Thursday, July 28, 2016

Seeking the Shady Glade

Finished my workday near Wayland's Rt. 20 boat launch late this morning and decided to see if the Sudbury River would allow my paddling the 2.6 miles upriver to a favorite shady glade on such a hot day.

Turned out there was just barely enough water depth, and, while I never had to exit my boat, some hand-pulling was required to slide my boat along the river bottom.

While doing some of that pulling, I spotted a doe and her two fawns up ahead...
 
The fawns seemed to be enjoying their time at the river...

One got squawked at by a blue heron...
...and went back to its sibling...

As I paddled around the bend one fawn took a closer look...

With the water only inches deep and very clear, fish such as this carp were more visible than usual...

Saw my first Cardinal flower of the season...
And the pink hibiscus are in bloom...

The shady glade was ultimately reached and proved to be a cool and inviting spot.  Proceeding further upriver would've required a short dragging of my boat over the stones...
Instead I just wading in the knee-deep water where the bottom is lined with stones and watched a family of ducks proceed past my boat...
 ...and waddle through the glade.

On my way back to Rt. 20 a blue heron took flight from its perch in a tree...

Once back ashore a tired haul of trash gathered hullside...
The haul included a couple of old bottles and a Two Roads Lil' Heaven IPA beer can with the slogan "Here's to taking the road less traveled in life and in beer!"  I concur.

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