Thursday, April 16, 2009

Sudbury River - Rt. 27 to Pantry Brook & Return

I awoke this morning thinking that it must be close to the time of year that the Haynes Garrison House, near the Sudbury River, came under a fierce seige by Indians during 'King Phillip's War' 333 years ago. Of course, the fact that I just recently watched the first episode of WGBH's We Shall Remain series may have had something to do with it. The episode documented the descent from friendship into war between the Pilgrims and Wampanoags. Amazing to see how the mutual respect and loyalty established between Massasoit and Edward Winslow was destroyed by their respective sons, Metacom and Josiah Winslow, in just one generation. I decided to stop and check the monuments to the event on my way home from work. Just after passing the Wayland Country Club, I drove up to the old four-arch stone bridge that takes a narrow road to nowhere. At the east side of the bridge there stands a granite monument marking the spot where the men from Concord, who had responded to the alarm and fell into an ambush, were buried...

The monument shows the date of that event was April 21, 1676, so I am only a few days early.
The men were trying to make it across the river and wide marsh to the Garrison House located about a half mile to the west...

After turning away from the monument to head back to my car, this mess of carelessly discarded trash littered the ground...

It consisted of yards of masking paper, 40 nested Solo cups, and miscellaneous trash. The next person to visit the site will find it a little improved...

Upon arriving at the River Road boat launch, this little mink was curious as to my doings...

Once on the water I paddled over to and under the four-arch stone bridge where the monument is located...

I looked across the marsh to where the Garrison House was located and thought of those men's desperate but futile attempt to reach it.
Moving away from the bridge and Garrison House area, the river and marsh unfolded before me to reveal a beautiful scene. If Zorba the Greek had been with me, I could imagine him saying "Boss, we've got a splendiferous day for a trash paddle!" and he would have been absolutely correct...'twas! Wildlife was plentiful and trash was scarce. A group of 12 mute swans were enjoying this section of the river...


Following the river's many zigs and zags brought me to where this nice looking musquash lodge presented itself...

And shortly after, I floated under Sherman's Bridge and enjoyed the strong scent of creosote which I find quite aromatic. Another set of zigs and zags brought me to a beaver compound with two good sized lodges in fairly close proximity. The smaller of the two had been adopted as a nest site by a Canada goose...

Stopped at Weir Hill for a lunch break and then paddled the last bit to Pantry Brook. There, despite the relatively high water levels, the impoundment behind the barrier was not accessible. A new beaver lodge has been built just downstream of the sheet piling barrier and the new residents have decided to stop the brook from flowing into the river. Their recent construction work is evident near the staff gauge...

This became my turnaround point and I began heading back upriver with the northeast breeze mostly at my back. Other wildlife observed today were red-tailed hawks, red-winged blackbirds, mallards, wood ducks, great blue herons, gulls, a musquash, and a lone turkey vulture. Having once again enjoyed the fragrance of Sherman's Bridge, I paddled upstream to where this vista lay in front of me...

Near the Route 27 bridge I recoved about half of the flotsam I would see today. The stretch of river between Rt. 27 and Pantry Brook had been remarkably free of flotsam!
Reaching my takeout location a modest haul was displayed...

My trash count for the day (combined terrestrial and flotsam) was 72. Of these 3 were redeemable, 55 were recyclable, 14 were plastic bags, styrofoam, paper etc.
My YTD total stands at 1309.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You would please the Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, who commented on those of a nature to arise and keep on keeping on. The bee, the dog, the horse, and the vines that arise to produce for another year. Kudos!