Lower Sudbury and Assabet Rivers

It's amazing how balmy 44 degrees can feel after a few days with the temperature below 30 degrees.  Of course, the ice resulting from our recent cold spell had to be dealt with first in order to launch my boat, and then a second time in order to ascend the Assabet River.  The opening photo shows the route I chopped out of the ice near the Leaning Hemlocks.
Earlier, while paddling down the Sudbury River, I came upon this blue heron that appears to be hitching a ride on the back of a Canada goose...

 There were other critters enjoying this sunny stretch of river such as this colorful mallard duck...

And this little musquash...

 Later, on my return trip, this belted kingfisher watched as I exited the Assabet River...

 The "Cold Moon" is building in the eastern sky...

This is the first of the 3 tough moons.  It will be followed by the "Wolf Moon" in January and the "Snow Moon" in February.  Interestingly, the Native American leader who once ruled a sizable chunk of Massachusetts, including the local village of Musketaquid, was named for the moon.  He was Nanapashemet and it is believed his territory extended from the Salem/Marblehead area west to either the Concord River or perhaps, even further, to the Connecticut River.  North and south boundaries are believed to have been the Merrimack River and Great Blue Hill  respectively.  He made the mistake of aiding a neighboring tribe to the northeast in their war with the Tarrantines, and by doing so brought the wrath of the Tarratines upon himself.  He built a fortress near present day Medford and sent his wife and children to one of his more inland villages, possibly Musketaquid.   Ultimately, in 1619, the Tarratines found Nanapashemet and he was killed leaving his wife, known only as "Squaw Sachem" or "The Queene of Mistick", to rule what was left of his domain.  The trail nearest to Egg Rock bears her name today, Squaw Sachem's Trail.  It was she who, along with her new husband and other local Native Americans, entered into the 1635 agreement with Rev. Peter Bulkley and Simon Willard allowing for the purchase of a 6-square mile tract of land.  The resulting settlement would be named in honor of the agreement, Concord.
Today's trash patrol looped around the site of Musketaquid and brought me up to Spencer Brook where I turned around.  Before doing so, I recovered the hunk of railroad related iron that I'd found last year.  I believe it is part of an old railcar coupling device once used on the Reformatory Branch of the Boston and Maine Railroad.  It weighs approximately 30 pounds and can be seen in the photo of my modest trash haul below....

In addition to the railroad relic, there were 8 recyclable containers and 8 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish.  My YTD total stands at 6234.