Hudson River Ramble Journal

Day 1, September 14, 2007

        Arrived at Bruce Romanchack’s house at 6:30 AM, loaded his boat and gear and drove to Corning Park in Albany, arriving at 7:00 PM.  We off loaded the boats and the gear we needed for the day and packed the boats for the trip.  At 8:00 Bruce took my car and led the others to Schodack Island State Park, parked the cars and shuttled back to the launch site.  We got under way at 8:45 AM.

        There were six of us on this leg of the trip (Albany to Schodack Island State Park - SISP), Scott Keller, our leader, Rob Taylor SISP superintendent, Alan Lovgren, from Pennsylvania, John VanBuren, Bruce Romanchak and myself, all from Albany.  Three more paddlers would join us at the end of the day at SISP. 

        We stopped for a water break at about 9:45.  Four of us got out of our boats to stretch.  We all commented on a strong odor that suggested some large dead animal near by.  As I got back into my boat, I saw something unusual behind some low-lying branches.  It was large and white but badly discolored.  I thought it might be a white plastic barrel, but it also occurred to me that it could be human.  I asked John to look and say what he thought it was.  He was just ahead of me.  He paddled forward and called out that it was definitely human, as he could see pants and socks.  We called to Scott and the others and got out of our boats again.  We approached close enough to confirm that we had seen the body of a large black man who had obviously been dead for some time. 

        The sheriff’s patrol was just passing by, so we called on our VHF radio, but got no response.  Rob called 911 and made it clear that we were on the east side of the river across from shed 5 at the Port of Albany.  Soon four police SUV’s showed up on the west side of the river at the Port.  Scott paddled across to talk to them.  Meanwhile the Rensselaer Police arrived on our side and took over.  While we answered their questions, a fire rescue team from Albany launched a Zodiac and motored across.  We had to wave them off to prevent them from running onto some partially submerged pilings.  We directed them to a safe landing and pulled the boat ashore.  They were clothed in dark shirts and shorts, but wore heavy leather shoes and socks which the proceeded to drench in getting out of the Zodiac and crossing the soft sand.  When they discovered that the victim was dead (information we had already given them), they got back in their boat and left.  All-in-all it was a bit like the Keystone Cops. 

       We left soon after, wishing that we had just gone on our way and had not discovered the body.  We all had different reactions to it.  I was stoic as usual.  I have been around the water all my life and believed that I would make such a discovery some day.  Still, the whole event has bothered me more than I imagined it would.  On reflection, I’m glad we did find the man and notify authorities.  We have learned that he was Ronald Warren Mayfield II, he was thirty years old, and had been missing for more than two weeks.  It appeared that he had been in the water for a long time.  His body looked like it had been washed high up on the riverbank by a recent high tide. His body was behind some overhanging branches on an isolated part of the river.  If we hadn’t stopped there for a water break, his body might never have been found and his family would have been left to wonder what had happened to him.  So for that reason, it was a good thing that we made our discovery and reported it.  The rest is ours to deal with.

        We paddled into a strong headwind, reaching Henry Hudson Park in Bethlehem around noon.  We pulled the boats out of the water and found a picnic table in the sun where we had lunch.  After a break of about forty minutes, we were back on the water, again paddling into a headwind.  However, we did have the tide and currant with us.  We reached SISP in the early afternoon, pulled the boats from the water and set up camp out of the wind near a park pavilion.   

        Later, I pulled out my new cooking toys and baked chocolate chip oatmeal cookies on my camp stove.  It was a first try with the new equipment and came out fine.  Everyone had some, while I was teased about my “Easybake Oven”.  Dinner was Italian Sausage with peppers and onions on wheat rolls.  Very tasty!

As evening approached the remainder of our paddling crew arrived; Pat Slavin from Yonkers and Robin Raskin and Kaare  Christian from NYC.  Rob built a fire and we all sat around talking till after 9 PM before heading to bed for a cold and wet night.  The first rain came in around 2 AM, followed by a much harder and windier rain at about 4 AM.

Paddling Statistics for Day 1:

Trip:Albany’s Corning Preserve to Schodack Island State Park

Total Distance: Approximately 13 miles (8.96 measured + 4 estimated)

Max. Speed: 5.9 mph second leg (figures for my boat)

Moving Average: 3.4 mph (second leg)

Moving Time:Approximately 3:40:00 (2:39:13 measured + 60 estimated)

Hudson River Ramble Journal

Day 2, September 15, 2007

        Awoke at 6 AM to a light rain.  Stayed in my sleeping bag until 6:30.  Put on paddling splash pants and top, got up and made coffee with another new cooking toy, a French press attachment for my Jetboil stove.  It worked well, making great coffee.  Then just to impress everyone, I made blueberry muffins with bacon and eggs for breakfast.

        When the rain lifted we pulled gear out of the tents and packed it and our boats under the pavilion.  The tents went away wet.  By 8:45 we were ready to start transporting boats to the Schodack Creek launch site about a mile away.  This process of transporting nine boats to Schodack Creek took much longer than expected.  We did not get underway until about 10:15 AM. 

        A misty rain continued throughout the morning, finally lifting around noon.  The temperature was in the low 60’s with a strong following wind, so a splash jacket was needed and used by most paddlers.  As we started out, we had the tide and current, and today, the wind with us, so we made good time.

Schodack Creek is beautiful and full of wildlife.  The wildlife consists mostly of birds, but we did see an enormous snapping turtle and other bog turtles as well.  The biggest thrill was the large number of Bald Eagles we were able to spot over the entire length of the creek and beyond.  There were many yearlings and other immature young along with a few mature adults.  Rob knew the locations of several nests and was a font of information on eagle behavior. 

