Sunday, August 2, 2015

NHAMCP Pennacook Patrol

Another first Saturday of the month rolled around yesterday which meant Denise Hurt and the New Hampshire Appalachian Mountain Club Paddlers (NHAMCP) would be conducting a waterway trash patrol.  Yesterday's patrol was on the Merrimack River and started from the boat launch near the New Hampshire Technical Institute's athletic complex in Concord, NH.  The sign (at left) explained the site's earlier historical significance.

The boat launch there is a good one used by both powered and non-powered boats.  All boaters using the launch walk past this kiosk...
...providing loaner life jackets for children not having one.  A great concept.

Boats were fitted with trash receptacles before being launched...

Working in pairs we patrolled the river and it's banks for trash.  Some worked downstream to the Route 393/202 bridge while the group I was with went upriver towards the Route 93/4 bridge...
...where "Wilson" rode again.

Just beyond the highway was this majestic railroad bridge...

The eastern side of the river sported some high sandbanks in this stretch...

...and colorful flowers on the western side...

When all was said and done we'd removed 129 recyclable containers and 154 pieces of rubbish from this relatively clean stretch of river.  Included in the haul were 3 air mattresses, a shipping pallet, and a Coleman camp shower...

Bags were provided by Concord's Blue Bag program...
...and Denise and some of the patrol's 11 participants gathered around the bagged haul.

In preparation for this trip I'd glanced at my copy of A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers by Henry D. Thoreau and noted the author's mention of  "..a scene of rare beauty and completeness, which the traveler should take pains to behold".
The "scene" mentioned could be viewed from atop the Pinnacle in nearby Hookset which I stopped at on my drive south...
Thoreau describes the Pinnacle as "a small wooded hill which rises very abruptly to the height of about two hundred feet, near the shore at Hooksett Falls".

From the parking area it's only a 15 minute hike to the top along a well maintained trail...


Thoreau noted "you can see up and down the Merrimack several miles each way".  The view up...
...and down...
...with Hooksett just below...

Strange that on a beautiful Saturday not another soul was seen on my hike.  The only indication that someone had been here since Thoreau was this...

On the way down some "Indian Pipe" were seen growing alongside the tranquil and shady path...

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