Monday, February 29, 2016

Leap Day Paddle

Here in New England it's not too often we see a Leap Day accompanied by temperatures above 60 degrees.  After launching late this morning at Lowell Road in Concord I paddled up to the inscription at Egg Rock where part of the text was submerged for the first time in quite awhile (photo at left). 

In consideration of the day's gusty winds I chose to ascend the Assabet River in hopes it would provide some shelter from the gusts. 

Wildlife was in abundant supply with large numbers of robins, one group of red-winged blackbirds (1st of the season) behind Barrett's farm, this small hawk...
 ...several wood ducks...
...this pair of pileated woodpeckers...
...and this beaver perched at water's edge...
They along with many hundreds of what I believe to be stonefly nymphs seem to know that spring is sprung.

Thanks to the high water levels access to the long-abandoned railroad bed of the Boston and Maine Railroad's Reformatory Branch was easier than usual.  In some spots it's condition is amazing considering this section along the Assabet last saw trains in the mid 1920s. 
Some 1870s stonework that's stood the test of time...
The view down the old right of way (towards Reformatory) from atop the culvert...

The view to the east from the same spot...
Looks as though crossties and rails could be set down tomorrow.

East of where the line crossed the Assabet River the right of way hasn't faired as well...
...and the forest has reclaimed much the right of way.

By the time I reached Route 2 a spring shower signaled a passing cold front...
...and made a good place to turn around.

Once back at Lowell Rd. the sunshine was beginning to return. 

A fair amount of trash was encountered today...
...and included such inflatable items as an inner tube, a Mylar balloon, a football, and a basketball.  The rest was mostly plastic containers.

Sunday, February 28, 2016

A Willin' Willimantic

On this beautiful spring-like day I journeyed to the northeast corner of Connecticut to join with paddlers Erik, Jonathan, Mike, and Scott for a drift down the Willimantic River.

We launched from Plains Road about 2 miles below Stafford Springs and let the river sweep us along a course that parallels both Route 32 and the New England Central Railroad down to River Park in Mansfield.

The day's great weather (sunshine with temps 50 degrees plus) brought many folks to the river's edge and some even into the river itself...

The water level was ideal for our purposes. 

Heron Cove...
...made a great lunch spot...
The kiosk there provides information about the  21 mile long Willimantic River Water Trail which runs from Stafford Springs to Windham, Connecticut.

A few miles below Heron Cove we reached Peck's Mill Site...
...which provided a fun  ripple for Scott in his liquidlogic...
...as well as Erik and Jonathan in their Mohawk...
...and Mike in his prospector...

Another group of paddlers came through Peck's while we were there...


It was a great day to be on this river...
...and all too soon we reached our takeout spot at River Park...
...on yet another Plains Road.

Visit Erik's blog Open Boat, Moving Water - A Paddler's Journal for his account and photos.

A small haul of trash was scooped up at the launch site and at some of the slower spots along the way...

Monday, February 22, 2016

Surprises on the Assabet

Walking out of the house this morning there was a strangeness in the air...the feel of spring in February.  A morning job went well and my workday wrapped-up early enough for me to check the Assabet River in Stow for open water.   Arrived at Magazu's Landing to find this pair of swans...
 
Heading upriver I came across this plastic water bottle marked with what a reasonable deposit might be...

Reaching the outlet from Lake Boone I noticed the conspicuous white head of an eagle (opening photo) and this closer look...
I may have interrupted his lunch, the remains of which can be seen on the ice below...

Nearby, a musquash seemed unaware of the danger lurking above...

The eagle moved to another tree already occupied by a red-tailed hawk...

The hawk left after this yawn or call...

I continued upriver and decided to check out Fort Meadow Brook.  Water levels were higher than they were on my last visit on February 1st.  There was just enough head room for my boat and I to get through the box culvert, and the higher water level allowed me to surmount the beaver dam below the abandoned Central Mass RR trestle.  This allowed my first ever Fort Meadow Brook passage through the trestle...
Someone's good work removed the tons of debris which formerly blocked all of the trestle's portals.  Passing through allowed a closer inspection of the deteriorating structure...

Hard to imagine this trestle once carried overnight passenger trains between Boston and Washington back in 1890.

The still flooded area above the trestle hosts a small heron (?) rookery...

In fact a heron was seen nearby...

Along the railroad causeway this glass insulator was found...
These insulators were used by the railroads for attaching wires to the cross-beams on telegraph poles.  The aqua-colored glass is embossed with W. Brookfield, New York.