            When we finally left the creek and entered the river, the wind was stronger, blowing at an estimated 20 MPH with gusts to 30 and above.  This created following waves and white caps.  I found it hard to control my boat’s direction, as it wanted to yaw and round up.  It was a constant fight to keep it going downwind.  It also tended to bury its bow in the next wave as it surfed down the face of another.  There were times when solid water was covering the boat past the front hatch cover.  I guessed that I had too much weight forward.  After lunch I rearranged the load to put more of the weight in the stern.  This helped a lot.

       

        As a special treat we stopped for lunch at a small cafe in Stuyvesant.  It provided a nice break.  Our distance from SISP was 8.10 miles.  We were back on the water for our final leg to Hudson Islands State Park’s Gays Point campsite just before 2 PM.  Again, the wind and wave conditions were challenging, but this time we had the added burden of a rising tide.  This made the waves higher, breaking more often.

        We arrived at Gays Point at 3:30, pulled our boats from the water and began to set up camp.  The skies had cleared, so we used the sunshine and wind to dry our wet tents and gear before setting camp for the night.  We set up camp at a leisurely pace.  Several people broke out the hors d’oeuvres and wine and all settled in for story telling and conversation.  Before dinner several people began gathering firewood for an evening campfire.  Dinner this night was Southwest rice medley with garlic and herb chicken breasts. 

        Later, Bruce, John and I took a walk on a trail that circled the park.  On the way we spotted several two foot long by one foot thick chunks of a tree that had been cut down by park employees.  We each carried one back to the campsite to add to the firewood supply.  The evening was spent around the campfire, listening to the night sounds of late summer crickets, watching the multitude of stars and talking.  We all turned in about 10:15PM.

Paddling Statistics for Day 2:

Trip:Schodack Island State Park to Gays Head Point

Total Distance: 12.12 miles (8.10, first leg + 4.02, second leg)

Max Speed:            7.0 mph first leg, 6.1 MPH second leg (favorable tide, wind &    

                                current))

Moving Average: 3.8 mph first leg, 3.2 MPH second leg

Moving Time:4:05:36 (2:9:00 first leg, 1:15:36 second leg)

Hudson River Ramble Journal

Day 3, September 16, 2007

       It was a cold night with temperatures in the low to mid forties.  But it was still, with no wind or rain.  I had come prepared for the cold, so was quite comfortable all night.  I arose at 6AM to the eerie sight of fog rising in swirls off of the river.  Made coffee as is my usual morning ritual and sat and watched the river awaken as the fog slowly lifted and the sun began to shine.  This would be a beautiful day with bright blue skies and white puffy clouds – glorious!  Last night’s fire was still smoldering so we fed it some new fuel and soon had a fire burning to warm our hands and toes.  Breakfast was oatmeal with raisins and nuts.

        We packed up camp and got underway about 9AM.  Today we were headed north upriver, so we were paddling against the current, ebbing tide and wind which, while less than yesterday, was still coming out of the north at 5 to 15 mph.  I really didn’t mind paddling against all these factors as the day was so beautiful, cool but not cold, with the refreshing wind making it feel like we were flying.  In reality, these three factors (current, tide and wind) significantly slowed our forward speed, holding us to an average of just 2.8 mph.  On this northward trip we saw many more Bald Eagles.  They seemed to be everywhere, and on both sides of the river.  We also saw kingfishers, Great Blue Heron, Cormorants and a Great Egret. 

       We packed up camp and got underway about 9AM.  Today we were headed north upriver, so we were paddling against the current, ebbing tide and wind which, while less than yesterday, was still coming out of the north at 5 to 15 mph.  I really didn’t mind paddling against all these factors as the day was so beautiful, cool but not cold, with the refreshing wind making it feel like we were flying.  In reality, these three factors (current, tide and wind) significantly slowed our forward speed, holding us to an average of just 2.8 mph.  On this northward trip we saw many more Bald Eagles.  They seemed to be everywhere, and on both sides of the river.  We also saw kingfishers, Great Blue Heron, Cormorants and a Great Egret.

        After about 90 minutes on the water, we decided to stop at the ruins of a 19th century Hudson River icehouse.  We’ve stopped here on other trips, but it is always interesting to see how our forefathers solved the problem of refrigeration, something we take for granted.  After time for water, snacks and bathroom breaks, we were back on the river.

       Conditions continued as before, with the skies and mountain views surrounded by the beautiful bright blue sky and white clouds making for a perfect paddling day.  We stopped for lunch at a lovely beach on the river’s east side, just south and across from New Baltimore’s Cornell Park.  I made a fresh egg salad wrap for lunch.  After lunch, we pushed on to our takeout point, the riverside ramp at SISP.  As my GPS’s battery died shortly after lunch, all figures are for the first leg to the lunch site.  The rest are estimates.  Overall, it took us about 5 hours to reach SISP.  This includes time for lunch and breaks.  This is about right for a moving average of 2.8 mph.

Paddling Statistics for Day 3:

Trip:Gays Head Point to Schodack Island State Park

Total Distance: Approximately 12 miles (Gays Point to SISP Launch)

Max Speed:            5.2 mph (figures for my boat)

Moving Average: 2.8 mph

Moving Time:Unknown.  Total transit time, approximately 5 hours

Note: GPS battery died shortly after lunch

The 2007 Hudson River Ramble Crew

Photos credited to others are used with permission.