Quinsigamond's Ripple

Yesterday my workweek ended on a hill in the town of Grafton and I found myself looking down upon the Blackstone River valley.  The only familiar launch site was the one below Fisherville, and I wanted to find a new stretch of water to explore.  After some poking around I came across Ekblaw Landing (photo at left) alongside Route 122/140 which, as launch sites go, fit the bill perfectly.

After launching and heading upriver I saw this sign...

...which reminded me of a previous trip back in 2010 down this same river from Lake Quinsigamond to the north.  That trip ended at the Hovey Pond dam where no portage trail could be found.  I wondered if by paddling upriver I might be able to connect the dots.  After paddling less than a mile I found myself looking into Big Bummit Brook...

 ...where the Grafton and Upton Railroad crosses.  To the west loomed the Washington Mills complex...

...where the Quinsigamond disappears towards the aforementioned Hovey Pond Dam. 

With dots now connected I headed back down the Quinsigamond passing what looked to me like "Toadstool Landing"...

Then it was through the tunnel beneath the multi-lane Mass Pike...

...past Ekblaw Landing to where the river widens before reaching Lake Ripple. 

In a wooded setting along the right bank this small granite monument caught my eye...

A short distance before one enters the shallow waters of Lake Ripple this rock formation sits mid-river...

Once into the lake I followed the river's original path to the lake's outlet at the site of the dam responsible for creating the lake back in the 1700s...

Water tumbling over this spillway flows another couple of miles to the confluence with the Blackstone River just before the dam at Fisherville.

I'd later come across an online Recreation Guide to the Quinsigamond River a great resource for anyone planning to paddle this river.  There I found the info necessary for one day continuing down to the Blackstone.

Circumnavigating the lake brought me past several well-tended nests...

 

 

To the east lies the busy Route 122/140 at the lake's eastern shore...

 ...where I spotted the only sign identifying the waterbody...

Staying close to shore resulted in a fairly good-sized trash haul for only 4 miles of paddling...

I'm looking forward to soon paddling the rest of the way down to the Blackstone.

Coyote in the Charles

Over the years I've had a lot of different critters swim across the river in front of me: deer, moose, otters, musquash, beavers, squirrels, chipmunks,...and today, for the first time, a coyote (opening photo).  He swam across the Charles River near the Dover/Natick line a little over a mile downriver from the Farm Road bridge.

I believe he was aware of my presence but he stayed focused on reaching the other side...

...where he ran up the steep embankment to a log where he felt safe enough to stop...

I suspect he's been taking advantage of recently arrived Canada geese goslings.

A little below the location of this encounter I entered Indian Brook and paddled only a short distance before being stopped by this beaver dam...

On previous occasions I've been able to paddle past this point almost as far as South Street.

Getting to spend the warmest part of this day on the river sure was an improvement over yesterday's cold and damp conditions...

 
Besides the swimming coyote the theme of today's paddle was Nesquik containers...11 of them and all full.  Just a wee bit strange...

Almost as strange as finding 23 empty mouthwash bottles on the Assabet.

Earth Day Plus 1

Following a good Earth night's rest in the town of Shelton, Connecticut, I headed back to the Housatonic River.  Rain had fallen throughout the night and the weather forecast called for gradually improving conditions to be ushered in by a gusty northwest breeze.  The closest launch site to the point where I'd turned around on Friday was the Southbank Open Space off Route 110.  Not the easiest place to launch, what with a steep bank and rocky shore, but launching there saved me 2 miles of down and back versus the easier launch at Sunnyside.

First order of business was paddling down to Great Flats Island where my upriver progress had ended on Friday.  The island is opposite where the Far Mill River enters from the west.  The area to the island's east was only accessible from its south end due to the earlier low tide.  Once there I found the long stretch of plastic-littered shore located on the upper Charles E. Wheeler Wildlife Management Area I'd seen the day before...

 

 

Filling my dry bag and more didn't take long but, sadly, it hardly made a dent...

 

 

This low-lying area must be ideally situated to serve as a plastic flotsam magnet and would be a worthy location for a cleanup.

