HUDSON RIVER paddling, Thurman to Hadley.
The Bear Slides on Butternut Brook is a half mile hike from the river at Darlings Ford. In summer, tubing is popular in the 2nd half of this trip. Oct 20, 2021 - Hadley gauge at 3.8' - a very nice level. Sunny & temp rising into the lower 70s. Some very nice fall foliage in the yellow/orange range but past peak for reds. Moving water, fast water, riffles up to 1' - the current made it easy to keep a 3.5-4mph pace. Steep hills on both sides. Bald eagles, lots of Canada geese, a lone merganser. 14.5 miles, 5 hours (incl an hour-long lunch break near 1000 Acres Ranch). However, what may have been a perfect day of paddling was diminished by a reminder that not all folks are having an awesome day - enough said - details below but BE WARNED , it ain't pretty . *After paddling downstream for 10 minutes, we spotted some debris on river R that looked like some clothing, a dummy, or something. After a closer look, it was determined to be a de...