Hackensack Meadowlands at River Barge Park
by Betty Wiest
Sunday, October 11, 2015
You know when you wake up in the morning and a portion of your day includes paddling…..what a great day it’s going to be. And so it was. It was a beautiful day of paddling in the Meadowlands at River Barge Park. I was not sure when I planned this trip if we would just paddle up river or down. But once we all arrived, it was the perfect time to paddle the phragmites channels near the Mill Creek Park in Secaucus. The river was at high tide and very calm when we launched at 9:30 a.m.
Participants included: Jim McCl., Carole B., Joan V., Mike R., Joseph M., Andy A., Joel W., and me. We were six kayaks and one canoe.
Because I had paddled the channels before and also had been on an Ecotour with the Riverkeeper, I was confident in leading our group with no thoughts of getting lost (although we did have to backtrack twice). It truly is amazing paddling the Meadowlands with the skyline of New York in the distance and the NJ Turnpike nearby.
There’s a lot to be said about paddling in calm waters on a Sunday morning…..peace and tranquility…..and more than once I said outloud, “This is heaven!”
This being October, we did not see many birds, although we did see a few Great Blue Herons evading us.
When we got back to River Barge Park, we loaded our boats on our vehicles and found a few picnic tables to have a snack. We missed you, Manfred!
Betty