Daily Archives: June 22, 2017

Text and photos by Vladimir Brezina

Friday, 15 October

7:10 a.m. Amtrak to Hudson. Emerged from Penn Station tunnels just after sunrise; views across the Hudson with the rising sun reflected orange, against the clear blue sky, from windows on the New Jersey shore. Beautiful views of the river all the way up to Hudson: fall foliage colors spectacular particularly in the Hudson Highlands; in many places mist rising from the river, with the sun breaking through in dappled patches. Worth the $31 fare just for those two hours. Launched at Hudson around 10 a.m.

Sunny, but distinctly cooler now: crisp fall weather. Water warmer than expected: still possible, mostly, to do without gloves. Southerly wind, ebbing current, quite strong here. Decided to go south along the western shore, photographing the fall colors. Past entrance to Catskill Creek. Large, three-masted replica of an 18th-century (?) sailing ship (couldn’t read name) but with sails furled, motoring, a bit disappointingly, north against the current.

Also a fleet of canoes, probably returning to Catskill from Ramshorn Creek. Paddled slowly up Ramshorn Creek for a while. Very still, winding creek, with muddy banks at low tide; sun behind the screen of leaves, now partially bare. Leaves dropping and floating down on the current.

Then back out into the river and across to the usual lunch place at the mouth of the Roeliff Jansen Kill. South wind now around 20 knots; lots of whitecaps in the main channel. But water around lunch place too shallow just now, so retreated north to Oak Hill Landing for lunch. Fall views of the Catskills.

Then north through Hallenbeck Creek back to Hudson. Arrived at the same time as a duck hunter in camouflage outfit, with camouflaged boat, and vigorous complaints against the game laws. (Saw a few other hunters, and many duck blinds everywhere, but almost none occupied. Relieved to hear only very scattered shots.) Phoned Kathy around 4 p.m. Outlook for joining me tomorrow not good.

(Note: It’s very like Vlad to record the hunter’s “vigorous complaints against the game laws”.  He was not a hunter himself, and throughout these logs, hunters emerge as faintly comic characters, in their obsession with camouflage and other para-military gear, which Vlad found amusing. But he also had striking libertarian, if not downright anarchic, tendencies, and would have sympathized with those complaints. )

Current now turned to flood; wind still from the south, though dying down. Evening paddle up to campground at the north tip of Stockport Middle Ground. Halfway up saw, from a distance, a fox (coyote?)-like animal on shore. Arrived at campground just in time to see huge freighter move down the channel to the west against the setting sun.

Night not too cold, probably around 40°F.  New North Face sleeping bag luxuriously comfortable and warm.

(Note: It’s about time! The last few trips Vlad has been complaining about the inadequacy of his sleeping bag. It’s fun to watch him grow increasingly interested in kayaking and expedition gear; he was always mechanically minded, but generally appreciated gear for its effectiveness and the quality of its design rather than for the status it might convey.

By the time I knew him, he’d arrived at a gear collection that worked for him, and was less enchanted by every new item. He looked tolerantly on as I went through my own trajectory of fascination with gear.

It was very common for me to remark “I wish I had a gadget that would do (whatever)”… and for Vlad to reply, “I have one of those.” He’d rummage in his overstuffed deck bag (how he ever found anything was a mystery to me!) and pull out a rusty, but still serviceable, whatever-it-was.

Several log posts later we’ll get to read about his discovery of the GPS, and the way it can be useful in tracking one’s speed in different conditions.  That, in turn, leads to a deep understanding of the currents and how they vary—which lies at the heart of Vlad’s legendary knowledge of the NY area currents.)

Saturday, 16 October
Sunrise around 7 a.m. A little chilly, but clothes adequate. Took some pictures of the rising sun illuminating the fall colors on the western bank opposite. Left around 9 a.m., reached Coxsackie around 10 a.m. Very happy to see, from afar, John and Kathy putting their boat together. Sneaked up on them out of the rising sun, got out of the boat and came right up to them without being detected.

Coxsackie very nice launch site: the paved boat ramp (though no floating dock visible), grass, plenty of parking, portable toilets, phone.

North around Coxsackie Island, then across main channel over to eastern shore, south past Nutten Hook, into marshes on either side of Little Nutten Hook. Few herons wading in the shallows, but generally many fewer birds than a couple of weeks ago. Palisade of trees lining the river almost wintery; foliage past its peak, or it may be that the natural tree species here not very flamboyant, just yellow and grey-brown. (Oranges and reds noticeable mainly around houses, probably planted.)

Main river now ebbing but south wind intensifying to a sustained 20 knots.

Waves building to 2 feet in the main channel; we kept to the side but could not get out of the wind. Kathy complained but sticking it out. Lunch at deluxe campground at Gays Point. Dock now out of the water, but there is a sandy beach, grassy area, pagoda, picnic tables, barbecues, outhouses (open), a building (closed) which may have water in season. But all this open to the south wind, so had lunch in sunny and warm clearing in the wood beyond.

Displaced a sunning snake.

Few grasshoppers and butterflies, but insects, like birds, mostly gone. Returning to the boats, we could see wind now 25 knots, treetops swaying and whistling, waves in main channel lengthening, with prominent and very frequent whitecaps.

Continued south past the beaches at the tip of Gays Point and into the channel to the east of Stockport Middle Ground. Somewhat sheltered for a while, then back out into the headwind for the last stretch across the flats to the entrance to Stockport Creek. Here very shallow; ran aground before found proper channel. Four other kayakers, disappearing into the creek. Creek sheltered, but shallow, and with strong current flowing out of it.

Finally, back the same way past Stockport Middle Ground, across the main channel and along the western shore back to Coxsackie. Current now turning to flood; wind dying down somewhat but still strong. Not as rough as it would have been before; waves no more than 2 feet. Moving very fast with the tail wind and current, surfing on the waves. Back at Coxsackie around 4:30 p.m. Car to New York.