Monday, May 21, 2012

Assabet River - Damondale to Route 2


My short journey on the Assabet River from Pine Street to Damonmill (old mill raceway seen at left) in Concord took a little longer than expected, this morning.  A new obstacle in the form of a fairly large tree has fallen across the entire width of the river about half a mile above Pine Street...


At the river's present level, it's just barely possible to slide over the tree's limbs just to the left of center...

After some small handsaw work, the path through the branches looked a little clearer...

If the river drops much lower, sliding over will become more difficult.  Portaging around the tree would not be an easy job, as the banks here are steep and muddy.  The Assabet gauge in Maynard is showing a height of  2.2 feet.

From this spot up to Damondale the river was in good shape, obstacle wise.  I towed my boat the last 25 yards to the upstream side of the Route 62 bridge before turning around and heading downriver.

Heading downriver, below the commuter railroad bridge in West Concord, another tree reaches nearly all the way across the river...
Staying river left provides a clear path.
Today's trash haul stretched out on a small sandbar...
There were 17 recyclable containers (4 redeemable) and 28 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish such as a sneakers, 5-gallon plastic pail, and several plastic bags.  YTD = 2601

Saw my first yellow flag of the season near the river's confluence with Nashoba Brook...

These suds were flowing out of Nashoba Brook...
I guess it just confirms that for many folks Monday is still "wash day".

Wildlife seen today consisted of one blue heron and two families of Canada geese.  The older goslings are fast losing their yellow coloring...


 

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