Tag Archives: Hudson River

A Brisk Paddle Up the Palisades

Posted on September 22, 2013 by | 16 comments

By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina

IMGP7239 cropped small“Do you think we can make it to Piermont Pier?”, I asked.

“I know of no reason why not,” Vlad replied. A small alarm bell rang at the back of my head: he hadn’t exactly said, “Yes.” And Vlad is a man who uses words very precisely.

But I brushed it off. We’d come quite a distance up the Palisades—just over 19 nautical miles, in fact.  Aided by a stiff flood current, we were almost at Italian Gardens, and we were deciding whether to stop there or continue onwards.

Piermont Pier, the long finger of land extending into the Hudson just south of the Tappan Zee Bridge, was only two miles away. We hadn’t been there yet this year, and the summer was almost over.

And though we’d had a brisk northerly breeze in our faces the whole way, we’d come thus far with no trouble. As Vlad said, there was no reason why we couldn’t make it the rest of the way.

So we set off into the wind-against-current chop ahead of us.

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Posted in Kayaking, New York City

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Happy Labor Day!

Posted on September 2, 2013 by | 28 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

… Labor Day, and (practically speaking) the beginning of Fall!

Here are a few celebratory photos taken at yesterday’s Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition. Lots more photos to come. (Last year’s are here.)

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Posted in New York City, Science and Technology

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First NYC Paddle Since Sandy!

Posted on March 4, 2013 by | 54 comments

By Vladimir Brezina and Johna Till Johnson

Four months is a long time.

And  it’s been just over four months since we’ve been out on NYC waterways—since our trip to the Gowanus Canal right before Hurricane Sandy, in fact.

A variety of factors kept us off the water: Sandy cleanup, boat issues, and a couple of Florida trips that provided the option of paddling in balmier waves.

But we’re back—and delighted to make our first NYC area trip of 2013, a short but satisfying jaunt up the Hudson to the George Washington Bridge.

(Click on any photo to start a slideshow.)

After a tasty lunch rafted up in the lee of a rocky embankment, we leave the George Washington Bridge behind…
… and head back down the Hudson
What’s this on the right? The wreck of the Binghamton
The Binghamton was so dilapidated before Sandy that Sandy doesn’t seem to have done all that much more damage
The Hudson River vista stretches out before us…
… and the blue sky, dotted with soft white clouds, above
Vlad takes photos (photo by Johna)
The West Side of Manhattan is lit up by the low afternoon sun
Vlad is happy to be out on the water again (photo by Johna)
Sunset approaches
We cross the river to the Manhattan side
The rays of the setting sun reflect off the glass and steel of Manhattan
We paddle past Midtown Manhattan
Our destination is in sight
The colors take on that soft intensity of dusk…
Last light over New Jersey
Almost home!
We turn into the Pier 40 embayment
The lights of the new World Trade Center tower shine out brightly in the twilight

The individual photos are here.

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Posted in Kayaking

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Home, Take Two

Posted on February 14, 2013 by | 32 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

This week’s Photo Challenge is Home. We’ve already posted one response, but here’s another.

Our home away from home—

IMGP2138 cropped small—on a beach at Lloyds Neck, Long Island, NY

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—on the banks of the Hudson River at Stockport Middle Ground

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IMGP0645 cropped small—on Magdalen Island, near Saugerties, NY

IMGP0669IMGP0667 cropped small

IMGP2543 cropped small—on the Hudson River at Denning Point, Beacon, NY

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—in Nickerson State Park, Cape Cod, MA

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IMGP4656 cropped small—at Jones Inlet, South Shore of Long Island, NY

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—on Fire Island, NY

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IMGP5854 cropped small—at Montauk Point, NY

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IMGP6691 cropped small—in Sunken Meadow State Park, on the North Shore of Long Island, NY

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And now, our home away from home awaits in its bag, ready for this year’s adventures!

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Posted in Kayaking, Photography

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Where We Are Not…

Posted on November 20, 2012 by | 23 comments

By Johna Till Johnson and Vladimir Brezina

Photos by David Hupert

The Hudson – Athens Lighthouse (photo by David Hupert)

There are star-crossed lovers. And then there are star-crossed paddlers….

All autumn, we’ve been trying to get up north to paddle in one of our favorite parts of the Hudson, around Stockport, not far south of Albany. In summer, it’s breathtakingly beautiful. But Vlad’s favorite time there is fall, when the autumn foliage blazes like fire and the air is cool and clear.

