It was a beautiful early Spring Sunday, probably the nicest day of the year to date, and Kathy and I had planned it to be our maiden voyage on our kayaks. We purchased the kayaks a week earlier and being stored in the basement did no one any good. I had been researching where to kayak and I decided to try the nearby Passaic River. It is our local river but there doesn’t seem to be too much information about using it to paddle on. Some one described it as the forgotten river because no one seems to use it for anything else other than a toilet bowl. But that is old history; today’s modern toilet bowls go through state of the art sewerage treatment plants before being flushed into the rivers.
With all this on my mind, my research told me to enter the river near its headwaters. For us that meant parking at and entering the river at the fisherman’s parking lot just down the dirt road from the Lord Stirling Park Environmental Center. The Passaic River is the Morris County boundary from the southern end at Millington (Long Hill Township) and it follows through Chatham and goes to Parsippany and almost reaches Lincoln Park before veering off east into NJ’s less pristine areas. With respect to our beloved Morris County, the Passaic River probably is one of our less appreciated gems.
Now that we have kayaks, it is time to find out what the Passaic River is all about. Not that I’m looking to make the Passaic River my epic journey, but hopefully it is accessible and fun. Maybe no one uses it because from a kayaking perspective, it is boring. We were looking for boring on our first trip anyway
So I had a plan for the first trip. Park my car at the intersection of Valley Road in Millington with the Passaic River and then hop into Kathy’s Matrix with the two Kayaks and take the 10-minute, 3-mile drive back to the Lord Stirling Park parking lot. Unfortunately there was a Cop and a radar check at the spot I wanted to park, so we had to park a bit further than we wanted, but no big deal.
We drove back, went to the bathroom at the Environmental Center and then unloaded the kayaks. Another couple pulled up next us who also began unloading their own kayaks. They were more reserved than we were and little was said between us. It was kind of eerie, much like the swamp we were about to enter.
We beat them to the water and Kathy got in first and I pushed her off. I got to the edge of the river and had a bit of trouble pushing off. Once in I was shocked how close I was to the edge and for a second I though I would go over. All I could think about was my new camera going into the water. I got over that quickly though and in Know time the camera was out and I was comfortable shooting pictures.
We decided to up stream into the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, that’s what the couple recommended that they do. You only need one car that way. We checked it out for a bit and then headed down stream. The water was super calm for the first 2/3 of the trip. You could definitely get back to where you started from if you want. Once we went under the bridge at South Maple, the current picked up at times and it was more fun and probably too swift to turn back. There was a guy with his golden retriever warning us of such but we were going one way any way.
The river itself was lifeless and dull. The trees grew out of the water and we often had to avoid fallen trees. There was no foliage what-so-ever and the trees looked like the dead of winter. Nevertheless it was beautiful, peaceful serene, quiet and just a joy to be one. The weather was perfect and the concept that we got these kayaks and we would be enjoying nature, from that non-terra-forma perspective was paying off big time.
We started the trip at about 2 and finished about 4:30 and it is about a 3 mile trip, but we wasted at least 15 minutes at the start and never went fast. I bet we could do it in an hour if we wanted to. In addition, it may make sense to bike back to the car instead of taking two cars since it would only be about a 3-mile drive. I say, we could do this trip as a fun trip down the river and do so in the summer after work
The unloading zone at Valley Road was great. There was a place to comfortable pull the car in and strap down the kayaks. Up next we have our more local river, the Whippany. We have that scheduled with a group on April 25, 2009. We can almost paddle to that one. Who knows, maybe the Whippany is as much fun as the Passaic, and that is only 5 minutes by car. The Passaic takes us 25 minutes to get there.
After the whole thing we unpacked and got right back into the car and took the pooches to the dog park. Some highlight are below.
Looks like a good time was had by all. Any interest in going out east for Kayaking & Wine tasting? Two loves in one day.
Just a thought.
My Kayak is in Wilton Ct, and would be great to get it out of retirement.
Keep On Kayaking………..
hello. I live in the area near the great swamp. Is it safe to go off kayaking by myself. Just recently purchased a kayak at an estate sale and would love to get out there and go but to be honest, I’m nervous. I went to the library and took out many books but none seem to tell me what I need to know. I just wnat to paddle a little, it to be really calm, check out some birds and wildlife. Any help appreciated.
[...] back into town to take a dump at Burger King, we were ready to put in at 12:30. Compared to the first time we used Valley Road, our first trip, the area was way over grown. Recognisance of the put-in area [...]
[...] After I turned around and got back to where I started I decided to continue downstream past the Lord Sterling Bridge. I took that for a while, about one half hour until I turned around to get back home. I continued down the river until I saw my first house then I turned back. The sun was at my back on the way back from here and gave me some real beautiful shots. This segment of the trip was well worth it capturing some of the best shots of the day. I haven’t been on this part of the river since our inaugural kayak trip back in April. [...]