This afternoon, upon finishing a work assignment near the Ipswich River, I decided to experience paddling some of its water's for my first time.
The plan was to launch into the river at Rt. 97 in Topsfield and paddle downstream into the Ipswich Wildlife Sanctuary. The photo at left is the Route 97 bridge and was taken on my return trip upriver.
Not too far from the launch site, I paddled into an old canal bed that stretched straight as an arrow for several thousand feet in an easterly direction. The left bank had the look of a tow-path.
Returning to the Ipswich proper, it is narrow and winding with numerous downed trees partially blocking the channel . Paddling around one of the many sharp bends, I came upon this musquash making a hurried dash to the water with a mouthful of grass...
After passing by Perkins Island this Great Egret was taking in the view from up high...
There were many clumps of these "forget-me-nots" in bloom...
The river brought me to this landing maintained by Mass Audubon...
The sign advised non-members to paddle about a 1/2 mile further to Colt Island so I paddled about that distance to a point about 1/4 mile past TH 42. At that point, my path was blocked by some fallen limbs, so I turned around and began paddling back upstream to my starting point. On the return trip 2 kayaks and 3 canoes were encountered.
Trash had been recovered at the launch site and in the area of a sandbar frequented by shore fishermen.
The haul for the trip was 42 pieces of trash...
The breakdown: 19 recyclable containers (8 redeemable) and 23 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish such as styrofoam, plastic bags, cardboard packaging, etc. YTD total stands at 3406.
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