North Shore Rambles

 

This past Wednesday, on an idyllic summer morning, I left my tent at Cape Ann Camp Site in Gloucester, MA and paddled out of the Jones River into the Annisquam River and towards its namesake village...

Paddling against the incoming tide brought me to Annisquam Lighthouse where I rounded the point past the lighthouse into Ipswich Bay and eastward to Hodgkins Cove...

...where a younger and stronger version of myself would have "paddled on" for another 16 miles or so around Cape Ann while participating in past years' Blackburn Challenge events.  The present version of myself chose instead to return to the Annisquam River for a lazy morning swim in that incoming tide...

Post swim I enjoyed paddling the Annisquam River down to the A. Piatt Andrew Bridge...

Turned about there and exited the Annisquam River between Rust and Pearce islands enroute back to the Jones River.  Headed to this small islet...

...where, a "top of the tide" landing, allowed for a second swim ...

The day before I'd taken the long way to Gloucester via Plum Island, an approximately 9 mile long barrier island.  At the island's Parker River National Wildlife Refuge I launched into the Plum Island River.  When I launched into the same river last December I encountered this... 

...whereas on Tuesday conditions were more welcoming...

Paddled with the incoming tide to Browns Island (almost reaching the Parker River) then turned about and paddled through the Donald A. Wilkinson Bridge...

...into the Merrimack River's Newburyport Harbor.   Plum Island's northern tip could be seen...

The view across the Merrimack's Joppa Flats toward Newburyport...

Last September I paddled the area near the Merrimack's mouth having launched from the Salisbury Reservation.  It was the 250th anniversary of the Arnold Expedition's 1775 departure from Newburyport aboard 11 small ships.   After exiting the Merrimack River the approximately 1,000-man force sailed along the coast to Maine's Kennebec River where they eventually struggled through the wilderness of western Maine in order to reach Quebec City on the St. Lawrence River 

Post paddle and on my way to Gloucester I drove through Ipswich, MA where, after crossing over the Choate Bridge (dating to 1764), I stopped at the South Green in order to find and snap a photo of the historic marker commemorating the expedition's passing through town...

 ...

John Peirce, the expedition's 30 year old surveyor, described Ipswich in his journal entry for September 15, 1775 (with his minimal punctuation): "Treadwell and Devvons Tavern in Ipswich Situated pleasantly over the bridge on a Side Hill-Tavern Sign of pipes and Grapes   Dial on each Side of the Steeple of the meeting a Small Town House-Great appearance of a Shower  Company all well  Drank Toddy on the Province Cost-1000 Pretty Girls-Taverns very Plenty of all sorts to bear a Good aspect."

Wildlife encountered over the course of my 2 paddles:

A deceased horseshoe crab floating in the Plum Island River... 

Numerous other deceased or perhaps molted horseshoe crabs drew attention from shorebirds...

A great egret "meet and greet" on the Annisquam...

Cormorants at Hodgkins Cove...

A pair of eider ducks also at Hodgkins...

Birds of a feather?...

Couldn't leave Gloucester without an early morning stroll along Stacy Boulevard...

...where the mariner still has a steady hand on the wheel...

Trash was few and far between...

Nashua River and Catacoonamug

 

An early start yesterday got me out on the Nashua River before the sun climbed above the treetops.  Launched  from Hospital Road in Devens, MA and headed downriver to Ice House Dam...

...where the river takes a turn to the east.  Turned around there and headed back upriver...

...with the sun now starting to crank up the heat, shade was at a premium.

Ventured into Catacoonamug Brook up to this well-built beaver dam...

Found a few alternative spellings for this Native American word (Catacunamug and Catacunemaug) believed to mean "great place for fishing".    

Trash gathered up on the Nashua between Ice House Dam and Jackson Road...

...included a plastic bait tub, a Mylar balloon, and 104 "nip" bottles.

Things On the Wane

 

The waning "Buck Moon" seemed intent on staying visible in the mid-morning sky this past Tuesday.  I noticed it while paddling upriver on the Assabet River from Ice House Landing in Maynard, MA...

Some recent and very welcome rains had cleared the river's surface of floating weed mats in many places.  However the more established water chestnut plants near Crow Island weren't going anywhere... 

I'm guessing the Assabet's original course was revealed by the weed-free channel...

Augustus Tower's 1830 Map of Stow depicts the river before construction of the Ben Smith Dam (1847), and perhaps shows how much wider the river became in places.  

The culvert under the Assabet River Rail Trail was clear of debris thus allowing access into Thanksgiving Pond and a bit of Taylor Brook...

 Saw this recently fledged eagle still hanging around its nest perhaps hoping for a food delivery...

...it called out several times...

Two days later, on Thursday morning (before it got too hot), I paddled up the Sudbury River having launched from Kellogg Street in Framingham.  Going upriver was my only option as a boom blocked downriver passage beneath the Central Street Bridge...

Thankfully, another boom that previously blocked passage at Union Ave had been removed.
 

Passed under the Old Main Street Bridge...

The river near the base of Mt Wayte...

Managed to find just enough depth to reach a stone formation midway between the mouth of Eames Brook and the dam at Winter Street...

  ... the view looking downriver...

The stones had been arranged in a fashion similar to fish weirs used by Native Americans where entrapped migrating fish could be easily speared.   

Even with our recent rainfall, the river beyond this point was just too shallow for my vessel.  From the arranged stones location I could see the Victorian gatehouse at the dam...

One rather macabre sight seen along the Sudbury River was this hanging skeleton...

While it might be appropriate the week before Halloween it seems much less so during the rest of the year, at least to my way of thinking.
  

Trash from the Assabet on Tuesday included 4 "nips"...

Trash from the Sudbury River on Thursday included 17 "nips", a Mylar balloon, and a good bit of Styrofoam...

Critters Aplenty on the Sudbury

Headed up the lower Sudbury River early yesterday morning under cloudy but rain-free skies.  Shortly after passing under the old Union Turnpike Bridge (above photo) I began to encounter a variety of wildlife which eventually exceeded my expectations.  It brought to mind the recent baseball game in Detroit where a squirrel running around the field of play interrupted the game.  At one point the squirrel was briefly joined by a mourning dove prompting the announcer to ask "What is this, Wild Kingdom?".  The fans in the stands were rooting for the squirrel as the grounds crew worked on capturing it.

The wildness I encountered yesterday in about 2 hours time: 

This distinguished heron...

Several white-tailed deer does and their fawns...

A family of chirping/squeaking river otters...

...that were crossing the river back and forth several times...

This hawk...

...and a recently fledged bald eagle...

Ultimately I arrived at Fairhaven Bay where surprisingly not another boat was afloat...

Trash was very light and consisted exclusively of recyclable containers for a change...