawk I could not identify and the good old belted kingfisher making a racket. The hawk swooped down and harassed a duck at one point. 

The tide was high and the water level came right up into the car park at the boat ramp .
This is probably the last paddle without more than three layers of clothing  on .

Delaware Raritan Canal 5 Mile Lock - Ten Mile Lock

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What a great day, 65 degrees and sunny on the  day after Thanksgiving.  In an effort to work off some of the excess food from yesterday, it was a great opportunity to get out and do some exercise. 
I had planned to paddle in the Raritan River, but with even more rain falling in the area this week, the river was running very fast and I would have been hard pressed to make much headway upstream, so I went a little further up stream until I found a place to launch in the canal. There is a small car park by the 5 mile lock and an easy spot to put in.

5 Mile Lock

Car Park at Lock 

The paddle was pleasant, but somewhat uneventful, with only a few ducks, Canada Geese and a few painted turtles in evidence. 

 Went under a couple or movable bridges and had to portage around a lock (South Bound Brook Lock) a little way up. 


I turned around at 10 Mile lock, but jumped out to look at the Raritan, which i heard roaring  adjacent to my position. 
It was  Island Weir, Bridgewater, just downstream of the confluence of the Raritan and Millstone Rivers, that was making all the noise .

I turned around here and headed back to the car. Another great day in beautiful new Jersey.

Hudson River GWB South November 6th

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I headed onto the Hudson today, it being a sunny day with calm conditions forecast. I put in at the boat ramp almost directly under the George Washington Bridge, just a little south. It was a good boat ramp with two concrete ramps. I imagine it gets pretty busy in the summer, but today with cool conditions , there was very little boat  action.

There were great views of the city  all the way. 

 I paddled south  along the New Jersey shore. There were many interesting houses at the start. It would be a nice place to live- good views for sure. 

One of the most interesting sights was the slowly disintegrating "Binghamton', once a party boat.

Manhattan Views

Riverside Church and Grant's Tomb on the left

Under the Crabhouse Restaurant 

Looking North

Jersey shoreline

This boat was cruising back and forth , turning and tacking up and down the river as I paddled. 

GWB - Jersey side

GWB Manhattan side

The 'Little Red Lighthouse" of storybook fame'

The Palisades

Looking back towards the boat ramp (under bridge)

Another great day's paddling.