Grape Juice in the Concord

By the time I'd reached Davis Hill and drank in the view of the Concord River heading off to the north (photo at left) my boat's cargo hold was just about full and it was time to begin the trip back upriver.  My journey had started earlier in the morning on the lower Sudbury River and one small fishing site there had contributed a surprisingly large amount of trash.  This may have been an omen.

Shortly after reaching the point where the Sudbury joins with the Assabet in forming the Concord, I encountered Mike and his electric-powered canoe...

 ...heading up the Sudbury towards Fairhaven Bay in hopes of good fishing with the now cooler temperatures.

I continued down the Concord and also enjoyed the cool weather. In fact, it was finally cool enough to have my feet happily ensconced in mukluks again.

The wildlife out and about this morning included ducks, Canada geese, belted kingfishers, mink, turkeys, turtles, carp, and this blue heron...

Somewhere below Great Meadows Landing I encountered this small glass bottle...

According to information found on the Internet, this bottle once contained grape juice made by the Randall Grape Juice Company in Ripley, NY.  Ripley is located near Lake Erie in western New York state and is within the Concord Grape Belt Heritage Area which runs along Lake Erie's shoreline for nearly 50 miles.  It is one of the largest Concord grape-growing and juice-making areas in the country.  What's interesting is that the Concord Grape was first grown in Concord, Massachusetts by Ephraim Wales Bull in 1849.  Another company making juice from the Concord Grape is Welch's, and their factory was in Westfield, NY (one town to the east of Ripley). Welch's would later locate their corporate headquarters in Concord, MA while their competitor (Randall) would have one of its bottles come to rest in the same town where the Concord grape was born.   

Ultimately I arrived back at the Sudbury River and again ran into Mike who was drifting back down to his takeout on the Concord.  He reported catching a couple of bass (one a 4-pounder) but had no luck with the northern pike.
 
It was now mid-day and the river was getting much busier with canoes, kayaks, and power boats.

My haul for the day...

There were 64 recyclable containers (36 redeemable) and 72 pieces of rubbish including bait tubs, plastic bags, a Frisbee, and a plastic chair.  YTD = 4454