Had an afternoon free so I decided to go up to a part of the River that I don’t necessarily get to paddle all that often.
The weather forecast was for Small Craft Advisory on the coast so the calm conditions locally made the Hudson an excellent choice for a Tuesday afternoon.
Heading out from Hudson, NY which has a really unique history as a whaling port more than 110 miles inland from the sea, the ebbing tide helped zip me a long to the Hudson. The calm waters made for a neat reflection of the light clouds in the sky with the Catskills as a backdrop past the Hudson Lighthouse.
Southward View from Hudson, NY
Hudson Lighthouse
Getting into the groove of a fast effective forward stroke I forgot how shallow the river gets here in places especially around low tide. Just north of Rogers Island it felt like I was paddling in molasses when I realized I was in only a foot of water over a sandy bottom. The shipping channel is only 1/4 mile wide at most here and it quickly becomes sand bar shallows outside of it.
Passing south of the Rip Van Winkle Bridge going into Catskill, Olana, Frederick Church’s estate, comes into view commanding the hilltop that Frederick Church described as “I’ve found 10 acres of heaven 30 miles from Albany and it’s all mine!” At least I think that’s the wording that was on the sign when I went to Olana to check it out. Definitely worth the trip and in the winter the views are unimpeded all around.
Rip Van Winkle Bridge
Olana
Made the 5.8 miles to Catskill faster than I thought and had about 20 minutes to kill waiting for closer to slack tide to start back. Poked up the Catskill Creek a bit into town. Amazing amount of urban renovation going on along the creek near Bridge Street. Old mill buildings being renovated into what appears to be upscale apartments, etc. Good to see.
Heading back I found a small park north of the Rip Van Winkle Bridge and south of the power transmission lines. Nice sandy beach on the south side of it makes for easy landings. Turns out to be the site of an old icehouse, of which there were many on the River at the turn of the last century. Not as much to be seen in the way of ruins like that at Nutten Hook near Stuyvesant further to the north but a great little rest stop I added to my list.
With slack finally relinquishing and the flood beginning I made good time from the power transmission lines up to the neat little village of Athens. Nice waterfront community with a couple of cafes along a main street that fronts the water.
Shot back across the south end of Middle Stockport Flats Island and to the Hudson Launch.
Distance = 11.5 miles in about 2.5 hours with some poking about. Not a bad way to spend some time on a Tuesday afternoon.
GPS track for Hudson to Catskill
GPS track for Catskill to Hudson
See you on the water,
Marshall
