Thankfully it's not too often I find myself paddling the opposite direction from where I'd intended. However I did find myself doing so yesterday when trying to squeeze-in a post work paddle from an unfamiliar boat launch. A job had brought me to an area of the state further west and south than usual. When checking Google maps the night before I noticed there was a boat launch into the Chicopee River at Red Bridge in Wilbraham, less than half a mile from the job's location. So, when work wrapped up around 4 pm, I headed to the launch only to find a bridge out which resulted in a round about detour. After completing the detour my internal gyroscope was all messed up. Oddly my car's GPS had malfunctioned earlier in the day, and even after rebooting failed to inform me about the bridge being out. At any rate, being in a hurry, I arrived at the boat launch...
...unloaded my boat and followed the path to a put in near this looming old hydro-facility...
My intention was to paddle upriver from the dam towards Three Rivers where the Quaboag, Ware, and Swift rivers join to form the Chicopee.
It only took a few paddle strokes to realize that I was going with the current rather than against it and must have launched on the wrong side of the dam. Resigned to my fate, I continued downriver to the next dam at Cottage Street in Ludlow...
Along the way I passed this nice little fixer-upper...
...which I suspect will generate little enthusiasm from Mrs. Trashpaddler.
The distance between the two dams was only 2.25 miles which, in a way, was perfect for the amount of time I had before sunset. I did enjoy paddling with the traffic alongside a busy Route 20 for a stretch...
After loading up my boat I checked out the other side of the dam where I'd intended to launch, and saw this still iced-over impoundment...
...guess I'll chock it up as a happy accident.
Some Styrofoam and plastic plucked-up along the way...
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