Wily Coyote on the Sudbury

Under this afternoon's moody skies, I ascended the Sudbury River from Egg Rock to Sherman's Bridge.  Skies brightened a bit as I was crossing Fairhaven Bay (pictured at left).

Earlier, I wondered if I might be coming down with something, upon seeing this...

Hopefully, the rightful recipient is feeling better.

Just before passing through the smaller portal at Lee's Bridge...

 ...I looked to my right and saw Mr. Woodchuck standing tall...

Only a few hundred yards further upriver some of his woodchuck cousins got a good scare when a wily coyote came loping out from behind a riverside home and, while eyeing me nervously, made a quick strike upon several burrows in the sloping riverbank. 
After a brief dust-up, he retreated (empty-mouthed) to a spot where he may have thought I and any distracted woodchucks couldn't see him...

My, what big ears he has!

Today's trash haul shows that fishing season is underway...

...many bait tubs and three big clumps of mono-filament fishing line.  Recyclable containers numbered 12 with 9 redeemable, and there were 25 pieces of misc. rubbish such as the balloon, and an empty bag of cocoa bean mulch.  YTD = 2483.



The Week's Last Exit

Concluding a workweek, yesterday, that involved many highways and many exits it was nice to closeout the week by taking the exit from the Assabet River into Fort Meadow Brook in Stow.  To paraphrase Yogi Berra, "I came to a fork in the river, and I took it." 
Thanks to Thursday night's thunderstorms water levels had been replenished to a near-perfect level for easy passage through the box culvert at the brook's confluence with the river.
As the opening photo shows the brook looks quite promising once through the culvert.  However, after rounding a few bends a paddler's ascent comes to an end at these two barriers...

Beavers have created the first barrier, while the long abandoned Massachusetts Central Railroad trestle creates the second.  It appears that someone has been working at removing much of the debris from in front of the trestle.  Compare the above photo with this one taken on June 7 of last year...

With debris clogging all three portals, the trestle and its earthen causeway creates an effective dam.
 
Nonetheless, I enjoyed my visit to lower Fort Meadow Brook and returned to the Assabet refreshed, once again.

I saw my first pair of eastern kingbirds of the season.  Also seen were wood ducks, red-winged blackbirds, Canada geese, and this pair of mute swans...

Trash encountered had most likely been pushed along by the recent rains.  A brief shore patrol at the fording place below Gleasondale accounted for about a third of the small haul...

There were 22 recyclable containers (4 redeemable) and 14 pieces of misc. rubbish.  YTD = 2482

At the start of yesterday's paddle, I arrived at the Sudbury Road bridge to find smoke emanating from a creosote soaked wooden guardrail post.  While no flames were present, the wood was actively smoldering.  Passing schoolbus drivers seemed concerned as well.  Some Assabet water was poured on the post to douse the combustion and shortly the Stow Fire Dept. arrived.  Fire personnel, several shore fisherfolks, and myself all pondered how the smoldering process might have started.  A cigarette? Lightning? Spontaneous combustion?  A mystery. 


Playing a Hunch on the Merrimack

This morning I launched into the Merrimack River at Cashman Park in Newburyport.  Fortunately the incoming tide would be taking me away from the fog bank to the east of Route 1 (opening photo).
After crossing to the river's north side, I paddled along Ram Island and found myself thinking what a good hideout it would make for some of the 4 to 8 million plastic wastewater disks that brokeout of the Hooksett, NH wastewater treatment plant back in March 2011.  The high tide made my landing on the island fairly easy and soon I discovered quite a group of the disks "on the lam" and mingling with other assorted flotsam...

 The disks prefer to hide in the matted grass.  Can you spot them?...

 

 

For a good number of them the "gig was up".

 

In about half an hour this haul of plastic stuff was rounded up...

 

Pictured are 72 recyclable plastic containers (4 redeemable) and 210 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish including 180 of the "Hooksett Disks".  My personal collection of these disks now stands at 1307.  YTD trash count = 2446.

 

A considerable amount of trash remains on Ram Island.  Today's roundup hardly made a dent.

 

Once back on the river, I entered a small inlet to see how far it would take me...

 

Following some twists and turns, I reached the end of the line at this idyllic spot...

 

Back on the main stem of the Merrimack I proceeded upriver to the "Chain Bridge" connecting Deer Island with the mainland...

That's Route 95 in the distance.

 

Quite a few folks were fishing from Deer Island...

Perhaps the herring are running?

 

My return to Cashman Park was into a stiff onshore wind that kept things a little on the cool side.  Only a few miles inland temperatures were considerably warmer. 

