To Piermont

I paddled to Piermont and back with some friends, two in sea kayaks, the third, self-named canoeboy, in his trusty single canoe.

We got a very late start, over an hour after our intended departure time. It was also a hot day. Paddling up the Hudson felt like effort, though we made decent time. We'd all had somewhat long weeks and just wanted a simple paddle, nothing elaborate, no paddle-to-the-maddle effort. That's pretty much what we got.

Near Alpine marina, I took a roll to cool off, and also demonstrated with MD a paddleshaft Eskimo rescue. B, an experienced canoeist and outdoorsman, was paddling a sea kayak sans sprayskirt. He's strong, and quick, but still learning the finer points of sea kayaking.

 
We continued on, running into a lone kayaker who had put in at a park in Yonkers but was not with the Yonkers club. We saw birds of prey circling high over the landslide. We started running out of current and moved closer to shore to catch what little eddy we could. Then, near the fancy homes just above the Italian Garden, we saw a ginormous bird take flight from one tree to the next. He was gorgeous and brown.

Onward we went. The boys really like to push themselves, and while we knew we wouldn't make it to Piermont pier we decided to paddle as far as we could before returning to the Garden for lunch. We did pretty much just that, enjoying a beautiful sunny summer day.

After lunch, we launched and set out, well rested and well-fed.The wind picked up considerably from the southwest, and pretty soon we had some chop. Fun for sea kayaks, a bit soggy for canoes and open kayaks.

B and canoeboy were very fast and pulled well ahead of MD and I. We ventured farther out into the channel a few times hoping to get some current assist, but had to judge that against the stiff headwind. Eventually, we were so far behind we decided to just go out to play - with the wind on current, there were some 3-4 footers coming in, and we rode up and down, and through, and across most of the way down.

Eventually, our fun came to an end. We saw a barge approaching in the far distance, and went closer to the eastern shore - the conditions tended to push us out, so we wanted plenty of time to make it in. Around the time we got to the Stairs for Nowhere, our friends rejoined us and we made it down without issue, plenty of current carrying us home.

Piermont 2013

This past Sunday I paddle with some friends out of Inwood up to Piermont Marsh. It's a popular destination, if a long one, about 25 miles round-trip.We with the flood current and came back with the ebb, with some steady gusts on the way up against us.

El Lopex Paddles North.

There were only four of us: MH, the canoeist, El Lopex, another club member, and KT, a member of New York Outrigger invited along by MH. All are strong paddlers, but for the latter two this was the fartherst north they'd ventured.

Traffic on the way: A barge,and a motorized sailboat heading south.

A river cruise ship left shortly after we passed it at the dock in Yonkers.

Along the way, we took in the fall foliage of the Palisades.

Passing the Palisades.

A notable cliff face.

Tres Amigos (photographer not pictured).

Along the way we encountered a large group of kayaks on the western side of the river. I counted at least a dozen, a mix of deck boats and sit-on-top doubles. I spoke with a woman named Lyn in a white NDK Romany, who said they were a meetup group from Long Island. They'd put in at JFK Marina in Yonkers and were stopping at the Italian Garden, another popular spot along the way, for lunch.

Eventually we came to our destination, Piermont Marsh. Situated just south of the Piermont Pier, the Marsh is thousands of years old - according to a naturalist we encountered on our way in. There are three channels, all with tall grass easily eight feet over our heads. After the wind, an the current changing against us, the marsh was a nice respite.

A muddy landing.

The channels of the marsh.

KT enjoying a borrowed Chatham 16.

The way back was uneventful; we made good time with an increasing current. One paddler grew tired, but a decent resting spell cured him and we were on our way, passing more river traffic on our way down.

A moored barge.

All in all it was a beautiful day. While the time up was windy, the wind subsided most of the way down, and we enjoyed what is likely one of the last clear, sunny days of autumn, before the air and water temperature drop another notch, making trips like this one more complicated in the logistics.

I enjoy Piremont Marsh. It's a bi of a reach for most Manhattan paddlers, but a worthwhile destination nonetheless.

Croton Camping Paddle

On the last weekend of July, I took off the following Monday in order to do some kayak camping with my friend MH. We've been meaning to do this for a while. We departed Inwood late Sunday morning and arrived at Croton Point in the evening; camped and hung out, then returned early Monday afternoon, arriving at Inwood as the sun set. It was a great trip.

