Nashua River Brought Plenty

 

Driving downhill on Still River Depot Road in Harvard, MA I was provided this view of Mt. Wachusett.

Just before reaching the bottom of the hill and the river, I came upon this stationary freight train on the CSX Railroad's Worcester Mainline...

Seeing the crew moving about had me thinking the train might soon be departing.  My hope was to launch my boat out on the river in time to witness the train pass through the bridge over the Nashua River.  However, I wasn't fast enough and soon heard a few short blasts of the horn indicating they were starting to move.  Walked a short path to record the four diesel locomotives getting this 106-car freight train underway...

The train is designated as M427 and runs from Portland, ME to Selkirk, NY pretty much daily.  After the train had disappeared to the south and things had quieted down I launched into the Nashua.  There was still plenty of fall-foliage color in places...

The recent rain from the remnants if hurricane Isaias had dislodged and sent another batch of flotsam downriver...

In just 2 miles of river this mess of plastic was gathered up...

...which included 114 "nip" bottles.

 

Nashoba and Fort Pond Brooks

 

Couldn't pass up a chance to paddle Fort Pond Brook (above photo) and Nashoba Brook yesterday afternoon.  Thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Isaias we'd recently received more than 1.5" of rain which made several of the beaver dams there less of an obstacle.  The 2 brooks combine before flowing into Warner's Pond in West Concord, MA.  After launching on the east side of Warner's Pond, I paddled westward to where the brooks enter the pond...

Passed over a well-built beaver dam into Nashoba Brook and began paddling up to the busy spot where the 2 brooks, 2 railroads (Framingham and Lowell/Nashua, Acton, and Boston), and the former Union Turnpike all converged...

Today the Union Turnpike is Route 2, the railroads are long gone, and the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail does an up-and-over all of it...

The steel "I" beams crossing at a slope in the distance may have facilitated getting farm equipment across the brook.

 After passing under Route 2 the higher water level allowed passage over submerged obstacles up Nashoba Brook towards East Acton...

...before several blowdowns persuaded me to return to the Route 2 bridge...

Next I entered Fort Pond Brook and paddled under the abandoned county road bridge (opening photo) after which the brook winds its way between 2 ridges towards Acton.

Some trash found along the way...

A Cloudy and Corny Sudbury River

 

Enjoyed the sanctity of a Sunday morning while ascending the Sudbury River in Concord, MA yesterday.  Early on I passed under the Union Turnpike Bridge (Elm St) with the South Bridge Boathouse seen through the portal (above photo).  Skies were cloudy but there were still bursts of color along the shoreline:

The little stone boathouse in Fairhaven Bay...

...where several fishing boats were plying the bay's waters.

 Lee's Bridge (Rt 117)...

Some wildlife encountered included:

This marsh hawk...

...and a group of 3 white-tailed deer...

...in addition to wood ducks and blue herons.

Trash gathered up included a fair bit of corn both canned and frozen evidently used by shore fishermen...

...the 4 Del Monte cans were found at one spot and may indicate their chumming the water with it.

Coachlace, Mossy, and South Meadow Ponds

Visited the three ponds that comprise the South Meadow Pond Complex in Clinton, MA yesterday morning.  In addition to seeing some colorful foliage it was also my hope to see a long freight train rumble past the above pictured display of fall foliage on the shore of Coachlace Pond.  I thought that one of two freight trains would pass through in the morning.  I'd later find out that one train had been cancelled and the other didn't pass through the area until after 1pm.

So, I spent the rest of the cool and crisp morning touring the other ponds by first passing through the culvert (beneath the train tracks) from Coachlace into South Meadow pond...

Paddling eastward on South Meadow brought me into Mossy Pond and its Blueberry Island.....

Not far from the island was this long and slender canoe sporting some interesting camouflage...

..which served as a reminder that duck hunting season in Massachusetts would be opening the following day.

Once back at where I'd launched, I portaged the short distance across South Meadow Rd into the Lancaster section to the road's west...

...where the pond's namesake brook enters.  At this section's opposite end is the closed and capped Clinton landfill.  Barriers are in place to prevent the landfill's leachate from entering the pond...

Some wildlife seen were this perched osprey...

...and wading blue heron...

...both on Coachlace Pond.

Trash gathered up reflected the season's many colors...

...most of it encountered where shore fishermen stand at water's edge.

A Nippy Assabet River in Hudson

 

Launched into the Assabet River yesterday behind the Fire Department's Station 1 in Hudson, MA and headed upriver passing under the Taylor Memorial Bridge (above photo) along the way.  The morning had earlier featured our fall season's first touch of frost.  My upriver progress was delayed a bit by encountering quite a few plastic "nip" bottles that had congregated behind these two buildings adjacent to the library...

...the spot being at the apex of a bend in the river where it turns from a northeast to southeast direction before passing over the Washington Street dam. The "nip" bottles captured by the vegetation at the above- pictured spot numbered 92, and almost all of them were the same brand Smirnoff...

Fall foliage is still displayed along the shore....

Turned around before reaching Route 495 where 4 short bridges once spanned the river...

Approaching my takeout back at the Fire Station some fall foliage highlighted a historic home's roof tower...

The Washington Street dam also had some color...

Trash gathered up along the way...

Assabet River's Ups and Downs

 

The Assabet River's "Leaning Hemlocks" was shrouded in some early-morning fog when I paddled upriver yesterday.  My ascent of the river was made easier thanks to last week's nor'easter replenishing water levels.  The storm was a mixed blessing, though, as it also toppled a few more trees into the river.  The trickiest of these to get around was one piled onto several existing blowdowns near Barrett's Farm.  

Additionally, a large tree spans the river just upstream of the MBTA commuter rail bridge in West Concord, MA (seen looking downriver)...

Was able to find work-arounds up to and past the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail.  However, my upriver progress came to an end at this previous blowdown below Pine Street...

...where I decided not to tempt fate.

This great blue heron seemed fine with the trees in the river...

While out on the river I saw 4 white-tailed deer complete a river crossing by successfully climbing the riverbank.  They were all wearing their dark winter coats.  If I'd arrived there 10 seconds earlier I might've captured a photo.

Came across this 25' or 30' long mat made of linked wood slats...

...perhaps used by someone to gain access to the river across a muddy stretch.  It was seen floating in the Sudbury River in the vicinity of Egg Rock (which also lost a tree from its east side)...

This photo taken in August shows the above mentioned tree as it formerly stood...

Trash was fairly light...

Dawn at Petapawag

 
Launched at Petapawag in Groton, MA at dawn on Saturday...

The rising sun soon chased darkness from the river's west shoreline...

The colors of fall were on display...

On the river's east side this stump seemed to be reaching for some of that sun...

An immature eagle was perched not too far from the nest...

...where, perhaps, it had hatched earlier this year...

This blue jay was seen to be possibly drying its wings?...

...or possibly it was injured.  It moved away from the river on foot rather than by flight...still vocal though.

There wasn't much trash and most of it was found in this floating bag of trash...

The small haul...