Ware River and Burnshirt Rivers in Barre

In today's pre-dawn darkness, I drove deep into the heart of Nipmuck Country to the  Menameseek (aka Ware) River in Barre, MA.  The sun was just shining on the tops of the trees and temperatures were in the 20's when I began heading upriver.  The ice (seen in the photo at left) was testament to just how wintry things look around these parts.  This section of the Ware River is downstream of the Barre Falls Dam flood control project, built and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and, just a mile or so,  upstream of the Roger E. Lonergan water diversion facility operated by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, where a portion of water from the Ware River is diverted to the Quabbin Reservoir.    This map, photographed (later in the day) at the Barre Falls Dam kiosk, shows the general area.  My launch site at Rt. 122 is near the letter A and my turnaround point on the Burnshirt River is near the letter B...

Most of my paddling was in a northerly direction and some locations had me thinking I'd found Old Man Winter's campsite...

Wildlife seen were wood ducks, mergansers, a belted kingfisher, and this very courteous beaver who let me pass close without being disturbed by a tailslap...

The mergansers allowed a photo...

And also the kingfisher...

Just before reaching the confluence of the Ware and Burnshirt Rivers, I came upon a location where an old bridge once spanned the river.  Old maps show the road as Covered Bridge Road which has me wondering if, years ago, such a structure graced the stone abutments...

Up to this point, the beaver dams encountered were submerged.  However, as I continued on, there were several on both the Ware and Burnshirt Rivers.  I elected to proceed another quarter-mile up the Burnshirt until this icy obstacle persuaded me to turn around...

I returned to the old bridge location at the confluence and enjoyed an early lunch in the fast warming sunshine...

Perhaps this spot had been recently visited by Nipmucks as indicated by the remains of a campfire.

My trip back to the takeout was easy going with the current and I was struck by how clean the water is in this river.  The portion of it diverted to Quabbin Reservoir is said to take 2 years before reaching MWRA customers as drinking water.  By the way, Quabbin Reservoir is said to be named for the Nipmuck sachem, Nani-Quaben, and is believed to have meant "place of many waters".


There was very little trash as well.  My modest haul of 22 pieces...

Most was found within a short distance of the Route 122 launch site.  There were 12 recyclable containers (3 redeemable) and 10 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish such as styrofoam cups, bait tubs, and plastic bags.  YTD total = 6437

On my way home, a visit was made to the Barre Falls Dam facility, located on the Ware River about a mile and a half above the confluence with the Burnshirt.  Because this facility is for flood control purposes only, it is known as a "dry bed reservoir".  Today, the Ware River looked pretty much the same on both sides of the dam.  The upstream view...

 And the downstream discharge...

During flood conditions, the dam can hold back a 30 foot deep lake containing nearly 8 billion gallons of water.