We crossed the river to the west side and paddled up along the Palisades. We were a little concerned about the weather; there were even odds of rain, and radar showed a major weather front moving east from Ohio. However, as the day went on it also appear to be moving north, so we took our chances and simply enjoyed a cool day in place of the 90+ heat wave that had enveloped the city earlier in the week.

One of my goals for years has been to paddle to the Tappan Zee Bridge, just because it is such a recognizable waypoint. Here we approach the Tappan Zee; along the way we passed a friendly sailor who told us that Irvington, which we had passed already, was friendly to paddlers.

It was hard not to think of a sad story in the news the night before, wherein a bride and another in the wedding party were killed in a nighttime collision between a motorboat and a barge.

As we made our way up the river, we enjoyed generally benign conditions. There was hardly any traffic out, and wind was minimal. We had timed our trip to catch a fair amount of current, so even the paddling wasn't hard - all 5+ hours of it.

We stopped for lunch just above a lighthouse, landing on a small sandy shore. We had to move our boats a couple of times - we were there for less than an hour but the incoming tide threatened to float our boats away.

Lunch was just north of Tarrytown  Light - a retired lighthouse just north of the Tappan Zee. Our lunch spot was just around the bend below the wall in the photo above.

Eventually, we landed at Croton Point Park. We had paddled around trying to figure out the "Hudson River Water Trail" camping site, but as near as we could figure, that "campsite" was just sanctioned guerrilla camping. We found a spot, landed, and set up camp as the rain started to fall.

Here we have Camp MH (above) and Camp Cowgirl (below). The safety sawhorses turned out to be from some planned tree cutting we learned about the next day.

Since I set up my camp in the rain, I used my main towel to dry out my sleeping quarters. The next day I draped it over my boat.

I made the road my kitchen. I figured in the worst case, I wouldn't be able to burn the road down.

When we got ready to leave, I took time to repack my boat. I had a little less food and wanted to see if I could do a better job repacking. I did a little better but not a big difference.

When we were at Croton, I took some shots of the river. Above looking across Croton Bay.

Here, looking south from the southernmost part of Croton Point. The landscapes in this part of the Hudson River Valley are the same as the art style that it gives its name to. It is a dreamy horizon of sky, rocks, and river.

I didn't take as many photos - well, as many good photos - on the way back. We left early and crossed to the western side of the river, paddling down along parkland quite a ways. MH was scouting for possible future guerrilla campsites - though when we asked someone who was official-looking, he did say camping was prohibited.

On the way back, we paddled through a large marina (or two, it was hard to tell) in Nyack. I took a shot at rolling my camping-laden boat. I succeeded, if you count as success "I came halfway up and then high-braced before I rolled back in." I also noticed I had to adjust my sense of where to place the blade in part, as far as I could tell, because the drybag on my rear deck was pushing the boat up a when capsized.

We stopped at Piermont Pier on the way back for lunch - this is a long pier that extends out from Piermont, nearly halfway across the river and acting as a sort of marker to the lower end of the
"Tappan Zee." We rested, talked with another paddler, and then packed up for the final leg home.

There was quite a bit of wind from the west as we passed Piermont Marsh, and we charged past it to take windshade from the Palisades. The current went slack, and we picked up the pace. MH showed off his prowess, speeding ahead and waiting for me. We got home at dusk.

It took about six hours of paddling each way, plus an hour and a half rest, sometimes one stop, sometimes two. It was a pleasant paddle both ways, if a little windy on the way back. Total distance was about 46 miles, about 23 each way. I've paddled about 30-32 miles in a single day, but never such lengthy distances two days in a row.

It was good camping experience. I haven't camped in a long time, and never from a kayak. MH was a great mentor in this respect, and I hope to camp with him again some day.

A map of our route:


View Croton Camping 2013 Actual in a larger map

Piermont May 2013

On Memorial Day, I paddled with a friend from Inwood to the marshes at Piermont. It was a beautiful day, with near-perfect conditions, surrounded by otherwise inhospitable days.

Departure
We left at 1020, about an hour before max flood. MD and I are strong paddlers, and ultimately it took use just a little over two hours to get to our destination, arriving with plenty of current and time to spare.

Along the way, we stopped by the rockslide. On the New Jersey side, a little north of Alpine, you can see where the cliff face marked by the white vertical stripe collapsed onto the shore below.

