Wednesday, November 30, 2016

November Leaves from Petapawag

Paddled-out November this afternoon on the Nashua River.  Launched at Petapawag in Groton and headed downriver through the J. Harry Rich State Park.  Low clouds darkened and a light rain developed as I got underway.  The only brightening I encountered came from balloons at two locations...
 

Sadly, a deceased white-tailed deer was floating near Boutwell Island...

Trash gathered along the way...

Does a hot cup of coffee ever taste better than after a rainy day paddle?

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Gettin' Reel on the Assabet

Found this plastic reel for coiling up extension cords on the Assabet River in Stow yesterday.  Not sure how the river knew I could use one. Would have cost me $10 for this model at one of the big hardware stores.  Thank you Assabet.

The afternoon was a beauty with bright sunshine and much less wind than on Sunday.  The section of the river upstream from Magazu's Landing was looking fine and was being closely monitored by this red-tailed hawk near the outlet from Lake Boone...


I checked the culvert at Fort Meadow Brook and found most of the beaver-installed blockage had recently been removed...
Must have been interesting when all the backed-up water drained out through this small opening.

Several fallen trees impede passage, but yesterday's water level allowed just enough room for paddlers willing to do the Limbo...

Did a little more saw work at this spot, removing some branch stubs from the submerged tree limb to the right in the above photo.

Ultimately reached the Rt. 62 bridge at Gleasondale...
 ...which became my turnaround point.

The trip back down to Sudbury Rd was mostly backlit...


A small haul of trash and the aforementioned reel were recovered...

Saturday, November 26, 2016

Nashua Through Devens

Got out on the water today for my post-Thanksgiving paddle with hopes of working off a little stuffing.

I launched into the Nashua River in Devens, MA, located off of Hospital Road, and used the newfangled boat ramp there for the second time...
It's like doing a seal launch with safety rails.  No muddy boots!

Headed first downriver (opening photo) to the old Ice House Dam, arriving just as a long freight train was working westbound beneath a hillside array of solar panels...
The train must have been a mile long and consisted of single-stack intermodal containers.

A hydro-plant sits just above the dam...

Heading back upriver I came across this very old snapping turtle who'd recently given up the fight...

Before reaching Route 2 these scent mounds were encountered, which often indicate river otters...
...and shortly thereafter I spotted one lounging on a log...
While the otters (there were three) were curious I was surprised when one by one they went ashore...
I'd have thought they'd feel safer in the water rather than on land.  After crawling into the brush one stayed put even when I was within 10 feet.  I'm thinking he thought I couldn't see him.

Three small white-tailed deer were seen bouncing along the river also.

For most of today's paddle the weather was cloudy with a brief rain shower.  However, just as I headed back to the put-in, the sun emerged and backlit my route downriver...

A fair amount of trash was gathered up along the way...


 

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

No Gridlock Here

On this busiest travel day of the year I found the Sudbury River in Wayland quite tranquil.  After launching at Sherman's Bridge I headed upriver and encountered no crowds, or horns, or tailgaters...just the golden glow from a soon to be setting sun. 

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I was hoping to see a humble riverside abode with smoke rising from the chimney...but instead found this most modest musquash lodge...
...where hopefully the musquash family is safely home for the holiday.

The day's trash haul was most modest as well...

Monday, November 21, 2016

A Barren Concord River

The recent spell of great weather was fast coming to an end on Sunday morning.  Forecasters were predicting a brief lull between early morning showers and a warning for high wind gusts which would take effect at 11 am.  This allowed me just enough time to enjoy a quick paddle down the Concord River to Buttrick's Hill and back.

The Old North Bridge (above photo) had a decidedly barren and wintry look.  A little downstream of the bridge were the droppings some shore fishermen have left behind...
It didn't look like much at first but ended up containing 5 fishing bobbers, 2 reels of fishing line, a can and a plastic bottle both wound with coiled fishing line, plastic bags with food/tackle packaging, several fish hooks, and a steak knife...all left at water's edge within site of the Old North Bridge.   Just can't understand how someone could walk away after doing this. 

Reaching my turnaround point at Buttricks Hill I thought of how a little smoke rising from this cabin's smoke pipe would have completed the scene and mood...   

Egg Rock looked a lot less friendly than it looked on Saturday...

The morning's trash haul...

Saturday, November 19, 2016

Assabet Welcome

Enjoyed yet another sunny morning on the water today.  Launched at Lowell Rd. in Concord, MA and found Egg Rock looking stately (at left).

