Assabet River - Cox St. Hudson to Orchard Hill in Stow

This morning I returned to the Assabet River in Hudson and Stow to followup on last Saturday's initial trash patrol on this stretch of river. I launched at the Cox Street bridge and my plan was to paddle downriver to the series of snags near Orchard Hill that were still holding a large amount of trash. Not even half way to the snags, I needed to stop and stow 56 pieces of trash below deck. From there to the snags saw another 25 or so pieces accumulate above deck. The most egregious of these was a plastic 1-quart container of motor oil that was actually full of motor oil. Also there were two large sheets of styrofoam packing material that required cutting into about 12 pieces to fit onboard.
Finally reaching the snags, I paddled past the first and under the second after cutting some branches. At the third I found my path firmly blocked so I paddled into a small opening in the marsh and exited from my boat onto the tussocks. This allowed me to get a better look at the barrier...

Finding it fairly easy to walk on the tussocks, I decided to portage around the barrier and explore more of the river. Almost immediately after starting downstream again, I encountered several eastern bluebirds and a pair of wood ducks. Mallards, red-tailed hawks, a musquash, and red-winged blackbirds were also seen today. The views of Orchard Hill were impressive and this beaver lodge had been located at a choice spot...

Around the next bend Orchard Hill Farm came into view...

Arriving at Gleasondale Village I rounded a last bend and came upon the dam and the old mill building that it served. Notice that there are no warning signs to indicate the waterfall...

After turning around and beginning my trip back upriver, I found myself being scutinized by this large horse...

At the point where I did a reverse of my earlier portage I found my ship's hold was full to the gills with trash. Looking upon the numerous rafts of floating trash still remaining, I was reminded of Chief Brodie telling Quint "We're gonna need a bigger boat".
I worked the large snag again and noted that it is actually the result of someone having built a crude bridge of plywood at this spot...

Shortly my bungees were straining once again to hold as much as they could on the way back to Cox Street. The unloaded bounty...

The trash count for the day was 175. Of these 50 were plastic bags and styrofoam cups; 119 plastic, glass, or aluminum bottles/cans; and the earlier mentioned motor oil and styrofoam packing sheets. My YTD total stands at 863.
I believe my last two hauls demonstrate very clearly that our 1983 issued Bottle Bill is no longer effective and needs to be updated.