Millers River - Orange and Athol

This morning, I ventured into Nipmuck Country to trash patrol the Millers River from Orange upriver into Athol and back.  I had paddled this stretch of river several years ago, before the Town of Orange had completed the construction of Riverfront Park.  They did an excellant job, as the photo at left shows.
Once launched, I headed upriver enjoying the near record warmth.  By the time I reached the point where the river seemingly splits in two, clouds had moved in from the west.  This unique looking home sits near the spot where the flow from Lake Rohunta joins the Millers River...

With the smoke rising out of the roof's center, it reminded me of a large wigwam.  Proceeding further up the Millers (to the left at the split), numerous pine trees had fallen into the river...

They may have fallen during the Halloween snowstorm that hit this region particularly hard.
 
About a half mile after passing under the Daniel Shays Highway, I stopped for a lunch break and the sun began to re-emerge...

I continued upriver another quarter mile or so to a spot where power lines crossed.  There I turned around and began the return trip to Orange.  Not far from where I turned around was this roadside sign on nearby Route 2A...

On the other side of the river was another Athol History Trail sign (unseen by me) that was titled "Indian Crossing" and indicated the location where on March 3, 1676 some 2,000 Nipmucks, Wampanoags, and Narragansetts crossed the river enroute to Squakeag (Northfield) after a raid on Lancaster.  Among several captives was Mary Rowlandson who would, later, write a narrative and describe how (in the fifth remove), at a spot not far from my turnaround point, the Native Americans hastily built rafts to transport the whole party across what she called the "Banquag River".  Fortunately for the Native Americans, crossing the river here allowed their escape from some 400 frontier soldiers.  The soldiers were unwilling to cross the river.

My trip downriver was with the current and it wasn't long before I was within a mile of Riverfront Park.  That was where the rumbling of an eastbound Pan Am Railways freight train caught my attention...

It seemed that the whole river was vibrating as the diesel locomotives powered by.  There was also a very light rain shower, at this time.   I believe the sign in front of the leading locomotive is to let participants in the annual River Rat Race know that they are within one mile of the finish line at Riverfront Park.  The event starts in Athol and is held every spring.

Once back at Riverfront Park, the day's trash haul gathered alongside my boat...

This batch broke down as follows: 75 recyclable containers (20 redeemable) and 30 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish such as styrofoam, plastic bags, bait tubs, cans of spray paint, etc. 
YTD total = 6611