Monday, September 30, 2013

Somerset's Better Side

Blue skies and mirror-like waters greeted us upon arrival at Somerset Reservoir in Vermont's Green Mountain National Forest yesterday.  Adirondack Pirate Paddlers Captain Dangerous and Mrs. Dangerous joined me for a follow-up visit to this reservoir which we found cold, raw, and windy back on May 26th of this year.  We launched at the reservoir's south end and headed north towards Stratton Mountain (opening photo).

While driving in on the 10-mile long dirt/gravel road from VT Route 9, I stopped where a foot bridge carries the East Branch Trail across the Deerfield River and got this look at some riverside fall foliage...

Once launched and with the day's ideal paddling conditions it wasn't long before we reached Skidder Bay where we saw this eagle (immature?) regally perched on a small island...

The calls of a pileated woodpecker were heard along the reservoir's west side as well as sightings of a dancing merganser, and a belted kingfisher.

We continued to the extreme northwest tip of the reservoir where deep enough water for paddling comes to an end.  This is where the East Branch of the Deerfield River enters from its headwaters west of Stratton Mountain...
 
 
This made a good spot for our lunch break after which we headed in a southeast direction.  Mt. Snow and its many ski trails can be seen at the reservoir's opposite end...

Heading over to the reservoir's northeastern side the foliage provided a nice backdrop...
...and a pair of loons put in a brief appearance...

After visiting several nooks, crannies, and tributaries we made our way back to our launch site in the afternoon's building warmth and gentle breeze out of the south...


Somerset Reservoir is a beautiful body of water and I'm happy to report only encountering one piece of floating trash...a small white balloon (of sorts).

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Biking the Bared and Bended Arm

Mrs. Trashpaddler and I recently enjoyed some early autumn biking on the Cape Cod Rail Trail.  After starting out at Nickerson State Park in Brewster, and making a few loops round the bike rotary in Harwich we followed the spur to Chatham. Later we returned to the area closer to the trail's end in Wellfleet.  Venturing off the trail a bit brought us to Marconi Station where Cape Cod is said to be at its narrowest point...only one mile wide.  In addition to being the location of the first Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph Station...

another plaque there includes Henry David Thoreau's description (opening photo) of the area he called the "bare and bended arm of Massachusetts"...
 

Inspired by his words we biked beyond the trail's end at LeCount Hollow Rd to the interestingly named Cahoon Hollow and its environment of dunes, grass, and ocean...

The evening before we'd ventured by car to the opposite side of Wellfleet where the fruits of the sea made a fine menu choice...
...and the establishment's sign was found pleasing to a certain former librarian.

Just when it seemed the Cape Cod experience couldn't get any better this Wellfleet Harbor sunset graced us and a lone fisherman...

One of the best times of year to visit this special place.


 

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Visit Your Local River Day

Yesterday many volunteers in the SuAsCo watershed descended upon their local rivers to spruce things up a bit.  The event was the 27th Annual River Cleanup held by the group OARS (Organization for the Assabet, Sudbury, and Concord Rivers).
I joined with these other Acton residents (photo at left) in combing the section of the Assabet River flowing through our town for stuff that doesn't belong in a waterway.  We covered areas upstream and downstream of the dam at Powder Mill.  My thanks to Leo of Last National Wine Co. for allowing access to the impoundment upstream of the dam.
 
Some of the regulars observed our activities...

This was the litter collected upstream of the dam...

Most was found near the base of the riprap embankment that runs alongside Rt. 62.

Similar litter and larger items were found by the group working below the dam.

Post cleanup, our group journeyed down to Damonmill where pizza was enjoyed with the West Concord contingent.  They also had a good looking trash pile.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

