Through Devil's Mud Past World's End

[Ichabod Spoonbill]

I have twin girls, and it's nice sometimes to go on a trip with just one of them. (Twins need time away from each other. Trust me!) So I decided to take seven year-old Miranda on a trip through Constitution Marsh, something I've meant to do for a while. I loaded Big Red on my CRV — my plastic Imagine Surfer — and we headed out to Constitution Marsh, a gorgeous tidal marsh right across the Hudson from West Point.

The marsh can get too shallow at low tide to paddle through, but I checked the tide table and figured we had enough time for a transit and to stop at a waterfall I've been meaning to see at the far end. I leashed, PFDed, and loaded the girl onto the board and off we went.

We had a nice paddle except for the non-stop questions that kids tend to ask when they don't want to use their eyes. But that's my girl, and she's really sweet about it. Big Red is a perfect kid board, and I enjoy giving rides on it. As we got closer to the far end I took a short cut which I figured was deep enough because I saw two kayaks on the other side.

I was wrong. We got mired in three inches of water and deep mud. The channel was about a hundred yards away, so a quick push through the mud and we'd be fine. I took off my sandals and started walking. Then I noticed there were these sharp things in the mud. They were seriously pricking my feet. I put on my sandals then, but they started getting stuck and the sharp things, which were water chestnut seed pods, were getting caught between my sandal and foot.

I couldn't go more than three or four steps before those evil seed pods would invade my sandal. (i've enclosed a picture below. You will agree they are truly evil.) Miranda started getting upset and we both were getting muddy. It was a truly sucky situation. It took about ten painful minutes to go that 100 yards.

I figured the tide wasn't going to let us get to our journey, so I headed back through the marsh to the launch site. The water was getting shallower and shallower, and the thought of getting mired in the middle of the marsh was a nightmare. There was another way back — out of the marsh, under the train trestle, and paddle around Constitution Island. It was doable, but it would take me through literally the most treacherous part of the Hudson. It's called World's End and it's the narrow section right nest to West Point. The currents, tides, winds, rocks, and deep bottom all work together to make some truly crazy conditions. I've paddled through it a few times before and the water looked like it was boiling with all the crazy eddies. No problem by myself with a good cruising board, but I was on a 9'10" plastic board with a seven year-old girl.

The thing was, there was no other way back. So we floated under the train trestle (the outgoing tide pulled us through) and into the main river we went. If things got really rough, I instructed Miranda how to go prone on the board and I'd knee-paddle through.

Wouldn't you know it, the current and tide were against us. I caught up with a pair of kayakers doing the same thing, and we inched through the crazy water. There were currents pulling us this way and that. The boat channel is right next to us too, so the boat wakes were an issue too. I stayed standing and at once point we almost went over, but I kept the board pointed into the waves. It was about fifteen minutes of nerve-wracking paddling. Not for me, but I was worried about my girl. I was probably more scared than she was.

We made it through, but man was that hairy for a few. I think the crazy stability of that massive board worked in my favor.  A narrower, lighter board might have gotten bounced and tipped more, but Big Red is so huge that it didn't get so badly worked over. It's a slug, but at least it's a reliable slug.

I ran into an other paddler on an inflatable who'd never been on the Hudson before. I warned him away from where I had just been and directed him upriver. Then I ran into a couple I'd paddled with a couple of times, which was nice. They reminded me how crazy the tides were with the full moon, which explained a lot of what happened to Miranda and me in the marsh.

A real SUP adventure.

[deepmud]

Ouch! How are your feet?

[Ichabod Spoonbill]

They're fine now, but for a while it felt like some sort of medieval torture.

[stoneaxe]

Sounds terrible. I've been stuck in deep mud before, not a pleasant trek. Doubly terrible with a kid on-board. Good thing you had all that CCBC training under your belt...

[Ichabod Spoonbill]

Seriously. When we hit those boat wakes I might have tipped over if it wasn't for all that practice in the swells. My sandals are a wreck too. Time for new ones.

[stoneaxe]

Those water chestnuts look like caltrops. Yikes...!

[supthecreek]

Lots of unexpected things can happen on a paddle trip.... but kids make it much scarier. I am glad you worked through it!

I have been through that West Point turn in my boat.... very beautiful, but lots of current changes.

Great pictures and reminder for folks that knowledge is everything in SUP tours