 

With my dots now connected I began heading upriver (opening photo) with the tide, but against the wind.  Fishermen were seen at almost every spot where the shoreline allowed access, as well as many others fishing from numerous small power boats and a kayak.  This would be the theme all the way up to the Derby Dam.  It looked like "Opening Day" for striped bass season!

 

I passed Wooster Island and, further upriver, reached Two Mile Island which is actually not an island these days.  I was impressed with how high the one-time island's terrain rises above the river.  The north end of it is gradually being whittled down by what looks to be a stone and gravel operation.

 

Once past Two Mile Island the railroad bridge across the Naugatuck River came into view...

...and to its left Hog Island marks the confluence of the Housatonic and its 40 mile long tributary the Naugatuck River.  I landed near a small inlet to a pond...

...where a beaver circled while checking me out...

The area around the confluence comprises O'Sullivan Island and the smaller Hog Island.  Back in the day this was an important shipping port at the head of tidewaters.  Nowadays the confluence area hosts a railroad junction, a recreational trail, and many shore fishermen.

 

Re-launching I began the final quarter mile to the Derby Dam.  The effects of the incoming tide were much less helpful at this point.  My slower progress allowed time to admire one of the older bridges in Derby...

...and the Birmingham Bank building dating from 1892...

 

The Derby Dam came into sight as I passed abandoned manufacturing facilities on both sides of the river...

 

 

Little Buttonball Island lies at my bow's tip and was hosting some recent arrivals...

 

 

Historians such as Wilcoxson mention that on the river's west shore in this area stood the Native American village Pootatuck which must have been a busy spot when fish were migrating up through the falls.  It was interesting to note during my visit that the largest group of fishermen observed at any one spot was gathered here at the base of the dam.

 

Above and beyond the dam is 136 miles of freshwater as the Housatonic disappears to the northwestward...

 

 

It was in the same direction that Native Americans would journey in search of refuge from what was their ancestral homeland. 

Wilcoxson wrote "Like the last rays of a setting sun, as they fade into darkness, so did the Indians disappear before the advance of a superior civilization....." 

 

I'm left to wonder just how superior that advancing civilization really was.  Is the Housatonic River more beautiful today than it was in 1600?  As I look around our New England waterways I see many abandoned manufacturing sites such as this...

Are they an indication of how a superior civilization treats its waterways?  We're good at building stuff and making it produce, but then when the profit is no longer there, we walk away forgetting the disassembly, cleanup, and restoration part.  Food for thought as I headed downriver to my takeout at Southbank Open Space where a group of shore fishermen were still awaiting striped bass...

Though the fish weren't biting, food was being cooked on a grill and everyone seemed to be enjoying their time along the Housatonic River. 





Earth Day Exploit

I'd seen this area back in February when the Amtrak train I was riding approached and crossed the Housatonic River.  From the window I saw the river's expansive estuary leading to where it enters into Long Island Sound and knew I wanted to paddle these waters someday.  Once home I did a little research and discovered that the Housatonic River is 149 miles long making it the 4th longest river in New England.  One great source of information found online is A Paddling Guide to the Housatonic River in Connecticut published by the Housatonic Valley Association.  Very helpful info for the paddler planning a visit.

The area I'd be exploring once provided seasonal sustenance to the Wepawaug and Pootatuck Native American peoples.  The river was their transportation route connecting winter and summer villages.  Historian Wm. Howard Wilcoxson explained in his 1939 History of Stratford "Here upon the shores of the Sound they spent summer months in fishing and clamming...retiring in the winter months to the sheltered valleys of the inland wilderness where they secured their daily food by the hunters sport, and then in the spring of the year, they returned to their old seaside haunts."  Sounds to me like a great recipe for happiness.

On Earth Day morning I gambled that the predicted rain for late in the day would hold off long enough for my purposes, and drove to the Charles E. Wheeler Wildlife Management Area at the end of Court St. in Milford, CT.  From there I launched 3 hours before high tide (opening photo).  I spent the first hour paddling north and west around Nells Island before following the Housatonic proper out to and a little beyond Milford Point...

