Mon, May 25 – Paddle the Great Swamp in Patterson, NY
Leader: JeanetteTB
We had a small group for this year’s Great Swamp paddle; the threat of rain had scared away half a dozen paddlers. But the weather improved and we enjoyed a beautiful day paddling in the east branch of the Croton River. Although we’d had plenty of rain, the water level was somewhat low. And low water in the Great Swamp means… beaver dams!!! One long dam seemed impassable, but Dave was able to portage around it. Jonathan climbed onto the dam and made a passageway; he pulled the rest of the boats over the top of the dam. Kudos to Jonathan! We also encountered several small limbs that were preventing our passage; we cut them with a saw to allow us to pass. We paddled about 2.5 miles until we came to a large, impassable downed tree; we stopped for lunch, then paddled back downstream. We followed a few herons and caught sight of a large osprey, sunning himself. Paddlers included ADK members Dave W, Linda H, Jonathan B and the leader, Jeanette TB. We were joined by guest Debbie J.