Monksville Reservoir, Ringwood NJ - March 26th 2011

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My Friend Lerro, from Ringwood NJ, is always defending her home turf against all the New Yorkers who sneer at Jersey.  Saturday I found myself looking for a place to paddle in fairly gusty conditions not too far from the City.
I headed up to Monksville Reservoir fully equipped with all my cold weather gear. In the wind, the temp was about -6 Celsius.  It  was a beautiful sunny day and I couldn't bear to let it go by without making the best of it.
I went up via Campmor, the outdoor store where I bought a replacement pair of silk glove liners, having lost one of them on my last day out.  That took my to Ringwood via Suffern ,. The drive up into the hills was great. Lerro was , as usual, right.
The are is heavily forested, and waterways abound.

The boat ramp ( one of three at the reservoir)

There was a stiff wind blowing, and the open areas were quite choppy, so I tootled around the edge, keeping out if the wind as much as possible .
There was still snow on the hillsides, and those hand and toe warmers really came in handy.
This would be a lovely place to see when the trees are in leaf.

I only stayed out for about two and a half  hours, but it was a lovely day out.