River of God Kayak Kamp: Day 4: Hackensack River & Meadowlands

We began our day today with devotions from Ezequiel 47. This was a vision of a river flowing from the throne of God that was given to Ezequiel at a very difficult time in Israel's history. The temple had been destroyed and they were in captivity in Babylon. But this vision showed a river that brought life to death. It flowed into the Dead Sea and made it alive with fish and plants. This is what God is able to do. Bring life out of death as Jesus demonstrated in his resurrection. We also said thank you to Jamie VanBuiten for helping us the last two days. Tomorrow she leaves for her senior year at Calvin College.  Then we headed off for the Hackensack River. We put in at Mill Creek Point Park on the eastern side of the Hackensack in Seacacus. The tide was low so the lauch was very mucky. We also met some fishermen catching "killies" which is a small fish used for bait. 

 After a short paddle in the marshes we proceeded to cross the Hackensack. This is "big water" compared to what we have been in but all the kids did great. We could see Giant Stadium, Izod Center, Empire State Building, Freedom Tower, NJ Turnpike. This is urban paddling at its best.

 You can see the mud flats that show at low tide. Although the look yuckie and stink a bit too they are actually full of life and stimulate alot of bird and fish life.  This was a small creek that we paddled up along the river.

 We then paddled downriver to River Barge Park. This is an amazing new park of the NJ Meadowlands Commission.  They have a wonderful low dock for kayaks and canoes that make it very easy to get in and out. They also have picnic tables, bathrooms and very educational displays. These taught us about the amazing provision of God's creation that even out of the mud comes life. Mr. Angelo of the Meadowlands Commission met with us and shared some of the history of the park and river.

 After lunch we paddled upstream and although the wind was against us the tide was with us. That combination of wind and tide made for some pretty nice waves in crossing the river.

 If you look close at this next picture you can see the new Freedom Tower in the background.  We had a wonderful day and enjoyed the new experience and place of paddling.