Sunday, March 29, 2015

Nashoba's New Look

Ascended the Assabet River today from its mouth at Egg Rock to West Concord where one of its larger tributaries, Nashoba Brook, enters from the west.  The brook's south bank has a new look (photo at left) and the building under construction dwarfs the buildings that previously occupied the area.


A little further upstream and past the construction area is the familiar Nashoba Bakery and its brook-side eating area...



The day had started with a feel of winter, but later developed into a fine spring afternoon.

Thanks to all the snowmelt and recent rains the Assabet is flowing high and wide.  Only the top two lines of Egg Rock's inscription are visible...

Wood ducks were the theme of today's paddle...
...and were everywhere.

In addition to the building under construction along Nashoba Brook, West Concord's Fitchburg Commuter Rail crossing of the Assabet is sporting a newly constructed span for its inbound track...

If I understand correctly, this project is replacing the Fitchburg line's bridges over both the Assabet and Sudbury rivers as well as replacing the very low bridge over Route 62 to the east.  The latter should finally provide trailer-truck drivers the head room they expect.

Saw three fishermen today, one fishing from shore and two from a small power boat.

Trash had sprung forth...
...and consisted of the usual: plastic bottles, Styrofoam, and a Mylar balloon (from Valentines Day).

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

The Ice Retreats

This afternoon the Assabet River was wide open from Magazu's Landing up to Gleasondale in Stow.  What ice there is has retreated to the sloughs. 

After another very cold morning (14 F.), afternoon temperatures climbed to near 40 degrees F. 

In addition to wood ducks, hooded mergansers, red-winged blackbirds, musquash, mute swans, and Canada geese were recently arrived tree swallows, an osprey, and a great blue heron.

Fort Meadow Brook was ascended up to the old railroad trestle for the first time this season...
...as the water level was ideal for passing through the box culvert...



The melting ice is creating some nice designs along the brook's bank...

Other formations were noted along the river...


Thankfully the ice is doing its "swan song"...



This blue heron seemed to be enjoying the afternoon sunshine...

The trash theme of the day was Scope and Listerine...
...along with a plastic duck found "dead in the water" with hole in top of his head.  The usual plastic bottles, plastic bags, and Styrofoam were also present.

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Paddlin' Like a Minuteman

Driving snow-covered roads to a job this morning, the last thing I envisioned was getting in an afternoon paddle on the Concord River.  But then around noontime the sun began to emerge and I heard the alarm that an early spring afternoon might be in the making.  I raced home, grabbed my musket...I mean kayak, and headed out the door.
Made it to the Old North Bridge (at left) in a jiffy and found sections of blue sky overhead.

The first redcoat was encountered about a half mile below the bridge...
Actually I heard his distinctive call before laying eyes upon him.  I can't tell you how good it feels to hear that sound for the first time each spring.

He and his kind were keeping good company with hooded mergansers...
...Canada geese and wood ducks...

The paddling portion of my march had begun near Egg Rock and its icy inscription...
...and brought me about 3 miles down river to the end of open water near Davis Hill...
The view is looking to the north where Old Man Winter disappeared last night after flipping us all the bird so to speak.  Hopefully he'll get some therapy during the off-season.

On my way back upriver the sun gained even more sky, and temperatures may have touched a balmy 40 degrees F.  The first full day of spring, after getting off to a rough start, had battled back to seize the afternoon.

Before passing under Flint's Bridge (Monument Street), I paused and marveled at my good fortune...

Along the way a better home was found for these castaways...

Monday, March 16, 2015

Felt Like Opening Day

Finally, conditions close to normal allowed me to be out on the river rather than worrying about ice dams, snow, cold, and wind...and it felt great! Awesome!  Fantastic!  The way life should be!
Instead of the smell of hot dogs and peanuts and the sound of bat hitting ball, I had my paddle sweeping through the water and a hot cocoa seventh-inning break near the "Grey Monster" (photo left) in Saxonville.  No home runs were launched over the wall. 


Of course many boat launches were checked before one was found that had both open water and reasonable access to it.  Surmounting this snow bank...
 ...gave me entry to a wide-open Sudbury River in Framingham...

Surprisingly there were no ice shelves and the river was open to both banks.

Water level was ideal and my boat and I passed through the Stone Bridge's left portal for the first time (if memory serves correctly)...


...usually it's blocked by debris and I paddle around the end.

I wondered if there'd be any trash and found some that had wintered over...
The usual culprits (plastic bottles, plastic bags, and Styrofoam) were joined by a fire extinguisher and snowboogie board by WHAM-O.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

A Streak Saver

It wasn't the most pleasant paddling experience, but yesterday's brief exploration of Narragansett Bay's West Passage did keep my streak alive.  The last time a month elapsed without my having paddled New England waters was back in February of 2007.

So with only 3 hours of daylight left in February I launched from the beach (photo at left) at the end of South Ferry Road by the University of Rhode Island's Bay Campus in Narragansett, RI.  Of the 5 boat launches scouted in Rhode Island's South County it was by far the most hospitable.

Air temps were in the mid to upper 20's and the expected northwest breeze was now coming from the south.  Good-sized floating chunks of ice were encountered... 

 
 
Taking refuge behind a jetty I could see the Newport Bridge to the east behind Conanicut Island...
 
 
A distant Beavertail Point Lighthouse could be seen at Conanicut's southernmost tip...
 
Other than wretched ice, no trash was encountered.
 
With the streak preserved, Mrs. Trashpaddler and I watched the last sunset of February 2015 from the warm environs of George's of Galilee seafood restaurant in Point Judith.  The toughest February I've ever experienced and glad to have survived it!