A Day in Mt. Hope Bay

Yesterday I was able to enjoy a weekday free from work and elected to spend it paddling the upper waters of Narragansett Bay.  By upper waters I'm referring to Mount Hope Bay (the ancestral waters of the Pokanoket tribe of Wampanoag people).
I had visited this area once before, back in November of 2008, and noticed many changes have occurred since then.  The Mount Hope Fishing Area boat launch in Bristol, RI has seen substantial improvement with a concrete ramp and re-worked parking areas.  Other noticeable changes, since my last visit, were the large cooling towers at the Brayton Point Power Generating Station in Somerset, MA across the bay...
 At first I thought "They've converted to nuclear " but upon further investigation found that these cooling towers were built to lessen the thermal impact the generating station was having on the waters of Mt. Hope Bay.  According to the Dominion Website the station, using a combination of low-sulfur coal, gas or oil, and diesel generators can produce up to 1,537 megawatts of electricity (enough for 1.5 million homes).
As I was launching my boat I noticed folks in business attire arriving, and a podium being placed near the top of the boat ramp.  Later I would discover that a press conference was held there and that various Rhode Island environmental groups expressed concern as to the facility's carbon usage.

I headed down the bay's west side towards Mount Hope Point and stopped en route on a cobbled beach where most of the day's trash was gathered up...
Since it is said that Montaup (aka Mount Hope) was a favorite spot of Ousamequin (aka Massasoit), it's quite likely that he once walked this very shoreline on a long ago day such as this one.

This was the trash found in my walking about 50 yards of shoreline there...
Looks like the area was recently visited by a person with 2 left feet.

After rounding the point I visited Church Cove and found preparations underway for a soiree...
The song "Benny and the Jets" drifted out from the tent as workers set up tables and chairs.....sure hope that wasn't going to be part of the event's soundtrack.  It inspired me to paddle across the bay to the northern tip of Aquidneck Island at Common Fence Point and, in doing so, came upon a channel junction marker producing an almost musical chime effect much more to my liking...
Looking back, behind the marker, the approximately 200 foot high Mount Hope can be seen. 

After I crossed the channel towards the Tiverton, RI shore, this good-sized boat rounded Common Fence Point en route towards Bristol Ferry...

Conditions on this day could not have been better.  Clear skies, rapidly warming temperatures, a nice breeze, and a high tide.

Reaching the Tiverton shore near the base of Pocasset Hill I followed the coast in a NE direction and soon reached Fall River, MA where some Tug boats had congregated...

The Borden Flats Lighthouse welcomed me into the Taunton River...
Looming above the small lighthouse is the Charles M. Braga Junior Memorial Bridge and after passing under that bridge I came upon one of the day's objectives: BB-59 or the USS Massachusetts...
This battleship with 16-inch guns was built in Quincy, MA and served the United States in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters during World War II.

I recreated the "Run Silent, Run Deep" submarine versus battleship view...
I can hear Clark Gable ordering "Dive", "Dive", "Dive".  Fortunate for me the Massachusetts isn't able to move being permanently anchored here at Battleship Cove in Fall River, MA.

Next I crossed to the Taunton River's north side and re-entered the bay near Brayton Point paddling northwesterly alongside the generating station and across the tips of Sewammock Neck and Gardners Neck before re-entering Rhode Island at Touisset.  Here the waters of Kickamuit River were still draining out through the Bristol Narrows and made the paddle upriver a little challenging.  Lunch was taken in Chase Cove where I watched quahogs being harvested...
Finishing lunch near low tide I drifted back down through the Narrows and noticed many other folks also engaged in gathering the Rhode Island bivalve delicacy.

The view towards the bay from the Narrows...
My counter-clockwise journey around Mount Hope Bay came to an end back where I'd launched, and my trip odometer showed 15 miles had been covered in all.  Don't know if I've ever paddled a more pleasant 15 miles.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Merrimack's Lost Gateway



It was a beautiful afternoon to be out on the Merrimack River in Lowell, today.  After launching at Southwell Park in North Chelmsford, the river's west side was followed downriver towards the Rourke Bridge (seen at left).

Along the way I encountered this scene where someone's entire campsite had been tossed down into the river...
It's my sincere hope that no one was home when the tent was cast into the river.

A good amount of trash had collected at the western-most pier of the Rourke Bridge...
This spot provided the bulk of today's haul and included another 5 Hooksett Disks bringing my total disk count to 1402.

Below Rourke Bridge I found myself looking, in vain, for some trace of the old entrance to the Middlesex Canal.  It's hard to believe that such a once busy commercial gateway could have been so permanently erased.  Once home I checked the Middlesex Canal Association's Website and found mention of the Nashua and Lowell Railroad having purchased the basin and locks for $ 600 in 1860.  The railroad then removed the granite-built locks and filled in the basin.  Perhaps a symbolic coup de grace.

