Thursday, July 9, 2009

Sudbury River - Saxonville to Stone Bridge + Oxbow


Thanks to recent downpours, the Sudbury River provided me with an aquatic treadmill on which I could better prepare myself for the upcoming Blackburn Challenge. There are only nine days left.
My kayak and I launched at Little Farms Road using what little riverbank was left above water. The river is at springtime levels and it is chugging at a pretty good clip. I paddled upriver against the chugging and stopped at the Saxonville gauging station which showed a level of close to 8 feet...

Continuing upriver past the gauging station I entered a shady section where the river sweeps to the right. In this section were numerous belted kingfishers and they almost seemed to be buzzing me. At one point there were 3 within my immediate vicinity. There were also a few blue herons. Emerging from the shady section, I got my first look at the Saxonville Mill buildings...

After snapping the photo, I turned around and began riding the swift current downstream. As I approached Concord Street, I pondered how much higher the river would need to get before the massive flood gates at Concord Street would need closing. The gates and this wall are critical in protecting these homes and others...

After ducking under Concord Street, I paddled into Cochituate Brook a little ways and noted there was not nearly as much current as the river. Back on the river, I passed under Danforth Street and witnessed a large group of children crossing the bridge, perhaps enroute to a summer camp event. Just before arriving back at Little Farms, I noticed that the old mile-long oxbow of the river was accessible and after entering, this view beckoned me onward...

The two ends of this loop were separated by only about 100 yards and, at some point in the past, the 100 yards between the ends were breeched allowing the river to take a short-cut. This resulted in the oxbow being isolated most of the time. Low-hanging branches blocked my progress at several points and I thought of turning back but was already hooked. Once past the obstacles I entered an enchanted section of oxbow where a large beaver colony exists. This one beaver was sitting on top of his lodge, seemingly surveying his kingdom...

Once they detected my presence, a round of tail slapping commenced which revealed that quite a few beavers were in the area. Leaving them behind, the oxbow began its sweep to the left and from under the shady right bank, near some power lines, a large owl flushed from a tree and flew about 25 yards ahead of me to another tree. As I located him with my binoculars, he left his perch and began flying directly at me. We were eye to eye when he swooped up at the last minute to avoid me. He was about the size of a red-tailed hawk. Next, there was a snake swimming across my path with his head raised about an inch above the water. Upon my approach, the snake dove under the surface and disappeared. I think it is fair to say that these animals aren't used to being disturbed by humans and they are thriving in their isolated haven.
Soon, I was re-entering the river's quick flow and finding more and more trash. In front of the portals of the Stone Bridge there was this collection of flotsam...

After collecting it, I headed to my takeout location at Little Farms Road where my day's catch posed for this photo...

My count for the day was 68 pieces of trash. Of these 54 were recyclable (21 redeemable) and 14 were misc. rubbish such as styrofoam, etc. My YTD total stands at 2638
Earlier, on my way to Little Farms, I saw this fellow who appeared to be heading towards a well deserved redemption...

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