 





Mining Trash Above Mine Falls

This morning I linked up with the New Hampshire Appalachian Mountain Club Paddlers for the first in a series of trash patrols organized by club member Denise Hurt.  We launched into the Nashua River just above Mine Falls Dam (near Stellos Stadium) in Nashua and headed upriver patrolling both banks for a wide variety of trashy stuff.
The day was a beauty! Sunny with a refreshing breeze.

After a few hours the boats were sitting a little lower...

After patrolling about 3 miles of river we returned to the takeout at Mine Falls Dam...

The fruit of our combined efforts lies at the feet of (left to right) Jackie, Rick, Pattie, Sue, Denise, and Dean, before the sorting of recyclables and counting commenced...

Not pictured are trash paddlers John, Maureen, and Beth.  Paul and Don also helped from the shore.

The day's haul consisted of approx. 300 recyclable containers and approx. 125 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish including 3 automobile tires.

The remaining trash patrols Denise has scheduled are:
Contoocook River in Henniker on 6/1
Merrimack River in Tyngsboro on 7/6
Squannacook River in W. Groton on 8/3
Merrimack River in Nashua on 9/7

Each will be on the first Saturday of the respective month.

 

A Paddler's Retreat to Brattleboro

Over the course of the past four days, this paddler would've been best described as both a "Happy Camper" and a "Happy Paddler" .  This was due to the following events converging:  Cobbling together a few days off from work with a stormless weekend; finding a campground that was actually open to tent campers; four consecutive days of better than average weather; no bothersome bugs; and getting to explore several new sections of the Connecticut River and a few of its tributaries.

My base of operations was the Brattleboro North KOA in East Dummerston, VT.  Here my tent was pitched for the four days, and for a reasonable rate I had access to water and electricity.  As I get smarter (or perhaps just older and lazier) I find this type of camping suits me just fine.  While out on the water paddling by day, I can enjoy knowing that the comforts of my already set-up tent and access to a hot shower await.

On Saturday morning I left the campground and started the on-water portion of my retreat at, appropriately enough, Retreat Meadows...

Not far from here, Rudyard Kipling also found retreat at his Naulahka where he wrote "Captains Courageous" as well as other stories...

I launched into the West River and paddled about 1.5 miles upriver until the water became too shallow for my taste.  Enroute I encountered an osprey, a pair of common mergansers, and enjoyed this view upriver before passing under Rt. 91...

Returning downriver I entered the Connecticut River after passing under this railroad bridge...

The New Hampshire side of the Connecticut River has paddlers looking up at the steep slopes of Wantastiquet Mountain.  A shale formation was exposed at the base of this slope...

I paddled downriver to the railroad bridge that once provided rail access to Keene, NH via the Ashuelot Branch of the Boston and Maine Railroad...

This view is looking upriver with Wantastiquet Mountain in the distance.
Just above this point is a small islet with a picnic table where lunch was enjoyed.  Unfortunately, a considerable amount of trash was encountered on this tiny spit of land...

Saturday's haul would ultimately consist of 48 recyclable containers and 16 pieces of misc. rubbish.

The opening photo shows the view returning upriver to Brattleboro and eventually Retreat Meadows.  At the takeout I met Tom, a canoeist from nearby Putney, who'd also recovered trash including a gasoline jug and transmission fluid container while out fishing.  He shared some local knowledge about where to best launch upriver on the Connecticut.

 

On Sunday and Monday I was joined by Capt'n Dangerous of the Adirondack Pirate Paddlers...

No...he didn't just slide down the chute at Whetstone Brook (near downtown Brattleboro) but we did paddle from the Connecticut into this spot later on Sunday. 

The Capt'n also camped at the same campground and had the smallest tent I've ever seen.  In fact it was so small that the campground's staff didn't feel right charging him for such a small footprint and offered him a second night free of charge.

 

The Capt'n and I have been slowly chipping away at paddling the Connecticut River, and over the next two days we would paddle the stretch from Putney, VT down to Rt. 119, and the stretch from Stebbins Island down to Pauchaug Brook (actually and up and back).

 

On the Sunday trip down from Putney we passed by this nest a la Dr. Seuss...

 



and found that some folks are still skiing up this way...

On Monday, with skies more cloudy than sunny, we launched at Pauchaug Brook in Northfield, MA.  No sooner had we got underway than a bald eagle circled at treetop level above our heads...a more than welcome omen at the start of any paddle!

Paddling upriver against the current slowed our progress a bit but we soon entered New Hampshire not far from where a railroad bridge once spanned these abutments...

