By Vladimir Brezina
Yesterday, we paddled up the Hudson River along the Palisades, all freshly green…
(click on any photo to start slideshow)
It’s a gray day, with showers and thunderstorms forecast: a cold front is coming over
A splash of red: the fireboat John J. Harvey
Pushed by a southerly tailwind and a good flood current, we pass Midtown Manhattan
Vlad, off 79th Street (photo by Johna)
We approach the George Washington Bridge
It’s big! It dwarfs the Little Red Lighthouse at its foot, and an even tinier Johna passing under it…
Across the river, the Palisades begin
The edges of land disappear in the mist
We pass Yonkers (photo by Johna)
Looking back, New York City has vanished in the mist
At Italian (Tonetti) Gardens, our turn-around point, Johna declines to land because the rocks might scratch her shiny new boat
The waterfall at Italian Gardens, one of several along the Palisades, is in full spate…
… fringed by the fresh green of spring
We paddle back, past the large rockfall that last summer blocked the Palisades hiking path
There’s a nice sandy beach at Alpine, so we can land…
… and eat a belated lunch—come to think of it, it’s the first time since last fall that it’s been warm enough for us to get out of our boats for lunch (photo by Johna)
After lunch, we continue down the Hudson, under an ominous sky
An intense thunderstorm begins…
… but after a few minutes of lightning and thunder directly over us, it passes east across the Hudson, leaving us with just heavy rain
We skirt the Palisades on our way south
Overhead, the Palisades are steaming as the rain lets up
Ahead, the George Washington Bridge, and beyond it the city, reappear out of the fog
A waterfall plunges off the Palisades
The sun is struggling to break through the clouds, and now and then succeeds for a spell
We pass under the George Washington Bridge again
The West Side of Manhattan reflects the hazy sunshine
As always, we visit the wreck of the Binghamton ferry, noticeably more decrepit than on our last visit
We paddle back past Midtown
The wind has died, and the river gleams like dull silver
Far ahead, we can see a tiny Verrazano Narrows Brige
As we look back up the Hudson, the sky is eggshell blue and purple with the coming dusk
Last mile
From Pier 40, we look across at the new World Trade Center tower, now almost complete with its spire installed
.
Best of all, as the last photo shows, the official kayak-launching dock at Pier 40 has finally been put back into place (mostly), six months after Hurricane Sandy left it in a crumpled mess last October…
Vladimir Brezina (RIP) 
Johna Till Johnson
Wind Against Current 
WOW! I love your pics …as always!
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Thanks so much, Follygirl!! :-)
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What a great adventure! I think the city cape is my favorite.
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:-) :-)
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:D
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Stunning as always.
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Thanks!!
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Great !
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Thank you!
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I love kayaking, and I love the feeling your photographs give me: that it is me on the kayak. Such a great idea to have the tip of the kayak in each photo, to give this illusion to the viewer.
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The bow of the kayak in the photo works so well—and every kayak photographer is so desperate for foreground—that the device is so overused that serious kayak magazines really discourage it now… :-)
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haha really? well call me old-fashioned but I still like it!
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Lovely shots of a beautiful day. Wonderful! :)
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Thank you so much! :-)
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thank you -we get to see views from the waterfront without getting wet or up the creek without a paddle. Ran the slideshow twice to take it all in – nice shot of you Vlad and Johna’s lovely smiles
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I had to put those shots of me in because they are among the very few of me with my eyes actually open ;-)
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Excellent – another fascinating set of photos – really liked the wreck of the Binghamton, would love to see more.
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Some shots of Binghamton from our previous trips are, for example, here… But the best recent source is Tugster. He has a series of three detailed posts on the Binghamton beginning here, plus others scattered throughout his blog (search it for “Binghamton”).
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Great slideshow! I enjoyed the adventure. Made me think of the old Palisades Amusement Park I went to as a child. BTW, you seemed calm in thunder and heavy rain. I wouldn’t think kayaks went out in that kind of weather.
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Well, they usually say don’t go out if thunderstorms are forecast, but then we would do very little paddling around here in the summer… :-)
Palisades Amusement Park? Whereabouts was that?
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Palisades Amusement Park was in New Jersey, in the towns of Cliffside Park and Fort Lee. The Palisades Cliffs were East of the Park. I remember it as a really fun place, an iconic old-style amusement park (think Coney Island) with roots dating back to 1898. A very big deal in its day: I remember most of its advertising jingle from the 1960s. Sadly, the Park closed in 1971, replaced by high rise condos. I gathered some of this info from the Palisades Amusement Park Historical Site: http://www.palisadespark.com.
