Upper Reaches of the Hackensack River
by Betty Wiest

Sunday, April 29, 2018

It was a cold, cloudy afternoon day on our trip into the Upper Reaches of the Hackensack River, about a mile from the Palisade Center......and you would never know it!

We were 11 boats paddling through New York's version of the bayous of Louisiana. The water level in the river and lake was swollen and higher than I had ever seen it before. We were so fortunate to experience a variety of wildlife-----swans, great blue herons, carp, snapping turtles, deer, and tons of birds. We paddled past a makeshift pull system, a wooden boardwalk that was once quite a walk through the water/woods, and a long-abandoned row boat. In a few weeks the channel that leads to the lake will be choked with aquatic plants, making it impassable. This is the best time of year to paddle this section of the Hackensack.

Here are a few pictures.

Betty