Saturday, June 10, 2017

Nashaway's Neck Along the Nashua

The sign looked ancient, and I saw it following this morning's paddle on the Nashua River in Lancaster (aka Nashaway).  Never would've seen it if not for having taken a wrong turn before starting my drive home.  The "Neck" is formed by the Nashua River's North Branch detouring due south to where it combines with the Nashua's South Branch at the "Meeting of the Waters" before heading north once again.  This 1943 topo map shows the area known as "The Neck"...


I launched at the Route 117 (Seven Bridge Rd.) canoe launch and first headed downriver 50 yards or so to see if the river was still blocked by a large blowdown.
The good news was the river was no longer completely blocked.  The bad news was that what remained of the blowdown had acted as a trash trap...
    After working the trap for half an hour it looked better...
...and resulted in this haul...
...from that one blowdown.  Like shootin' fish in a barrel!

But wait, there's more...
...from my subsequent trip 'round "The Neck". 

More than 50 "Nip" bottles were recovered today.  According to the Container Recycling Institute the State of Maine is hoping to place a nickel deposit on these pesky little plastic containers.  Unfortunately,  Maine's governor is trying to prevent such a deposit.

Speaking of environmental issues, this was a bad week for the Housatonic River.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided to hold up the agency's previously approved plan for removing PCBs from the Housatonic River.  The plan had taken many years to develop.  


Once finished with the trash trap I began heading upriver and found blowdowns to be numerous.   Reaching the "Meeting of the Waters" any thoughts of ascending the Nashua's South Branch were dismissed...

Upriver from that confluence is this bridge carrying what remains of the Boston and Maine Railroad's Worcester, Nashua, and Portland division...

At the bridge's south end is the location of a historic Native American cemetery to the east, and this "Hobo Jungle" to the west...
The daily freights moving past this spot are designated as POSE and SEPO as they connect Portland, ME with Selkirk, NY.  When moving through this area the sometimes very long trains move at a snail-like 10 mph.



This past Wednesday I paddled a short stretch of the Ipswich River in Danvers launching from Mortalo Landing on Rt. 62.  Both the day and the river were beautiful...

Found this stretch of the Ipswich to be very clean yielding only this small amount of trash...


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