One of the few other boats seen today on the river was this National Park Service power boat...

My trash haul for the day...
There were 39 recyclable containers (5 redeemable) and 35 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish. 
YTD = 4586
 

Monday, September 16, 2013

Petapawag to Babbitasset Falls


This afternoon my plan was to paddle the Nashua River upstream from Petapawag in Groton.  However my choice of direction changed after talking to a fisherman just coming in from a successful outing on the Nashua downstream of Petapawag.   Scott reported having experienced good bass fishing and plenty of wildlife encounters.  The wildlife he specifically mentioned were ospreys and a small black bear he watched swim across the river.  This is Scott by his boat at Petapawag...
He told me the bear crossed the river near a large tree trunk just before the river widens considerably.   Shortly I was heading downriver in search of the tree trunk and hopefully a glimpse of the bear.  I believe this may be the tree trunk he referred to...
  ...and nearby was what looked like a possible bear takeout location...
Yet despite my intensive scrutiny of the area, the small bear was not to be seen by me.  However I did see the osprey Scott mentioned...
...and possibly its nest...

Also seen were herons, mute swans, cormorants, ducks, and kingfishers.

The day was sort of moody with the sunlight trying to pierce through the dark clouds ...

By the time I reached Babbitasset Falls blue skies were prevailing...
In zooming the above photo I could see the clock tower in East Pepperell's Railroad Square.

The trip back upriver was a tranquil one...

Trash today was most plentiful near an area frequented by shore-fishermen along the Westside Trail.
My haul for this day...
There were 28 recyclable containers (12 redeemable) and 30 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish such as plastic bags, bait tubs, and Styrofoam.  YTD = 4512

I'm thinking it's just a matter of time before I, too, see a black bear 'round these parts.  I'm also glad that many of the Native American place names have survived long enough to witness the return of our region's once native wildlife.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Grape Juice in the Concord



By the time I'd reached Davis Hill and drank in the view of the Concord River heading off to the north (photo at left) my boat's cargo hold was just about full and it was time to begin the trip back upriver.  My journey had started earlier in the morning on the lower Sudbury River and one small fishing site there had contributed a surprisingly large amount of trash.  This may have been an omen.

Shortly after reaching the point where the Sudbury joins with the Assabet in forming the Concord, I encountered Mike and his electric-powered canoe...
 ...heading up the Sudbury towards Fairhaven Bay in hopes of good fishing with the now cooler temperatures.

I continued down the Concord and also enjoyed the cool weather. In fact, it was finally cool enough to have my feet happily ensconced in mukluks again.

The wildlife out and about this morning included ducks, Canada geese, belted kingfishers, mink, turkeys, turtles, carp, and this blue heron...

Somewhere below Great Meadows Landing I encountered this small glass bottle...
According to information found on the Internet, this bottle once contained grape juice made by the Randall Grape Juice Company in Ripley, NY.  Ripley is located near Lake Erie in western New York state and is within the Concord Grape Belt Heritage Area which runs along Lake Erie's shoreline for nearly 50 miles.  It is one of the largest Concord grape-growing and juice-making areas in the country.  What's interesting is that the Concord Grape was first grown in Concord, Massachusetts by Ephraim Wales Bull in 1849.  Another company making juice from the Concord Grape is Welch's, and their factory was in Westfield, NY (one town to the east of Ripley). Welch's would later locate their corporate headquarters in Concord, MA while their competitor (Randall) would have one of its bottles come to rest in the same town where the Concord grape was born.   

Ultimately I arrived back at the Sudbury River and again ran into Mike who was drifting back down to his takeout on the Concord.  He reported catching a couple of bass (one a 4-pounder) but had no luck with the northern pike.
 
It was now mid-day and the river was getting much busier with canoes, kayaks, and power boats.

My haul for the day...
There were 64 recyclable containers (36 redeemable) and 72 pieces of rubbish including bait tubs, plastic bags, a Frisbee, and a plastic chair.  YTD = 4454