On a splendid day such as today, a trash patrol could not be resisted and so, with my workday complete, I ventured into the watershed to the immediate east of my own. It is the watershed that drains the lands where, long ago, the Massachusetts people lived. The river it forms bears the name of Prince Charles though it's had a few other nicknames over the years and some were not so regal.
I launched at Farm Road in Dover, just across the river from Sherborn. I had only taken 4 or 5 paddle strokes when I came upon quite a mess left on the rocks under the Farm Road bridge. Someone had a barbecue under the bridge and left everything that wasn't devoured in a brown shopping bag. In the bag were empty bags of charcoal, paper plates, cups, soda bottles, and beer cans. Probably a nice family picnic with just one significant omission: taking home the trash! Actually make that two omissions as they left the grill behind as well...
After dealing with the mess (left the grill), I emerged from under the bridge to find this snake soaking up some rays...
I believe it's a northern water snake. More info available at this link.
Proceeding upriver, I briefly landed at Rocky Narrows Landing to stow the picnic stuff below deck and added another 5 beverage containers found on the ground at the Landing. This is a view of the actual Rocky Narrows as approached from upstream...
After the Narrows the river sweeps around a hill with a prominent rock outcropping known as King Philip's Lookout. This photo was taken from upstream and some folks can be seen standing on the Lookout...
Other wildlife seen today were a belted kingfisher, a green heron, several blue herons, a turkey vulture, and numerous turtles.
Arriving at Route 27, I landed and enjoyed some lunch before heading back downriver into a refreshing breeze. By the time I reached the Farm Road take out, my trash count was 95 pieces. After some initial pushing and shoving the group quieted down and allowed me to get this photo before they entered the trunk of my car...
Of the 95, 26 were recyclable (19 redeemable) and 69 were misc. rubbish such as styrofoam, plastic bags, etc. My YTD total stands at 3769. My YTD paddle-odometer now reads 510 miles giving me a rate of 7.39 pieces of trash per mile paddled. If I spent more time trash patrolling the Charles River, I think the rate per mile would increase rather quickly.
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