2009-10-29 – Passaic River Solo from Lord Sterling

Burning up another vacation day in autumn, I decided to take this nice day and kayak the Passaic River in and around the Great Swamp Wildlife Refuge.  As usual, and in opposition to its name, there was virtually no wildlife to be had.  My only encounter was a deer on the side of the river.  While it was a nice looking buck with antlers and all, he was all I saw.  Fortunately he stood still long enough and was close enough for me to get a good picture.  It’s ironic that I have it as the lead picture for this blog posting when the other photos I took during the day look so good.  This is I have to mention about wildlife in this posting since there was no more to be seen.  I also encountered a couple paddling a double kayak late in the trip, short of that nothing but river and the vegetation.

The rest of the trip was marked by peace and serenity.  Nothing else to really write about except the weather, the colors, the water and the relaxation that is paddling the Passaic River in fall, especially following and nice rain storm.

That’s right.  The last fews days were marked by rains and today was the day of clearing.  The temperature was in the upper 50s or low 60s and there was no breeze to speak of.    The sun was out for the first 3 hours with and occasional cloud.  By the end of the trip it became overcast but rain was never in the forecast.  For late October in New Jersey, the weather was warm and comfortable.  I was able to wear just my bathing suit with sandals and no socks.  I didn’t have to wear a jacket either.  How to you beat that?

The clouds and sun combined to give me good mood lighting for the day’s photography.  The colors were golden and brown more so than reds.  The fall colors were a little past peak here but still there was plenty to enjoy.  There are many dead branches in and out of the water that break up the beautiful color combinations.  I liked the lighting and the glow the lighting and the colors provided.  There was a Renoir-esque warm feeling to many of the comforting views I encountered which I think I was able to capture on my camera.  Even the video looks pretty soothing.  The calm waters made for some still footage, so enjoy the YouTube videos and the pictures I show here and on the Picasa Google Web Albums.  Conditions may never be this good again to snap such nice shots.

One of the nice things about doing this segment of the Passaic is that it is incredibly natural.  You see virtually nothing that is man made.  So little that I can name them here.  From the parking lot I went north and saw several Great Swamp signs.  There was a wooden observation post and nothing else until the bridge leading to the Swamp that was at the northern extent of the paddle.  There were two bridges in that area.  One was a car bride to the refuge and the other was a blockade to the rest of the river.  I a;so saw bird feeders in the river, yet no birds.  I saw no wires, no docks, no concrete and no pollution!!!  The only thing I heard was an occasional airplane and some unknown low frequency thump in the distance.  What I’m trying to get at is that it was just a supernatural paddle.  On the rebounds of the trip, south of the Lord Sterling Bridge, I did see a red barn and a house at which I turned back around to go home.  If you are fortunate enough to synchronize your trip in this area of the Passaic with high waters you can take advantage of a great natural kayaking experience.

Due to these high waters the river was very accessible.  We have paddled most of the water before but I guess never in such high waters.  The last time we did this segment we had to portage twice before heading back toward the parking lot.  In addition, finding your way around vegetation  was difficult at times.  During this trip, navigation was circuitous in a fun and adventurous way.  I kept going forward and forward, never getting stuck, never having to portage and before I new it,  I saw a bridge I didn’t know about.  I went further up the river than I was ever able to go up before, and without portaging.  The bridge had a sign on it “No Boating” so after I went under it I saw why.    This was then end of my journey up the river.  The bridge to no where kind of placed a barrier on going any further upstream.  I kind of think it’s all headwaters and swamps thereafter.  I always love seeing places I haven’t been to yet.

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.  It was here that I captured 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 so I was good to see some of this again.

To get out of the river I rammed the shore that was setup perfectly for that maneuver.   There were leaves that I rammed into and once on shore I scooted 4 or 5 times and was securely on land.  Stepping out was easy and dry.  So was getting into the kayak.  The high water levels gave me access to the shoreline that didn’t include mud.  Therefore the entire journey was clean and dry.

Timeline of the paddle:

• 11:30 -Left Home
• 11:50 – Arrived at the Lord Sterling River access parking lot
• 11:54 – Snapping pictures in the parking lot
• 12:08 – Snapping pictures in the water
• 12:12 – Start paddling up-stream into the refuge
• 12:51 – Encounter slow movement of psychedelic green pieces of vegetation down the river
• 1:15 – I see a bridge leading the refuge, confirming I have never gone this far.
• 1:17 – I reach the end of the river as I go under this bridge and encounter anther that cuts off the river.
• 1:22 – Turn around and head back under the bridge downstream
• 1:48 – I see the lone deer on the bank of the river
• 3:07 – Get back to parking lot and see the Lord Sterling Bridge
• 3:12 – I cross the Lord Sterling Bridge and continue downstream away from the parking lot.
• 3:29 – I reach the end of my journey downstream as I see the back of some homes on the bank of the river.
• 3:30 – I start paddling upstream back to the parking lot.
• 3:51 – I see the red barn just south of the bridge.
• 3:55 – Cross uder the bridge
• 3:58 – Take my last picture prior to stowing all the equipment away in preparation of getting out of the boat.
• 4:10 – In the parking lot but without the kayak on the car.
• 4:15 – Driving away.

The photos of this trip look really nice.  I think the colors are warm and comforting.  Enjoy them and others in my Picasa Google Web Albums.