Cedar Creek, NJ
by Teri Rocco
September 22, 2023
Fifteen paddlers spent a beautiful Friday on Cedar Creek. Although the water was very low between Ore Pond and the cement dam, we were able to get over the beaver dams with most of us not needing to get out of our boats. The lake was the lowest any of us had ever seen, and we stirred up quite a bit of mud with our paddles, but were able to get through it with no problems other than a bit of wind.
Dave brought some delicious brownies made by Claire and shared them with the group as we were portaging over the cement dam. Thanks Claire, they were delicious!!! Once we got all the boats over the dam, we had a leisurely paddle down the twisty, wind protected river. Lunch stop was on one of the sand beaches along the river, and we had one short break on another beach further down. Take out was at Dudley Park.
After all the boats were loaded up, nine of us headed over to the Shady Rest for some food and beverage, and to waste some time so we could miss the commuter traffic as we headed back north. We were lucky on the timing as we got the paddle in just before tropical storm Ophelia came by with rain and wind that could have cancelled the trip. Of course now that the storm has been here for a day, there is plenty of water in the river…..
Teri