Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Paddling the Khetetuk River (aka Blackstone River)


Late this morning I left the SUASCO watershed and headed west and south into the heart of Nipmuc country. My destination was Plummer's Landing where the Khetetuk flows by on its way from Worcester to Providence, RI...
Upon launching my kayak, I found the river to be running fairly quickly and therefore decided to first head upriver towards Riverdale. Just before reaching a small islet where the river splits, I watched two deer wade across the river from west to east. I would like to have taken a photo but the swift current wouldn't allow me to free my hands from the paddle. Landed on the islet for a short lunch break...

Back on the water, I headed river left and soon came to what looked like a tunnel...

Approaching closer it became apparent that this was the outlet of the mill's spillway and I could hear water rushing into the dark depths of the structure...

Returned to the split and then headed upstream on river right. This soon brought me to the actual dam at Riverdale...

Turned around here and quickly found myself passing under the Church Street Bridge just upstream from Plummer's Landing...

This Saturday, many canoe and kayak paddlers will be paddling this same stretch while participating in the Blackstone River Watershed Association's 33rd Annual Canoe/Kayak Race. Hopefully, my scouting out this section will help me avoid at least a few of the more obvious pitfalls. More info on Saturday's event can be found here
Reaching the landing, I continued downriver for about a mile round numerous bends where quick decisions were required in order to stay afloat rather than run aground on sand and gravel bars. The trip back upriver provided some challenges at these same areas. If I picked the wrong line I ended up paddling more gravel than water and forward progress would grind to a halt!
Trash was spotty and most of it was found behind snags. One interesting item was a Heineken 'beertender' mini-keg. The 5-liter once pressurized container carried a whopping 5-cent deposit! My trash count for the trip was 26 pieces. Of these 15 were recyclables (4 redeemable) and 11 misc. rubbish such as styrofoam, plastic bags, and a kite...

My YTD total stands at 1846.
On my way home I passed this testament to the people that once inhabited this region...

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