The bridge was rendered useless after the far left abutment tilted in 1970.

On the Vermont shore this rib cage and skull drew our attention...

We stopped for lunch on an un-named island within sight of the Connecticut's confluence with the Ashuelot River...

The Ashuelot enters from the right after passing under yet another railroad bridge (inactive).
We entered the Ashuelot and paddled against its current for about a half mile before finding things too shallow and too swift.
Returning to the Connecticut we pushed on to Stebbins Island against a current that grew stronger the further upriver we went.  At the island's upriver end, I went ashore briefly hoping to see where a paddler's guide-listed campsite might be found.  The view was not encouraging...

Our return trip to Pauchaug Brook was considerably easier and faster.  Following the paddle, Capt'n Dangerous bid adieu and headed back to the Adirondacks.

The combined trash haul from Sunday and Monday...

There were 26 recyclable containers and 9 pieces of rubbish.


On Tuesday morning I broke camp and headed east with plans to paddle more of the Ashuelot River in Swanzey, NH.  Driving through Keene on Route 10, this view of Monadnock Mountain was appreciated...

Sawyer's Crossing Road brought me to the launchsite at Cresson Bridge (aka NH covered bridge number 6)...

...and I was soon paddling upstream on this river's very clean and cool waters.  It reminded me a little of the Assabet River but the bottom was almost all a sand and gravel mixture.  The banks were fairly muddy leaving sandbars as the best spots to take a break.  Having only seen this river on maps, I hoped to locate where several of its tributaries entered.  The river's south branch was found entering nearly opposite Mount Cresson...

A very easy portage around a blowdown was required before heading further upriver to where Ash Swamp Brook enters by passing under the Ashuelot Rail Trail...

Last, but certainly not least, was Otter Brook which also delivers the waters of Beaver and Minnewawa Brooks...

The flow of this tributary was nearly equal to that of the Ashuelot near the Keene State College athletic complex.

At this point I turned about and began the approximately 3 mile trip back to the takeout.  A sizeable sandbar provided an ideal spot to take lunch and give my day's catch some time on the beach...

Included in this haul was a very un-inflatable raft as well as the usual plastic and polystyrene items.  Recyclable containers numbered 25 with 59 pieces of misc. rubbish. (YTD = 2164)

On my easy downriver paddle an osprey was seen in addition to a pair of common mergansers and before I knew it, my four day retreat was coming to end as Cresson Bridge came into view...



Chased Inland by a Cold Sea Breeze

My original Earth Day plan was to paddle some salty Cape Ann waters late this morning.  However, a stiff wind blowing in off the cold Atlantic Ocean sent me some 30 miles inland to the Sudbury River where I paddled from Route 20 up to Heard Pond and back.  While the winds out of the east were still blowing all afternoon, air temperatures felt a bit warmer than at the coast.  This is the longest month of March I ever remember!

The opening photo was taken near my turnaround point above Heard Pond and at 2:50 pm (the exact time of the first Boston Marathon explosion one week ago).  Church bells could be heard ringing off to the north and the tranquility found on the river today contrasted with last week's horrific events.

Upon beginning my upriver trip Nobscot Hill loomed to the west...

Since it's Earth Day, I wondered if there's any limit to how many antennas one hill can be forced to bear.

Nearby, a Canada goose sat sentry on a beaver lodge (hopefully with beaver family permission)...

...and wasn't welcoming visitors.

The recent construction work on the Pelham Island Road bridge appears to be complete...

At Indian Point I found water levels high enough to allow passage into Heard Pond.  Paddling through the shallows I noted this solitary rock which seemed out of place...

 Upon closer inspection, it began moving...

 

 

In the pond proper, these 3 cormorants were taking a break from fishing...

Other birds seen today were numerous tree swallows skimming the surface of Heard Pond, red-winged blackbirds, a turkey vulture, and a hawk.

 

Looking out on the pond from a small bluff where lunch was taken...

 

My Earth Day trash haul back at the takeout...

There were 33 recyclable containers (8 redeemable) and 30 pieces of misc. rubbish.  Most of today's trash was found at spots frequented by shore-fishermen.

 

Yesterday, Mrs. Trashpaddler and I scooped up this catch while biking the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail in Chelmsford...

Found on the bike trail were 24 recyclable containers (9 redeemable) and 12 pieces of misc. rubbish.

 

YTD total = 1981

 

Each haul was noted to contain 10 plastic single-serve water bottles of less than 1-liter. 

 

Happy Earth Day!