Mud Along The Wallkill
And no one died... or got poison ivy! But we did get plenty of muddy feet
by Martin W.

May 19, 2024

On a bright, sunny and quite warm Sunday on May 21st, five intrepid paddlers (now better known as the Mudslinger Five) set out on the mighty Wallkill River in Sussex County. Those hearty paddlers were - Monica O., George G., Allan and Barbara P., and myself.
After arriving at the put-in on the busy Rt. 565 we were surprised at seeing a whole bunch of other folks unloading their boats here, which is quite unusual to see others paddling the Wallkill. As we found out this group were from the AMC and another club (I forget which one) and hadn't yet run their shuttle.
Unloading our boats and equipment, we then proceeded to head up to our take-out at Oil City Road just over the NY border. Luckily we managed to get enough parking spots for our cars.

Returning to the put-in we then embarked downstream (which as a side note, is heading north. The only two rivers in NJ that run north are the Wallkill and the Millstone).

Water level was adequate but unusually silty. No trouble for the first half mile or so until we came to our first blowdown. Couldn't go under and couldn't go over - so we had to go around... through a whole bunch of mud and poison Ivy.

Continuing on we then encountered another big blowdown and repeated the aforementioned muddy process again. Thankfully after that it was pretty much clear paddling.

After a couple more miles in the narrow twisty wooded area the river opens up into a wide "savannah-like" stretch. We did get a moderate head wind (of course) but we did make some good time. Searching for a decent place for lunch we ended up going all the way to the Bassett's Bridge access for lunch since the river banks were nothing but more mud.

A short while later the other AMC group paddled up, but since we had our boats up in the muddy access (did I mention "muddy") most of them stayed in their boats. They kindly asked if I could take a photo of their group which I gladly did. They then proceeded to head down river towards the infamous "The Wallkill Rapid". I was slightly in back of them, watching as they ran "The Rapid". They all made it through the 5 second run, which at that water level, produced a couple of nice standing waves (usually kayakers get a lap full of water here) - except for the last canoe. Somehow they got broadside to the first wave and flipped (it was a dedicated white-water canoe too). The rest of their group got them to shore along with the boat and gear. They were wet but OK.

Anyway, we then continued on to the take-out at Oil City Road. Since we and the AMC group paddled together for this last mile there was a crowd pulling out up the - of course "muddy" bank but everyone gave each other a helping hand getting their boats out.

After loading up the boats and driving back to the put-in to drop off George's canoe since he drove the shuttle, we then went and had dinner at a local restaurant and then parted ways. Nice trip.

And again... no one died.

> Click here for photos from Monica Orso and Martin W.

Martin