NYCkayaker Fw: Delaware River Fall Foliage Trip

Wed Oct 11 23:56:02 EDT 2006

                          DELAWARE FALL FOLIAGE RIVER TRIP
Dear fellow paddlers/adventure lovers,

   I?m planning a trip on New York?s other big river, the Delaware, on Saturday and Sunday Oct. 21 & 22.
  We will start from Narrowsburg , NY on Sat. morning at 9:00 am, immediately following a safety briefing at 8:30 am. We will travel downstream to, Sparrowbush (33 miles 5-6 hours). The higher the river, the faster it is, so it may take less time to finish than at normal river levels. We should leave Sat. morning at 9:00 am sharp immediately following the safety briefing.
   On Sunday, Oct. 22 we may either explore Prompton Lake, Lake Wallenpaupack or more of the Delaware. 
   At this time of year the river is very swift and cold consisting of 8-10 sets of class 1& 2 rapids, so wet or dry suits are a must as well as extra paddles, PFDs and spray skirts. Throw ropes and tow ropes are also a good idea. For the safety of all, we will always take a line of descent out of the most severe rapids. In addition, there will be a safety meeting before launching as well as a brief before each set of the ten different rapids. There are rocks in the river, which we will do our best to avoid so a plastic boat is preferable to wood or glass. I use a 17 foot sea kayak. Recreational boats are great too. Don?t forget your water and lunch! The scenery is pastoral, bucolic and beautiful! We have seen many bald eagles and other wildlife on the trips throughout the years. I saw a golden eagle last year.
   Drive time from the GWB is approximately 2 hours to northernmost point. 
                                                  DIRECTIONS
   Meet 8:00 am We will be meeting in Sparrowbush, NY Take Palisades Parkway north to I-87 north to Rte. 17 west to I-84 west to the Port Jervis exit, follow Rte. 6 west through town, then take Rtes. 97/ 42 north. Routes 97 / 42 eventually split. Just past the 97/42 split, look for a small wooden sign which says, SPARROWBUSH, NY STATE FISHING ACCESS. Make a 45 degree left at that sign onto a street called Hook Rd. (aka. the Hook) Follow down to the end. Here we will need to transfer kayaks and gear and leave some vehicles in order to retrieve those transport vehicles, which will be left 33 miles upriver. (take out is the Hook). For those who have longer travel times or hate awakening early in the morning, I suggest arriving Fri. evening and staying at the many bed and breakfasts or campsites in the area. For facilities and accommodations, check out the National Park Service web site at:
                                        www.nps.gov/upde
    Bring your camp gear if you want to camp on Fri. and/or Sat. eve in Barryville at Kittatinny Campgrounds. This will be our base of operations. They have campsites for $12. Contact them at 1-800-FLOAT KC or at:
                                        www.kittatinny.com
   This trip will be planned around your individual needs, within reason, so please RSVP - ASAP by phone (845) 352-0162 Cell: (914) 374-7954 or e-mail     
                                        LEE060 at earthlink.net
    YOU MUST CALL WITH YOUR PLANS BEFORE SAT. IN ORDER TO FACILITATE     SHUTTLE TRANSPORT. 
   There is no cell phone service north of Port Jervis. This is an individual, not a group event. I will not assume any liability for this trip. You must have proper gear and have advanced or intermediate experience to do this trip. Join at your own risk.
    Hope to see you there! 
Lee Reiser

From: kensheltons at netscape.net
Sent: Oct 25, 2005 12:52 PM
To: nyckayaker at rockandwater.net
Subject: NYCkayaker Delaware River Trip Report

A big Thank You to Lee Reiser of the Yonkers Paddle and Rowing Club for 
putting together
the Fall Foliage Delaware Trip, which went out Sunday, October 23rd . 
The day started
with an 8AM meeting in Sparrowbush NY. Boats and cars were shuttled 30+ 
miles upriver to
the put-in at Darbytown, PA, several hundred yards across the Delaware 
River from
Narrowsburg, NY. The river temperature was 49-degrees. The air 
temperature was 46 and did
not get much above 50 throughout the cloudy day. The initial group 
consisted of Lee, Bill
Menke, Ron Kleiman, and I.

With a 9:10 am start and short stops for equipment adjustments and 
photographing waterfalls and bald eagles, our group of 4 sea kayaks made excellent pace in the fast-moving river. Lee has run this stretch of the river a dozen times and briefed the group before each set of rapids on the line to take to get through safely. Several stretches of rapids with standing waves of 3-4 feet were encountered with 1-3 feet being common. The river was running high & fast due to the recent rains. At one point my GPS showed 13.4MPH. 6-8MPH was more typical for the day and rarely were we under 5MPH.

Our first major stop was at the Lackawaxen River (mile 12.4) at 11:30AM 
where Bruce Rayvid joined the group. A Park Service Ranger drove up & advised us that the river was flowing at 6,700CFS at Butler's Rift and warned us about a strainer by the Millrift Conrail Bridge. We were the only people on the river and as he was briefing us he was quietly looking each boat up and down. Each of us were in large (14-17.5 foot) sea kayaks, had an extra set of paddles for each boat and assorted other safety gear, from satellite distress beacons to navigation lights, lashed to decks and bodies, While not in dry suits, everyone was well dressed for the day and the obvious 'seniority' of the group pretty much told the Ranger that this group probably knew what they were doing and did not need a safety lecture. A quick 'have a good day, guys' and he drove off.

We continued through more rapids and broke for lunch at Twin Lakes 
Creek (mile 20.3) at 1PM. After about an hour of cappuccino, cigars, and very bad jokes, we headed out again. The river widened and slowed a bit and we actually had to paddle for several miles.

At one point we came across two women in a rental float boat stranded 
near the deserted Pennsylvania side of the river. They had lost one of their paddles and were trying to make progress with the remaining paddle and a tree branch. Bill threw them a rope and towed them & their 6-person inflatable boat cross-current to the opposite shore. They made it onshore and presumably thumbed their way back to the rental agency. These ladies
were the only other boaters we saw all day. To let them out alone, in a boat larger than they could handle, on a cold day in a fast-moving river, was pretty 
irresponsible of the rental company, and the women did not show a lot of good judgment on their part either.

Where the Rio River meets the Delaware, 3-5 foot waves were avoided as 
we chose a line close to the NY side. At Millrift, the last set of rapids, cross flow 
coming around an island pushed us towards the piers of the Conrail bridge. Some very hard paddling andsteering were necessary to avoid running into the abutment.

The take-out in Sparrowbush (mile 32.1) was about at 3:50PM after 
having been on the river for about 5 hours and 30 minutes total float time. The reverse car dance was begunand Bruce had the excellent idea of procuring a pizza mid-shuttle. As we secured to boats
to the cars and devoured the pizza another mature bald eagle perched in 
a tree just across the river.

Altogether, a nice day. Nobody got wet, the chill was bearable, and the 
wildlife was displaying itself nicely (4 mature Bald Eagles, 1 immature Bald Eagle, 
one Golden Eagle, Osprey, Blue Herons, Turkey Vultures, Red-Tailed Hawks, and assorted ducks and geese).

Unfortunately, it was a very grey day for photos. A few images are at
http://www.kenshelton.com/2005dff