Sudbury River - Sherman's Br. to Pelham Island Rd.

As I headed up the Sudbury River from Sherman's Bridge in Wayland this morning, a cool breeze from the southwest slowed my progress and, at the same time, made me glad I'd remembered to bring a thermos of hot cocoa.  The Sherman's Bridge I returned to, several hours later (at left), was a much warmer place.
About a half mile upriver a couple of duckhunters reported having a successful hunt and taking several ducks and geese.  Their setup of decoys looked very realistic and included one decoy with wings in motion (perhaps wind activated).
This is the section of the Sudbury River that, to me, most meets the Native American description of "grass grown river" or "Musketaquid"...

Approaching Route 27, I decided to follow the original course of the river and pass under the old 4-arch bridge near the Wayland Country Club...

This made a nice to spot to enjoy my hot cocoa and also reflect on the events that occurred here in April 1676.  A short visit was made to the monument...

   The view across the bridge and down the old abandoned road to nowhere...

 Back in 2008, I posted about this spot and one of my ancestors having been here that day.

At River Road, a fair amount of trash was recovered from along the river's bank on either side of the boat launch.

The launch site at Route 20 was much improved by now having an informative kiosk and a trash receptacle...

The trash receptacle was provided by the group "Big Heart Little Feet".

At the Pelham Island Road Bridge, I stopped for lunch before beginning my return trip downriver.

Reaching Route 20, I noticed that in the brief interim since I'd passed by, someone, in turning their vehicle around at the launch site, had knocked over the trash barrel and left it like this...

In their haste to leave they left 2 burnout tracks in the gravel.  I righted the barrel and placed it closer to the side of the ramp.  I'm left to only shake my head that someone could just leave things that way.

A tire/wheel combination was encountered floating about a half mile downriver from Route 20.  It was towed to River Rd., where hopefully the Wayland DPW/Highway Dept. can properly dispose of it...

Below Route 27 I had the wind and current at my back which made for a quick and easy return to my takeout site. 

Back on terra firma, my day's catch of 57 spreadout...

There were 33 recyclable containers (22 redeemable) and 24 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish.  YTD total = 6739

Just as I was preparing to head home, a group of paddlers came ashore for a lunch break.  Their 3 kayaks and 1 canoe were in the process of completing a 15 mile trip downriver from Little Farms Road in Framingham.  They reported no unusual obstacles resulting from recent storms.