Passaic River
by Peter Walker
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Rich H. and Chris K. joined Naomi G. and me for a sunny Sunday morning paddle on the Passaic.
Putting in at the Essex County Environmental Center in Roseland, we started with a short paddle downstream to inspect the bridge works on Eagle Rock Avenue. While the road over the bridge is still closed, the new bridge deck is mostly in place, and the sign prohibiting passage under the bridge has been removed.
We then paddled upstream against a slow current to just past route 10, and floated back down to Roseland - about a 2 1/2 hour trip.
As expected we saw deer (two) and grey heron (one), plus several baby turtles and an assortment of brownish birds (sorry, no ornithologist on the trip). No alligators, pet or otherwise. Two fishing kayaks were the only other signs of life on the river, but the anglers reported the fish were hiding from the heat.
Peter