A remnant of the super moon could still be seen above the pines...

 
At the mouth of the Assabet River this great blue heron welcomed both the morning sunshine and any Assabet-ascending paddlers...

This hawk chose a lower perch upstream of Rt. 2...

A fallen tree just below the MBTA commuter rail bridge in West Concord blocks nearly the full width of the river...


The morning's modest trash haul...

Friday, November 18, 2016

Sudbury River,Traps and Signs

The great November weather we've been enjoying in southern New England continued today with bright blue skies and temperatures near 60 degrees.  Fairhaven Bay looked stunning to this paddler.

Launching into a slough leading to the Sudbury River in Lincoln, MA I quickly encountered a floating Pepsi bottle...
 ...which was attached to a rope which in turn was attached to a circular wire trap.  Inside the trap was a can of cat food, a dead hornpout, and a still alive smaller fish.  My guess is the trap is being used to procure baitfish.

Came across two political signs.  This one may have been planted before the recent rise in river level...
Another similar sign was floating nearby.

I watched a red-tailed hawk who was watching me like a hawk...

A much smaller trash haul than yesterday's...

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Assabet Brake Test

A morning launch from Cox Street in Hudson found the Assabet River flowing at a good clip thanks to recent rainfall.  Skies were trying to clear but the clouds were reluctant to leave.

Paddled down to Orchard Hill and back.

As usual this stretch put my boat's brakes to the test...

Monday, November 14, 2016

Palmer Paddlin'

Launched into the Palmer River from Providence Street in Rehoboth, MA about 3 hours after yesterday morning's high tide.  My boat and I then went with the flow as it wended its way through stands of phragmites en route to wider and saltier waters further to the south.

A pair of cormorants had this rock at the mouth of Rocky Run Brook staked out...

After passing under a busy Route 195 I reached the quieter Route 6 where the Clam Shack and its parked truck stimulated my always healthy appetite for seafood...
Unfortunately, the Clam Shack was closed for the season.

After passing under the historic location of Myles Bridge...
...the Palmer River widens as it approaches the border with Rhode Island and becomes more of a shallow bay.  My map now refers to it as the Warren River.   At the southern end of this bay the Warren is funneled under the East Bay Bike Path bridge and Route 114.  I reached this point just before the scheduled low tide expecting to find slack water, but instead found water still rushing between the bridge piers.

Lunch was taken on the Barrington side of the river just upstream of the 2 bridges.  This area is near the foot of a peninsula called New Meadow Neck and Thomas Williams Bicknell in his 1908 published Sowams:With Ancient Records of Sowams and Parts Adjacent makes the case that it was on New Meadow Neck that the Wampanoag Sachem known to colonists as Massasoit maintained his lodge.  While eating I wondered just how close his lodge site might be from where I dined.  The colonists originally called the Warren River  "Sowams River" and the Palmer River was considered its east branch.  The Barrington River entering from the peninsula's west side was considered Sowam's west branch.

After lunch the ebb finally began to slacken and I passed beneath the bridges and by the old Samsonite factory...

The Barrington River merged in from the right and both rivers then head towards Adams Point and Rumstick Point enroute to Narragansett Bay beyond...


The village of Warren, RI  on the river's east side has a waterfront busy with restaurants, marinas, a seafood plant, and this marine railway facility...
 
The Blount Small Ships fleet is berthed here...

Blount Seafood Products is also a presence...
 ...according to Wikipedia this company was founded by F. Nelson Blount who also came to own Edaville Railroad and later founded the living railroad museum Steamtown.

It being such a beauty of a day, the Warren River was soon hosting sailboats, a stand-up paddle boarder, and several powerboats.


 
However, once I began my return upriver and passed beyond Rt. 114 and the bike path, I saw but one other boater, a fellow kayaker.
 
 
Reaching Myles Bridge I realized that the tide wasn't yet ready to accompany me, and shallow conditions still prevailed...


Just beyond Myles Bridge were these barnacle-covered wooden piers that long ago supported some kind of structure spanning the river...
...perhaps a fish weir?

My choice was to wait for the tide to bring more water, or push on through the shallows in order to reach Providence Street before dark.  This I did getting to my car some 3 hours after the scheduled low tide for Barrington/Warren.  I'm guessing it would have taken another hour of so for tidewater to reach Providence Street.

Some trash gathered up along the way...
 
 
This interesting iron relic was encountered on a spit of sand...
It was propped against a stone for the photo and then returned to the sand.