Paddling the Hudson

June-July 2006

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
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by Alan Feldstein

Our group at the George Washington Bridge.

I am in Manhattan and I arrived by kayak—how many people can say that? Probably not many, except those like me, who have participated in the annual Great Hudson River Paddle (GHRP).

The GHRP is a group experience like no other, a 10-day, 150-mile kayak trip down the Hudson, from Albany to downtown Manhattan, to promote the Hudson River Valley Greenway as a scenic waterway. In the 70s and 80s the Hudson was a virtual sewer with toxins, industrial waste and other polluting substances dumped untreated from its banks. Over the years, great efforts have been made to clean up the river, and in April 2001, Governor George E. Pataki provided a $1 million grant to establish a Hudson River Greenway Water Trail.

While the GHRP is not a beginner’s paddle, with daily paddles averaging about 16 miles, it can be enjoyed by just about everyone who has reasonable skills, endurance and a commitment to have a good time with a diverse group of people—in our case 27 paddlers plus six guides.

We had teachers, doctors, computer programmers, one lawyer (by day I am a Los Angeles attorney), a professional photographer and one father/son team who made the trip in a double kayak.

Prior to my arrival in Albany, the organizers sent me a large red duffle bag which I was told I could fill with whatever I wanted. Our basic camping and paddling gear would go in the boats but Johnny Miller and his team would take all the red duffle bags, our snacks and any tired kayakers who needed a day off from paddling, and drive down the NY thruway to the next stop. Johnny is the classic New York organizer whose favorite phrase is “I can hook you up with that.” When we arrived, there would be cold drinks, fruit, snacks and music, with Mark the DJ playing everything from the Beatles to Marley to Miles.

Each night, we would be taken by van, first to a school, army base, YMCA, hockey rink, wherever there was hot water to shower, and then off to dinner. Dinners were often at the homes of gracious people, and in some cases the entire community came out to feed us barbecued chicken, homemade ice cream and all sorts of other delicacies. What all this means is that although we camped for 10 days, you couldn’t say we were roughing it!

The first day, we pulled out of Albany under threatening skies, but it didn’t rain till we got to our campsite at New Baltimore. The next day we arose at 6, and under gray skies and light rain, ate, packed up, did some yoga and were on the water by 8, which was the schedule most days. Known as ‘the river that flows both ways’, the Hudson’s early morning tide was flowing toward Manhattan so we left early to paddle with the current.

We had a few days of rain and only one bad day of wind. When it got really hot, we took off our hats, filled them with water and poured them over our heads. And if that was not sufficient, any one of our fellow paddlers was happy to give us a blast of the Hudson River with a large water cannon.

After New Baltimore we were off to Athens, where our landing coincided with their community festival. In the evening we were treated to fireworks, but for me the fireflies were an even more amazing sight—something you don’t see in California. They were better than any fireworks show.

The next day we were off to Saugerties, which has a beautiful lighthouse that is now a bed and breakfast. It was there that we honed our water fighting skills. I learned that women tend to stick together and acquit themselves well when it comes to water fights.

The next two days were the long ones: 17 miles to beautiful Norrie Point State Park and then 21 miles to Wappinger Falls. While the sites along the river are beautiful, including the old ruins of Bannerman’s Arsenal, those days with wind, heat, humidity, delayed jet lag and paddling against the current wiped me out.

Just before arriving at Cold Spring we were met by a group of local kayakers, and a great water battle ensued. Never underestimate a pod of water tested, hungry, tired kayakers. Despite some serious firepower from their cleverly rigged fire extinguisher, we vanquished the locals and paddled to camp victorious.

Cold Spring is a delightful town where we showered at Hudson Valley Outfitters, a major sponsor who were kind enough to supply me with a boat, and we were treated to an incredible dinner as the guest of John Cronin, the original River Keeper who patrolled the Hudson and helped stop the continued pollution of the river.

Never underestimate a pod of kayakers at the end of the day!

The next day took us to Annsville, where we received a history lesson from Colonel (Ret) James Johnson, who used to teach revolutionary war history at West Point. Arriving in full Revolutionary Army uniform replete with musket, the Colonel gave a lecture on the Hudson, West Point, and their impact on the revolutionary war. Annsville was the end of the Highlands part of the Hudson and we headed into the home stretch and more urbanization, including passing a nuclear power plant (cameras in your pocket please or draw an armed response, we were warned), Croton Point and then Yonkers— home to the Yonkers Paddling and Rowing Club which has been in existence since 1886.

From Yonkers it is about 17 miles to the Downtown Boathouse in Manhattan. Normally that kind of trip could take five to six hours, but because of the fast current we made it under four. The early-morning rush of navigating a small, one-person craft past the island of Manhattan and all of its landmarks seen anew from water level—the George Washington Bridge, Grant’s Tomb, the Empire State Building, churches, skyscrapers and apartment buildings galore—is a feeling not to be missed. We were escorted by a police boat through the large-boat traffic of massive oil barges and elegant yachts, and even past the QE2, with the Statue of Liberty raising her torch in the distance, and finally the Downtown Boathouse where we received a heroes’ welcome.

That night it felt great to have a private shower, and to set up my tent in my hotel room to dry (causing some confused looks from the hotel staff). But it was not more than a day or two before I yearned to be back on the water with my fellow paddlers. As everyone knows, kayakers are a friendly, welcoming, fun-loving group. That was especially true of the paddlers on the Great Hudson River Paddle.

© Alan Feldstein lives in Southern California where he is a board member of the Adventures’ Club of Los Angeles and serves as a sea kayak instructor through the UCLA Aquatic Center. He has paddled extensively from Baja to BC, and on Lake Tanganika in Africa. He recently climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. See www.in-lifeadventures.com.

Editor’s Note: Thanks to the GHRP organizer Scott Keller for help with the map of the route. A more detailed map with all the sites on the Greenway Water Trail is available from him: scott.keller@hudsongreenway.state.ny.us. This year’s event will be held July 13-22. See www.hrwa.org.

Amanda Marksteiner in New York tells us that the Downtown Boathouse provides FREE paddling opportunities to New Yorkers to help build support for public access on the Hudson.www.downtownboathouse.org (646) 613-0375.