   ...to the lucky #7 lighted aid to navigation...

Like many other elevated structures in the river #7 did double duty as an osprey nest platform.

The day was a beauty and took on a summer-like feel.  Seas were flat with just a slight breeze from the south.

Several fishing boats including the Mr. Jake were working the area...

On this boat 2 crew members vigorously cranked a hurdy-gurdy type assembly to lift the traps out of the water.

Here I turned about and began what would become a 2-day upriver exploration of the Housatonic's 12 miles of tidal waters up to Derby Dam and the river's confluence with its largest tributary, the Naugatuck.  The incoming tide provided a nice assist and I found myself moving at 6 mph with only moderate effort.

In short order I was reminded to slow things down as my craft approached the busy Northeast Corridor transportation bottleneck formed by Route 1, Route 95, and the 4 track railroad bridge serving both Amtrak and the Metro North Railroad...

Traffic of all types zoomed noisily overhead while a major construction project occurred just below...

 

 

I emerged unscathed to a more tranquil setting alongside an eerily silent power plant...

 

 

This track vehicle was working on one of several low-lying islands on the river's west side...

...perhaps improving drainage. 

 

After passing under some very large power transmission lines I reached the Route 15 bridge...

 

 

The top of the tide was approaching and I would need to turn with it in order to make it back to the takeout while there was sufficient water.

While rounding Great Flats island just upriver of the Sikorsky Helicopter facility, I noticed a considerable amount of plastic flotsam on the river's east shore opposite the island.  With a good load of trash already onboard, I hoped to get some of it on Saturday when I'd be resuming my upriver trip from this point...

 

Made it back to the takeout 2 hours after high tide and found more than enough water.  It should be noted that this launch site is managed by the Connecticut Dept. of Energy and Environment and intended for waterfowl hunting...

Best launching/landing times would be above mid-tide.

 

My modest Earth Day haul...

 

Clouds had moved in and with rain imminent I left with plans to find a night's lodging.  Hopefully, the rains would occur during the overnight hours. To be continued...

 









Devil's Foot on the Stop

Yesterday was Patriot's Day around these parts, and also a holiday.  With no work on the agenda I decided to launch into the Charles River at Dwight Street in Millis a little upstream of its confluence with the Stop River.

 Heading the short distance down to the confluence I passed an American Flag flying from a small river-outpost (photo at left) indicating the pesky easterly breeze of late was still hanging around.

Ascending the Stop River I came upon this northern pike...

 ...who possibly didn't survive a catch-and-release encounter.

After some zigging and zagging Devil's Foot Island came into view...

It rises dramatically up from the river and surrounding marsh.  To reach the best landing spot at the upstream end of the island the river appears to be taking you away before zigging back in...

I had the place to myself and walked up to the ruins of an old cabin...

The view back down to my boat...

Devil's Foot made an ideal spot for an early lunch before heading further up the Stop. 

Researching how the island got its name led me to The History of the Town of Medfield, Massachusetts 1650 to 1886 by William S. Tilden.  "It (Devil's Foot Island) is so called from several curious depressions in the rock". 
In the same source I came across this proclamation issued in 1661: "Many people through the country had been drowned by means of canoes; and, as a precaution, no person in this town was to make, or to have, any canoe, in any pond, brook, or river, except allowed by the selectmen, under penalty of fine".   Glad to see they've become more lenient in the years since.

Another island, Childs, lies several more zigs and zags upstream and seemed to be the focal point of many contrails...

 Access to Childs didn't look easy at anything less than flood conditions.

About 2 miles up from the confluence I reached and passed under Noonhill Road...

Saw this plant which I'd never seen before...

...and it reminded me of the feathers on an arrow.

A blowdown across the channel signaled it was time to turnabout and head back down to the Charles.

Trash, mostly found just downstream of bridges, found itself back on solid ground...

This contraption was found near the Noonhill Rd. bridge...

...made from 4 Gatorade bottles.