The highlight of my trip was this bald eagle.
I launched from the
Rhinecliff boat launch just south of the train station at about 7:30 am. The weather was in the 70's and the river was very calm. I paddled across the river and reached the lighthouse at about 8:00 am.
The total trip lasted about 3 hours with a moving average of about 4.2 mph including a lot of slow paddling to take pictures and look at the scenery.
I met a guy in a racing scull who told me about the Rondout creek and what to look for. I had no chance to keep up with him so after we talked for a few minutes he took off up the creek.
I paddled up the right fork of the creek by Dock island past the historic Kingston waterfront and all the boat slips.
Since Dock island is not really an island, but a man made peninsula, I had to head back around the way I came and the headed up the Rondout creek for about 3 miles to the Eddyville dam. I past many marinas and boats along the way including a very interesting house boat.
When I got to the dam I anchored my boat at the bottom and climbed to the top of the dam. With two people it might be possible to lift the boats to the top of the dam and continue up the creek but it's not really possible for one person to do it unless you have a small plastic boat that you could drag up with a rope.
After walking around the dam for a while I got back in and paddled back down stream and took the right fork around the island on the south side of the creek. I stopped at a small beach and had lunch. While eating I saw a bald eagle land in the tree across the narrow branch of the creek in front of me. After I finished I got back in the boat and glided across to where I saw the eagle land. To my surprise, I came up right next to the tree he was sitting in and he posed nicely for me to take some pictures. I know the eagles are getting more common but I'm still excited every time I see one. Here are a couple of pictures.
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