Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Assabet River - Egg Rock to Rt.2 and Back

This afternoon I hoped to get in a trash patrol before the weather deteriorated. Events at worked conspired against me and resulted in my getting on the river just as the rain began. Since I had my water-proof paddling jacket and Seattle sombrero with me, I resigned myself to paddling in the rain and thoroughly enjoyed a little bit different kind of paddling experience.
I paddled the lower Sudbury River to Egg Rock, then the Assabet past the Leaning Hemlocks, past the decapitated coyote (faux coyote), past Dodge Rock, round Willow Island, and what the heck, I just kept heading upriver. Went past some new house construction just downstream from Spencer Brook on the river's west side. A beaver has a new lodge well underway. He's not too worried about the economy. Several small groups of Muscovite ducks were hanging around the Spencer Brook area as well. Another half mile upriver from Spencer Brook a doe and I had a staring match. She was very well camouflaged in shoulder-high grass and remained motionless as I paddled past her location.
Trash was mostly plastic bags snared on tree branches. These bags had been submerged until the recent drop in water level. One glass beer bottle and a couple of plastic water bottles were the only recyclables.
Stopped for a snack in the backwater upstream of Route 2 and found that with the engine in idle it didn't take long to cool down. Turned my bow downriver, fired up the engine and soon felt some heat being generated again. At a point about a 1/4 mile above Willow Island, I saw another two deer standing fairly close to a couple of faux coyotes. They took off showing their white tails prominently. The coyotes held their ground. These faux coyotes are placed in meadows near the river, I believe, in an attempt to scare away Canada geese. At dusk, they look quite real.
The wind and the rain began to pick up as I paddled the last stretch to my takeout location and I found myself looking forward to the hot cup of cocoa I would soon be sipping.
Ended up with 16 empty containers for the afternoon. YTD total = 2021

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