With Kathy in Florida and my Honda Fit newly outfitted with a Thule roof rack, I decided to take the Thursday off before Good Friday to take advantage of the great weather and my new roof rack and kayak the flooded Passaic River. March 2010 turned out to be one of the wettest Marches in history and the heavy rains from Monday and Tuesday coupled with the very heavy rains from 2 weeks ago had the Passaic River at expansive flood levels. The water was just as high as it was 2 weeks ago. This made things easy but also changed my agenda. You have to be ready to adapt out there on the river.
Water almost flooded the Rt 10 bridge.
My plan at the beginning of the day was to park at the lot on the Essex County side of the Passaic River at South Orange Avenue. I wanted to see how I far I could paddle up stream toward the Short Hills Mall. I got in the car around 12:30 and headed over there. When I arrived at the parking lot I saw the access road was flooded and there was no where to park. It wasn’t gonna work from there. I then decided to head up to Bloomfield Ave. to see if I could find the entrance to the river up there, but to no avail. Finally, I decided to get back to the sure-fired bet, the Essex County Environmental Center located at Eagle Rock Avenue in Roseland.
Factoid: Mileage calculations including meandering
- Eagle Rock to Route 10 – 2.5 miles
- Eagle Rock to South Orange Avenue – 4.6 miles
- Round Trip Paddle 9.3 miles in 4 hours
We had taken off from this site during the previous paddle on March 20, 2010 so I wasn’t too excited about doing the same thing again, but what the heck, it was 70 degrees out access to the river was as convenient as possible and it was the move to make at the moment. I initially wanted to try to head downstream and then try heading upstream at the Rockaway River and eventually finding the entrance to the Whippany River. As soon as I got into the river I decided against going downstream because I thought the current was too strong due to the recent flooding. In the end, the current at that location was the strongest I encountered all day and I could have easily done the trip. Maybe tomorrow with one of the dogs. In the end, I ended up doing the longest upstream paddle I have yet done. Going from Eagle Rock Avenue u to South Orange Avenue, then I turned around and enjoyed the downstream trip back home. All-in-all, it was a 4 hour paddle, that included lots of strenuous paddling. It was a pretty good workout coupled with a pretty good sun tan.
Being April 1 the colors in the river were still crying winter, with little vegetation. Buds were barely visible blooming out of the twigs and the branches. The water was a muddy brown and there wasn’t any worthwhile wildlife to observe. A few ducks were flying around and some other small black birds, but nothing of any consequence. I think I did get a shot of 2 geese taking off in front of me and flying away. The sky was blue with a few high altitude clouds whispering in the sky. Not the best day for photography.
The iBolt will revolutionize the way you anchor your kayak
Getting back to the roof rack, I was psyched when I called the Honda parts department this morning and the anchor bolt that screws into my bumper came in. The guy said my iBolt was in. I quickly jumped in the car and picked up the iBolt excited that it would be compatible with my iPhone. The car comes with one iBolt for towing it, but you need two for anchoring down the kayak. This is a great solution and makes my car a great kayak hauler. Easy to put on and take off the kayaks. The Fit fits my lifestyle and makes me happy that I have it instead of a pickup truck. You never know, in a pickup truck I may have been able to go through the water at the South Orange Ave. parking area. When I reached that section of the river by boat it showed the parking area was above water, it was just the road that was submerged, so in a truck, I probably could have driven the road and disembarked from there.
Getting out of the water was quick and easy just like it was getting in. It only took me 15 minutes from stepping out of the boat to pulling out of the parking lot. You don’t realize how good anchoring could be until you get the iBolt. While the iBolt and the Fit with a roof rack are all okay, it’s really when Kathy gets back and we take advantage of the 2-car paddles that it will all start to come together. I have 3 more potentially beautiful paddling days ahead of myself, let’s see how much more of this solo paddling I can take.
The timeline based on photos and tweets taken and tweeted during the paddle was:
11:16 a.a.m. – Car packed and ready to go- 1:20 p.m. – Boat unloaded at Essex Co. Environmental Center
- 1:30 p.m. – In the water taking my first picture
- 1:48 p.m. – At the deserted railroad trestle going upstream
- 2:46 p.m. – I reach Route 10 still going upstream
- 3:28 p.m. – I approach the South Orange Ave. bridge.
- 3:30 p.m. – Stop for lunch in flooded area just south of South Orange Ave. bridge.
- 3:50 p.m. – Start heading home
- 4:08 p.m. – Going under the South Orange Ave. bridge on the way home.
- 4:34 p.m. – Paddle around the flooded Cedar Hill Country Club
- 4:44 p.m. – Approach the Mount Pleasant / Rt 10 bridge combo
- 5:32 p.m. – Approaching the Environmental Center take-out point and take last picture
- 5:41 p.m. – Got the car and started packing
- 5:49 .m. – I call Kathy to tell her I’m safe while waiting for the light at Eagle Rock and Ridgedale Avenues.
Nicests day of the year and no one was golfing at the flooded Cedar Hill County Club
Larry and Kathy's Kayak Adventures 
I love the roof rack. is that a permanent rack bolted to the roof and do you know the model number? did you put four of the eye bolts in? Thanks for sharing it looks great!