Tuesday, February 28, 2017

A Stint on the Stillwater

Yesterday an early morning job brought me to central Massachusetts and left me with more than enough time for a stint on the Stillwater River in Sterling.  Another day of spring-like conditions continued especially in regards to water levels and temperatures.

After launching near Moores Corners at Route 62, I headed first downriver a bit before turning around and seeing this view of Wachusett looming above the treetops...

In hopes of finding a better view of the mountain, I paddled upriver to where East Wachusett Brook enters the Stillwater.  To get there I'd need to pull myself up and over this beaver dam...
...past the builder's handsome lodge...
...and alongside this pine-covered hill...

There to the northwest stood Wachusett and its observation tower from which I've previously enjoyed the reverse view...

Some trash gathered up from these otherwise crystal-clear waters...

My car's thermometer showed 54 degrees F. on the drive home.  A most unusual February allowing for seven paddles in a month where one or two would be the norm.  Combined with the seven racked up in January it's lucky sevens all around, and I can't help but doubt I'll ever experience this again.

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Beyond a Thaw

With yet another day of record-breaking warmth I decided to pay the Nashua River a visit on Saturday afternoon.   I launched at the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge (Still River Depot Rd.) in Harvard and paddled a bit in both directions.  The river was flowing at a good clip thanks to all the recently melted snow.

Things were fairly quiet until a slow-moving southbound freight train passed over the river...
  ...and seemed to take forever to move its multitude of freight cars along.  I thought about the motorists on Route 117 who would soon have their patience put to the test.  Unlike them I didn't have to wait before passing beneath the train.

Trash was plentiful with numerous items drifting downstream in mid channel.  There was more trash seen snagged than I had room onboard to carry.  Ended up with this haul chillin' its heels on one of the few remaining patches of snow...

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Bogastow's Breeze

I'd just paddled up Bogastow Brook into South End Pond from the Charles River yesterday afternoon.  There, facing into a warm almost summer-like breeze, I looked across a still mostly iced-over pond (photo at left).  It was surreal.  What my eyes were seeing didn't agree at all with what my other senses were experiencing.  It was almost like being seasick, but pleasantly so. I'd later find that Boston set an all-time record for the warmest day in February with a high temperature of 73 degrees F.

I'd launched into the Charles River from Old Bridge Street (off West St.) in Medfield and shortly passed under this old wooden railroad trestle...
 ...where a fair amount of trash was encountered just downstream.

Two canoeists passed by in a tandem and were later encountered in Bogastow Brook as well.

The view upon exiting Bogastow and entering the Charles...
 
Trash encountered along the way...

Guess it's all part of our new world of improbable events.  Up is down, down is up.  Lies are truths, truth is a lie.  Now we're being told the very cornerstone of our country, a free press, is our enemy.  Hope we get back to reality soon, at least in that regard. 

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Salem Harbor's Spring Spell

Paid a visit to Salem, Mass yesterday enjoying our recent spell of spring-like days.  After launching into the Danvers River at McCabe Park I headed out the river's mouth into Salem Sound (photo at left), around Salem Willows, and into Salem Harbor.

Both the highway and train bridges across the Danvers River were busy with traffic...

By contrast there was little boat traffic on the water with only one other kayak and a couple of lobster boats seen.

Numerous loons were seen and heard...
...as well as buffleheads...

Where the long standing coal/oil electricity generating station formerly stood, a new natural gas-fired station is being built...
...and will use only one third of the space previously occupied by the old coal plant.

After rounding the Derby Wharf Light...
 ...I looked towards some of Salem's stately waterfront buildings...

One older building that caught my eye was this one...
...that I suspected to be the House of the Seven Gables.  Confirming its identity later on the internet, I came across the opening sentence of Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel: "HALFWAY down a by-street of one of our New England towns stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables, facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst."

My trip back to McCabe Park allowed me to go with the tide and a spring-like sea breeze once I rounded Juniper Point...

I liked the name of this moored sailboat...
 
Reminds me a little of the schooner's name in Kipling's Captains Courageous, "We're Here".  It was one of the few occupied moorings.
 
Not a single piece of trash was encountered.

Monday, February 20, 2017

Look of Winter, Feel of Spring

Went to the water yesterday not knowing if I'd find it liquid or solid.  Reaching the tip of Egg Rock's ice tongue, and with my boat floating at the junction of the Assabet, Concord, and Sudbury rivers, I was happy to see open water in all directions.
 
While things may have looked wintry, there was the feel of spring.  It was warm, already plus 50 degrees F. and weather forecasters predicted it would get even warmer when the sun appeared.  I should note, however, that the water temperature is around 40 degrees F. and my attire keeps that fact in mind.

Gangs of robins, such as this guy...
 ...were everywhere.  An occasional bluebird, small woodpecker, or Cardinal were spotted as well.  Ducks included mallards, wood ducks, one pair of buffleheads, and this merganser...
 