The rockslide across and north of Alpine.

MD poses for scale.

Time to move on.

We pressed on. This was just over a third of our way to the destination. Along the way, we saw birds of prey circling along the cliffs, presumably catching thermal updrafts, and looking for food. Presumably, the rockslide, with no foliage, was an open kill zone for these feathered fiends.

MD flexes his muscles.

Once we arrived, we paddled a little but in the marsh, but decided to land on a bumpy shore north of it for lunch. we saw some men fishing, alongside boys setting up old beer cans in order to knock them down with a thrown stick.

Cowgirl in bloom !

We brought a lot. While it's only two of us, due to the distance we brought along a spare paddle, repair kit, first aid kits, radios, plenty of food, spare clothes in case of hypothermia, and so on. Many things are rarely used, but when they're missed, they're missed badly.

Detail on the marsh.

A red-winged blackbird in the marsh.

There were lots of little birds, as well as tiny crabs, and we could hear frogs. The marsh is not just an ecosystem; it's also protection against storm surge.

Two Boats.

I paddled the Argonaut, my own boat, and a real hauler. MD paddled a skin-on-frame boat that belongs to the club. It's a bit more fragile, but quite a bit more responsive.

The waterfall, behind an arch of trees.

On the way back, we stopped at a waterfall not far south. We know this spot as the "Italian Wine Garden".

The waterfall.

Up close, it's quite impressive.

Kayak Dov.

Kayak Dov had finished teaching a lesson, paddled after us, and finally caught up with us to urge us to stop at the waterfall.

The skin boat rests, as a barge passes in the distance.

Eventually we made it home, back to Inwood Canoe Club.

Sunset at Inwood.

Back in Inwood, we washed the boats and watched the sun set over the Palisades.

Piermont

I'm falling behind in my paddle blogging. I actually have two trips to tell ya'll about. My trip two weeks ago to Piermont is where I'll start.

Piermont is a small township in New York, just south of Nyack. Below it, on the south side of a lengthy pier, is a salt marsh, full of reeds, critters, and tall reeds. Some of my Inwood friends have been up there a few times, and suggested it as a trip. Along with me were IL, AW, AA, BG, and LL. MH met us later in the day in his canoe.

The most notable thing about paddling up there, and later back down, was the wind. It was steady and mostly from the south, occasionally coming from the east. From the south was OK, but from the east, it would cock our boats when it picked up. While not dangerous, it meat that paddling up was some work, and for one of our less experienced paddlers, a hard introduction to the value of a sweep stroke.

Once we arrived at the marsh, however, things were much calmer. The wind died down, for one thing, and once we were in the marsh, we were sheltered enough that there was pretty much no wind. There are a couple of canals that wind their way through the marsh, allowing us to penetrate pretty deeply, until the weeds narrowed or the water got too shallow - or in one case, a large treefall blocked out path. We maneuvered under branches, around logs, and pushed over mud flats for an hour or so, before heading south for lunch.

We stopped at a place called "Italian Garden". It's a little beach a couple of miles south of the marsh, part of a hiking trail near Alpine. Wed been there before, on a hiking trip in winter. Now we were landing there in our boats. We had lunch, rested, and waited for the tide to pick up. MH paddled up in his canoe, and by pure coincidence we met someone involved in the community-based testing of water quality, who knew some of the Inwood people from their participation in the program.

Eventually, it was time to leave and we set out, with the current but with the wind in our face, giving us some fun waves to play in.

I ought to mention that we also saw the results of a recent rockslide, north of Alpine but below Italian Garden. It occurred last spring, and it's clear from the color of the rock where it happened.

As we passed the marina at Alpine, we spotted the sloop Clearwater, the flagship of Riverkeeper, a non-profit organization devoted to environmental concerns on New York waterways. I actually paddled out to say hello - and get an indication of their intentions, because for a while it looked like they were going to make a U-turn and arc into our path. They weren't - they were heading to Alpine - which made it odd that the next day, we read that they'd run aground in the low tide.

As we came back, we saw familiar landmarks - the Henry Hudson bridge, the George Washington bridge, the New York City skyline in the distance. This was a great trip, one that, like our Bronx Kill trip, took me to an environment totally unlike the big-river paddling I normally do. If you' in the area, the Piermont marsh is a great stop on any itinerary.