Cedar Creek, NJ
Ore Pond to Dudley Park
by Dean Leistikow
Wed, July 2, 2025
The conditions were great for our HRCKC paddle. We saw no other paddlers (perhaps because it was a pre-July 4th weekday and the forecast was for early rain). The weather was cool/overcast with heavy rain before the paddle, a slight drizzle early in the paddle and temperatures of about 70 degrees during the paddle until the last hour when the sun came out. Cedar creek was so fast and high from the recent rain that the beaver dams weren’t an obstacle (The Western Ave gage was at 5.2 and the pond’s surface was about 4 inches below the pond’s dam top).
We saw lots of wildlife (deer, a big turtle, purple martins, many unidentified small birds and a big barred owl up close). Finally, there were lots of ripe blueberries (roughly 40% of them were ripe) for easy picking, nearly all of it right from our boats. Joining me were Al, Herta, Monica, Peter, Phil, Robert, and Sumonnat.
Dean