Then it was time for my first ever trestle approach while heading down the brook...
I'd be inclined to say that not too many recreational boaters have navigated this section of Fort Meadow Brook.

Once back in the Assabet I headed upriver to the funnel location below Gleasondale...
...where the Assabet was chugging through at a good clip.  Some of the river's flow was being sent around the funnel on a river-right course.  This had several small streams entering the river downriver. 
As is often the case, another 6 empty mouthwash bottles were found between FMB and the funnel.  Sad to see.

I ended my ascent at the funnel and began the trip downriver.

Passing the outlet of Lake Boone I noticed the eagle was still in the area, but now on the other side of the river...

Contributing to the feeling of spring were the damselfly nymphs flitting about the water (and one that came home with me via my hat).  The cry of the red-winged blackbird and some sunbathing turtles were the only things missing today.  Otherwise it felt, looked, and smelled like spring!

Trash recovered along the way...

Sunday, February 21, 2016

An Ice-Free Tidal Refuge

Took advantage of this morning's relatively warm temperatures and mid-morning high tide by getting in some early spring (I hope) paddling behind Plum Island in Newbury and Newburyport.

I launched into the Plum Island River from the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge and after taking a look at the Plum Island Drawbridge (opening photo) headed south towards the mouth of the Parker River which I then ascended up to the Route 1A bridge at Old Newbury...
The marina just beyond the bridge is still hunkered down with stacked docks and shrink-wrapped boats ...
The flag attests to the day's persistent westerly wind that just didn't want to lay down.

I turned there with the tide and worked my way back to the Plum Island Drawbridge...
...before returning to the takeout.

The Parker River refuge was busy with visitors today as this view of the parking lot closest to the entrance shows...


   On the ocean side of the island were several surfers...

This weekend's weather was in sharp contrast to the previous one. So too, today's paddling of Plum Island Sound waters contrasted sharply with the waters of Tarpon Bay in Florida.

Some trash encountered along the way...
...including yet another Hookset Disk.

Monday, February 15, 2016

Sampling Some Sanibel Air


Slipped out of a soon-to-be frigid Massachusetts on Super Bowl Sunday and let Amtrak's Silver Meteor deliver Mrs. Trashpaddler and myself to the palm tree shaded railroad station in Winter Haven, Florida...
We knew we'd picked a good destination upon seeing this above ground water pump outside the station...
It reminded me of the old joke about a Yankee driving south with a snow shovel strapped to his car's front bumper and not stopping until someone asks him what the hell that thing is for.

After renting a car with Georgia plates (so as to go undiscovered as rube Yankees) we headed further south in search of Sanibel Air...

...which was encountered driving across the causeway.

A welcoming view...


Once on Sanibel Island we enjoyed the beaches, and also became Tarpon Bay explorers via rented bikes and kayaks at the J.D. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge.  The 7,600 acre refuge is named for Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling who, among many accomplishments, designed the blue goose logo seen at U.S. Fish and Wildlife refuges across the country (such as this one at Oxbow back in Massachusetts)...

The highlight of our visit to the "Ding" Darling refuge was paddling the Commodore Creek Water Trail...

...a mangrove lined waterway...
...where the river banks look a whole lot different than those of my local rivers...
...with bird species we don't get to see up our way.

 We encountered this yellow-crowned night heron ...
...ibises...
...and a brown pelican...
...as well as belted kingfishers and osprey before returning to the open water of Tarpon Bay...
Not a speck of trash was to be seen.

By bicycle on the park's Indigo Trail we saw a sleeping roseate spoonbill...
...an anhinga...


...and more white ibises...

In fact those guys were hangin' out everywhere...

The beach provided plenty of interesting stuff such as a high and dry stingray...
 ...and a beached needle-nosed fish...
...tons of sea shells and whelk eggs...
...and this waddling pelican...

Taking a dip in the gulf waters more than likely exposed me as a Yankee as no one else was seen in the water. A guy on the beach thought I'd captured a good-sized lobster...
...when actually I was just holding my sandals above the waves (forgot about the stingrays).

At length (too short) we boarded the north-bound Silver Meteor...
...which brought us back to a frigid Massachusetts where ten degree temperatures awaited.  Fired up the stove and went to sleep before awaking this morning to minus seven degrees and wondering if it'd all been a dream.  Could this really have been the view looking up from my hammock?...

Rather than ending this post with a photo of collected trash I can end with these sea shells Mrs. Trashpaddler collected along the beach...