This year, we had added incentive to make the trip: Our fellow paddler David Hupert suggested getting together up there. That dovetailed perfectly with our idea of heading up by train late Friday or early Saturday with our folding kayaks, and camping for a night or two while we took a leisurely sightseeing paddle around the area.

So we made plans…

The first weekend—the 20th/21st of October—we had to cancel at the last minute because of work pressures. David advised us that we missed a spectacular weekend of paddling up there, with the fall foliage colors at their peak. (We were happy to miss, however, a darker discovery that another fellow paddler made that Sunday right at the island where we planned to camp.)

Still, David assured us that the fall foliage was not yet over. The second weekend was October 27th/28th. We planned to go until we read about the prospect of Hurricane Sandy making landfall in New York City on Monday—and decided that we didn’t want to risk Amtrak shutting down and leaving us stranded for days in a tent upstate somewhere. (Good call, as it turned out—the trains shut down about midafternoon on Sunday).

The remains of fall foliage with Olana on the hill (photo by David Hupert)

The following weekend, November 3rd/4th, we spent in post-Sandy cleanup at Pier 40 and providing assistance to folks in the Rockaways. The weekend after that Johna had to travel; then there was a “recovery” weekend after an intense week in California. And David is away this upcoming weekend…

The trees are rapidly shedding their leaves, and there are only a few more weekends left before winter sets in. So who knows if we’ll ever make it up to Stockport this year?

But in the meantime, David was kind enough to send us some of his recent photos from up there. Where we are not… but wish we were!

Reflections: Which Way is Up? (photo by David Hupert)

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Posted in Kayaking

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Green, Take Two

Posted on November 18, 2012 by | 36 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

This is a second post in response to this week’s Photo Challenge, Green. The first Green post was here.

On the second night of our kayak trip down the Hudson River from Albany to New York City in May 2011, we camped on the thickly wooded Magdalen Island. As the sunlight filtered through the fresh spring leaves, it was one of the Greenest sights I’ve ever seen…

The story and more photos are here and here.

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Posted in Kayaking, Photography

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Kayak Camping in the Hudson River Islands State Park

Posted on October 10, 2012 by | 97 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

I had hoped to post this last spring, in time for the 2012 camping season. But it’s not too late! The fall, with its spectacular foliage colors, is here—to my mind, the best time of the year to go camping at this spot… and in fact, Johna and I have plans to head up there for a couple of days soon to see the show!

The length of the Hudson River between Albany and New York City offers a number of kayak camping spots. But none is so attractive as the Hudson River Islands State Park, about 20 miles south of Albany and several miles north of the town of Hudson.

I’ve paddled and camped there many times in every season over the past decade, and I never fail to stop there on through trips down the river. In this complex of islands, back bays, and creeks, rich in plant and animal life, there is always something new to see. And most of the year, except during the peak season in the summer, chances are that you’ll have it all to yourself. Although it’s quite accessible, it feels secluded, remote, almost wild…

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Posted in Kayaking, Nature

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Paddling down the Hudson at Sunset…

Posted on September 24, 2012 by | 37 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

On Saturday, I was in the right place at the right time. A little rain shower gave way to a golden sunset over New Jersey, with golden reflections in Manhattan…

(At home afterwards, I stitched together a panorama in Photoshop. If I’d thought of it at the time, I would have made sure to take all the matching photos for it. Oh, well…)

… and then the World Trade Center tower glittering ahead in the purple dusk and the moon overhead…

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Posted in Kayaking, New York City

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Reflections, Take Two

Posted on May 13, 2012 by | 57 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

OK, I can’t resist having another go at Ailsa‘s Alternative Photo Challenge on the theme of “Reflections“…

More photos from these places, along the Hudson River and in Long Island Sound, are here, here, and here.

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Some other nice “Reflections” posts:

57 Comments

Posted in Kayaking, Nature, Photography

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Once More Round Manhattan

Posted on April 30, 2012 by | 18 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

When the tide or the weather doesn’t cooperate or we simply can’t think of any other trip we’d rather do, we default to paddling round Manhattan. It’s our version of the run round the park. Yet no matter how many times we repeat it, each time we see something new. Manhattan and its waterways look different on a cold, dark day in January and on a mild gray day in March. And they look different again on a beautiful, bright blue sunny day at the end of April: here is a slideshow from yesterday’s Manhattan circumnavigation.

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