Year End Closeout

Thought my paddling year had come to an early end when Arctic conditions set in near the middle of  December.  At that point I began reading a book recommended by a fellow paddler The Boatman (Henry David Thoreau's River Years) by Robert M. Thorson which, in addition to being a great read, provided a bunch of place names I'd not previously been aware of.  Just as I resigned myself to planning paddles for next spring, the Arctic conditions retreated almost as fast as they had appeared and the iced-up rivers gave way to open water.  Consequently, I was able to get in several more paddles thinking that each one would be the last of the year (and decade).

One of these "last paddles" brought me to a section of the Assabet River where a pair of bald eagles looked to be considering an existing nest site...

Additionally, receding water levels allowed one more passage through my favorite portal into Fort Meadow Brook...

...and a final visit to the burned-out railroad trestle...

On yet another "last paddle" Nashoba Brook provided an almost urban feel...

One other brought forth this curious deer, the last of the year...

Finally, on the 29th of the month I saddled-up for the year's real "last paddle" and, taking inspiration from The Boatman, decided to follow the route H.D.T. might have taken to a place he knew as "The Holt".  With knowledge gained from maps within Thorson's book, I paddled a route from Thoreau's "Boat Place" on the lower Sudbury River (almost directly across from the house he lived in)...

...down to Egg Rock which Thorson calls "T-junction"...

From that junction (opening photo) of the Assabet and Sudbury rivers I paddled down the Concord River and under Lowell Road which, back then, went by as many as three names: Barrett's Bridge or Hunt's Bridge or the Red Bridge...

...before going under the Old North Bridge replica...

...which hadn't been built in Thoreau's time.  Only the abutments of the original bridge remained at that time.

Then under Flint's Bridge which had replaced the Old North Bridge...

...to where the river widened out a bit past Barrett's Bar and is shown as "Rapid Reach"...

Then after passing Great Meadow and "Ash Tree Hole" I reached the point where the river takes a hard left in order to pass around "The Holt"...

Of all the place names mentioned in Thorson's The Boatman it was "The Holt" that intrigued me most.  What the heck is a Holt?  An internet search found Kevin Dann, in his book Expect Great Things: The Life and Search of Henry David Thoreau, stating "The Holt was a little copse at a bend in the Concord River...",  and Brian Donahue in The Great Meadows: Farmers and the Land in Colonial Concord has "The Holt, which suggests a willow swamp".  The most complete dictionary in my house The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition Unabridged has the word "holt" being Archaic and meaning "a wood or grove".  This map shows its location...

Shortly I arrived at "The Holt" and looked for a spot to make landfall (if you could call it that).  Just across the river from Saw Mill Brook a spot was found where water flowing into the Holt created a tiny harbor of sorts.  Once ashore I found water-proof boots to be essential as "The Holt" is for the most part swampy except for this one section of relatively high ground...

Because of its low elevation the river in flood sweeps over it delivering debris such as this old Hitachi television set...

...and several bright orange construction site barrels...

...perhaps from the Monument Street bridge repairs several years ago.

The only house within The Holt was located at its northeast edge...

...and across the river was evidence of the homeowner's workmanship...

...where it appears he became tentative at the critical moment.

My favorite riverside cabin sits just across the river from "The Holt" and it seems to have been built with its view in mind...

Unfortunately this idyllic cabin always seems unoccupied.

Some gathered up trash from my several "last paddles" of the year...

My final "final" last trash haul of the year and decade...

One positive development regarding aquatic trash during 2019 was Dunkin' Donuts decision to eliminate Styrofoam cups and the practice of providing Styrofoam insulators with cups of iced-coffee, lattes, etc.  Their decision gets a tip of my cap.  When I first encountered a plastic cup being held in a Styrofoam embrace I was puzzled and posted about it near the start of the decade in 2011.  While the new cup they've switched to isn't perfect, it's still a step in the right direction.  Here's to less Styrofoam and plastic litter in the new decade!