I first ascended the Assabet intending to paddle as far as Spencer Brook...
...and then decided to go a little further to Route 2, and then why not Nashoba Brook?...and then how about Pine Street?...then past this backboard...
 ...perhaps meant for river otters, to my eventual turnaround 4.5 miles up from Egg Rock.  That's where the sun emerged and my return trip would see the temperature get close to 60 degrees F.  Periodically, though, I'd feel a brief waft of much cooler air, which I'm guessing emanated from the snow-covered woods.   
 
The Main Street bridge in West Concord never looked better...

Once back at Egg Rock and finding such splendid conditions, how could I not go down the Concord to the Old North Bridge?...
...and then to Great Meadows Landing...and then to Saw Mill Brook where a pair of mute swans continued downriver...
...while I turned about and began heading to the takeout.  Ended up paddling 13 miles and drove less distance (12 miles) to do it which doesn't  happen very often.

Trash was on the light side considering the distance covered...

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Grim and Gray Days

It wasn't easy to make out the words etched onto the large rock at water's edge.  This past Sunday morning, I'd paddled in close for the purpose of stopping for a snack before ascending the Assabet River.  After a minute or so I could make out the first line..."By the ancient hemlocks grim and gray"...then the second line became clearer..."Our boat drifts slowly on its way".  The words are from a poem, Floating Hearts by George Bradford Bartlett whom the etched stone is a memorial to.  Later, I found online the rock's full inscription which, near the bottom and under the moss, describes Bartlett as "Most courteous kindly gentleman, and the tender friend to all".

When Bartlett wrote Floating Hearts he was referring to this very spot at a bend in the river where large hemlocks once lined the riverbank and draped over the water.  During his lifetime in the 1800s most of the hemlocks were removed to allow a railroad grade to run along the riverbank.  The railroad operated for about 50 years until being abandoned around 1925.
On this day I'll take the words "grim and gray" to mean...though things might look grim and gray at this moment, this too shall pass.
  
This "so-called" paddler has heard and read some disturbing statements from our country's new administration over the last few weeks, and I'd be lying if I said those statements weren't weighing heavily on my mind while out on the water.  It was to the Assabet River that I went in hopes of thinking things through, and found myself wondering where are the leaders of the Republican party and when will they take a stand on principle?  Just how far will they allow things to deteriorate before they finally find the inner strength necessary to say "This is wrong"?  Ill spoken words are hanging in the air and the time for taking a stand is now.

After my snack break I pushed off from the rock and headed upriver on what could be best described as a "grim and gray" winter's day.  Fortunately
temperatures were in the upper 30s F and the section of the river I paddled was, for the most part, sheltered from the busy breeze.

These two Muscovy ducks didn't have much to say but at least they were taking a stand...

Later this red-tailed hawk took a stand and faced into the stiff breeze...

I went upriver as far as Nashoba Brook...
...which was sending a good flow into the river.

On my return trip I passed the inscription at Egg Rock, noting the water level has dropped a couple of inches...

Trash encountered along the way...
 
 
Yesterday, while reflecting on last Sunday's visit to the Assabet, a small hawk decided to spend several hours on a tree limb outside our window...
 
 
 
After a few hours facing away from our window, it reversed position...
 
...allowing my closest-ever look at, what I believe to be, a Cooper's Hawk.
 
This morning it's being reported that the man recently nominated to the Supreme Court may have taken a stand.  I'm hoping it's true.



Thursday, February 2, 2017

Greeting February on the Charles

I've been anticipating February 2017 because it would be the last obstacle to achieving 120 consecutive months paddling on a New England waterway.  Therefore, I decided to strike early on the very first day of the month while waters were still, for the most part, ice-free and the temperature was above 35 degrees F.

A late afternoon job had me traveling southward to the valley of the Charles River so I brushed overnight's snowfall off my car and headed to a canoe launch in Millis.  A locked gate was encountered which prevented vehicular access to the parking area.  This called for a pre-paddle portage of sorts which helped make things novel.

Once on the water I headed downriver and enjoyed a wintry scene...

Checked my watch after passing this sign for Noon Hill and found it to be just a little past noon...


Further down, at a sharp bend in the river, I passed a silent Fin, Fur and Feather Club.

At the confluence with the Stop River I hung a right and paddled up the Stop to Causeway Street to see if the culverts would allow passage...

It would have been passable but perhaps a little too tricky with the wind picking up as skies rapidly cleared.  So, I returned to the confluence...
...and headed back upriver to where I'd launched. 
 
Some trash rounded-up along the way...
 
Now I can rest easy that my streak will push past the ten year mark.  At the same time I can almost hear someone say "That and a buck will get you a cup of coffee at McDonalds."