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Thanks, Beth! It’s always so interesting to learn about a piece of local history…
I see that the Palisades Amusement Park was on top of the Palisades. But even under the Palisades, along the edge of the water, there were many flourishing amusement spots in the first half of the 20th century, reached by ferries running across the Hudson from the NY side. As I understand it, the George Washington Bridge killed off the ferries, and then WWII, and after the war the increasing automobile ownership, killed off the amusements.
But there are still some remnants of them—just ruins—today that we see as we paddle past. I think there’s a blog post in there somewhere… :-)
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looks like it was a great trip. The Italian falls are usually dry by the time I make it there. Great Pics.
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The waterfalls were roaring down—not just the one at Italian Gardens but others along the Palisades, including some that I didn’t know existed. Of course, the heavy rain of the thunderstorm, which generated a flash flood warning, might have had something to do with it…
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Thank you for a thrilling ride on the Hudson River. Incredible landscape, the waterfall, so close to New York. Take care of yourself during a lightning storm!
All the best,
Hanna
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Either the lightning will get you or it won’t…
Thanks, Hanna!
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wow these are amazing photos. I have some new kayaking adventures to do now! inspiring
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There are always new kayaking adventures awaiting… :-)
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Whoa! These are incredible! Some of the shots you get just blow me away!
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Good reaction! ;-) :-)
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Seriously!
:-D
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Never too late!!!:)
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Exactly! :-) :-)
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Beautiful photos, I especially love the green waterfall, and all those last shots with the city skyscrapers in the background….they have an air of mystery which I find really beautiful :-)
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It sometimes seems quite amazing that all that can be packed into one daytrip :-)
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Spectacular array of images … thanks for posting!
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Thanks, Cheryl!!
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Thanks for taking me along. Stunning views especially the waterfall and the new World Trade Centre tower. :)
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Glad to have you along!! :-)
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Beautiful waterfall!
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It was! Thanks! :-)
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What a great way to see the sights. I particularly love the waterfall photos. I’ve never been to New York, but definitely have it on my list of places to see. Thanks for sharing.
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Most definitely, visit NYC—it has so much to see! But you probably won’t see the Palisades unless you make a special effort. They are a bit north of NYC, on the other side of the Hudson (actually in New Jersey for the most part), and hard to see unless you are in a boat or hiking along the Palisades trail—but that has now been partly blocked by the rockfall…
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I wish there were a “Love” button, because “Like” just doesn’t do it. This is such a fabulous post—really enjoyed it. And pics of YOU, Vlad! Well done, Johna! See you on the water tomorrow :)
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We’ll request a “Love” button from WordPress ;-)
Yes, Johna has been insisting on more pictures of me, so she finally took some good ones and they finally made it in…
Good to see in MA! We are writing our reports and eagerly awaiting yours!! :-)
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Crossing the GW Bridge from NJ to NY en route back to MA — as traffic crawled along —I thought of you and Johna and peered from the high windows of the bus to see if two little red kayaks were anywhere down there. But not — I see we were a few days too late.
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There is an amazing view from the bridge, isn’t there? Even better if you are walking across the bridge…
You just have to come back to see the two little red kayaks below—you can see them every two weeks or so, when the tidal currents indicate a trip north up the Hudson :-)
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So glad things are being put back together. Grateful to see waterfalls in addition to skyscrapers. Natural beauty is so needed!
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That trip offers such a wonderful mix of urban and natural sights, all within a few hours even by slow kayak :-)
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Wonderful photos. We were near Pier 40 (maybe at Pier 36?) for our packet pickup at the 5-Boro Bike Ride. My first look at the damage – and the ongoing rebuilding – in the area. Thanks for the follow. It led me to your photos. Such a great day – scary clouds and all – you had out there.
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Thanks, Mary Lou! Glad you could make it into the city for the bike ride! Most of the damage, at least in Manhattan, has been fixed by now; what remains is pretty subtle, although there if you look for it…
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Stunning photos and views. Love the waterfalls. :)
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Thanks, Sylvia! :-)
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A beautiful photo collage!
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Thanks so much—glad you like it! :-)
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Is your camera waterproof? What kind is it?
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Pentax Optio W90 and, more recently, WG-2.
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Good ol’ Pentax. They’ve done it again. That must have set you back about $400US.
How do like the button arangement; easy to use?
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You can usually get them for $200-$250, certainly below $300. And yes, pretty easy to use.
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Amazing!!!!!!!
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Thanks!! :-)
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