Kayak Northeast

Monday, January 2, 2012

Passaic River- Horseneck Rd- Bloomfield Ave. Jan 1st 2012

View Passaic- Horseneck Rd. - Bloomfield Ave. Jan 1st 2012 in a larger map

USGS 01381900 Passaic River at Pine Brook NJ Jan 2nd 2012
Drainage area:	349 mi²
Discharge:	1400 cfs
Stage:	17.06 ft
Date:	2012-01-02 18:00:00
Flood stage:	19 ft
Percentile:	83.02 %
Class symbol:	> normal
% normal (median):	261.68 %
% normal (mean):	189.73 %

After abandoning my paddle up the Pequannock, I came down to the Passaic to add another section to my exploration. It tuned into a beautiful day- so warm I managed with only two layers on the bottom and three on top ( approx 5-6 degrees C). The sun was shining and the wind was calm. A perfect day for it.
There was little wildlife- Saw a bunch of 8 deer and one large raptor- a large hawk / eagle .

Launch

I 80 Bridge

Pequannock River Jan 1st 2010 _The Ten Minute Paddle

View Pequannock Jan 1st 2012 - 10 minute paddle in a larger map

As waters levels continue be high, I thought I'l try the Pequannock. I found the launch with no trouble. It is on the Three Rivers Trail .

Freedom Park Launch

This turned out to be a bad idea. As soon as got on the river, from the backwater that was the launch, I realized the flow was too rapid to allow me to go upstream. As I paddle solo, I always have to be able to paddle back to where I started, so I always begin by going upstream As you can see by the photo , there was shallow fast flowing water- It would not work. I jumped back in the car and went further south to the Passaic River. ( See Passaic Horseneck Rd -. Bloomfiled Post )

Friday, December 30, 2011

Passaic Dec 29th 2011

View Passaic Essex County Dec 29th 2011 in a larger map

A freezing Day, well below zero C. Many layers and toe and hand warmers made the paddle possible. Put in at Eacgle Rock Rd and headed upriver (south) until I reached Rte 10 Much water, with lagoons and backwaters all along the outside of the channel.

Saw: A red tailed hawk, and a bunch of wild turkeys. Big birds and around a score of them.

Dec 30th 2011 Passaic River Rte 510

View Passaic River 30th Dec 2011 Rt 510 Launch in a larger map

Continuing on my exploration of the Passaic, I put in at Rte 510 and headed south (upstream). There is such a lot of water, complete lakes, which on Google sat pics, show up as grassy areas. So expansive was the water, that I paddled way off of the river channel and ended up at a dead end. I checked on the GPS, and I was way off course. Even after I turned around and headed back to the channel, I could not make out the southward channel. As it was, I was not far from yesterday's paddle so I turned around and headed downriver until I gto the Rte 10 Bridge,which was where I had turned around yesterday. I have now completed that section of the river.
It was much milder today, around 8-9 degrees C. I had one less layer of clothing on top, and manged to complete the paddle without major freezing of extremities.
I was on the water for about 3 hours.

Launch

Rte 510 Bridge

Cedar Hill Country Club

Little wildlife, duck and geese; that's it.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Pompton River NJ Dec 26th 2011

View Pompton Dec. 26th 2011 in a larger map

A cool day. Around 5- 7 degrees C ( with a steady wind of 15 mph (gusts up to 25-30 mph) .
Put in at the same launch site from yesterday at Two Bridges Rd. A pleasant paddle with a steady strong flow. Not much time to take photos. Any time I stopped, I was floating backwards within a handful of seconds. It was not too strong, and provided me with my favorite type of paddling work out. It is a good sized river at this location. I had not expected it to be so wide.
No mammals, apart form a cat and various squirrels.
I did manage to identify a cute small bird - a tufted titmouse. There was a small group ( 4-5) hopping around on the ground of the wood, and flying up into trees.
2.5 hours upstream and 1.6 hours to return.