Saturday, November 11, 2006

What kind of autumn do we have here?...

I shot the above photo facing upstream on the Musky between Pt. Mountain bridge and Penwell dam. October 1999. I think this pic illustrates why the Musconetcong River is one of only 3 national Wild and Scenic Rivers entirely within NJ. OK, just a technicality here. It has not been officially designated yet. It's eligible, but the bill languishes in the lameduck Congress. At least it's chief sponsor, a Warren County Republican Congressman was reelected. Ah yes! Warren County - a slice of central Pennsylvania and Alabama right here in Neew Jersey.

Oh, perhaps it's just a temporary pattern of wetter than usual weather, even for typically erratic November standards.

Looks like another 1-2 inches coming our way in the form of the second nor'easter within the past week. The Delaware River is actually falling and at 10:00 PM is around 8'. A few inches more rain over next 18 hours will take the river up to 15 feet or so.

All the tribs are up a little bit and some of the more flood prone piedmont streams might leave their banks. In NJ the Musconetcong at Bloomsbury is at 2.62, a perfect level for paddling. It will surge back up to near bank full and hopefully it will fall back to around 3 feet for a Tuesday trip on the upper river below Saxton Falls. It's a nice boulder chocked Class II section just below the flat and sandy terminal morraine. Anyone want to join us?

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