Heading home on the Jmz
After lunch we sit in the sun and listen to birds. There actually seem to be less of them than in New York. Maybe they like the city.
This makes you afraid to stand in the same place for too long- says Diana -like the trees will just swallow you up.
This notice is attached to one of the houses. It looks like things changed out here in 08. When we start to look around we realize the houses were not temporary at all.
Yesterday we passed the historic house of Thomas Cole. We could just make out it’s turrets above the trees and we imagined ourselves to be a spec in one of his paintings of the Hudson River.
Some of the confusion of last night is explained when we figure out that we were not on an island at all. And we told Diana’s friends to meet us in the wrong place.
Diana’s friends are somewhere on land trying to find us. But it is hard to figure out just where. We wait on the southern tip of the island.
Diana’s friends are going to meet up with us on the island. They have been following the pictures on line and now they are coming with hot dogs and beer.
Stockport Middle Ground. We think it is an island made of what they dredged to make the shipping channel.
At the train station i find a magazine with an amazing image: New York City covered in a waterfall. It reminds me of something Melissa Brown would make.
A wonderful coincidence happens when we get into town. We see Gareth, my friend McKendree’s husband. He and his friends are on a long bike ride. We compare travel notes and then his friend points out some good camping places.
We stop and take a rest on Rogers Island. How well named – i think. My uncle Roger has been on my mind this whole trip. He is the one who taught me to paddle a canoe and camp.
The wind is gusting from one side of the river then the other. We decide to eat lunch and see what happens.
The remains of a broken up house. It looks like this whole island was under water at some point this winter.
Diana practices with the sail on dry land. It will be her job to take it down in a hurry if something goes wrong.
We slept by the train tracks last night. No matter how i tried to mentally prepare myself, the train coming by in the night always woke me up in a panic.
We walk back to the boat in the pitch dark. It turns out we walked in a big circle. Consulting a map at the gas station, we found a better way back.
The tide has turned against us. We are still going in the right direction, but we are paddling much harder.
We know we only have a few more hours to ride with the tide. When it turns around we will not be able to paddle against the current.
We pull up the boat to look around.
My brother gave me a Pirate Pez dispenser. Sent from my mom for Easter. Take it with you for good luck- he said.
Leaving New York. It is hard to believe that in a few hours i could be floating along in the Hudson River.
↑ Return to Top of Page ↑