Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Following Some Old Footsteps

Hardly discernible at first were the stone stairs leading up from near the water's edge of the Assabet River in Stow, MA.  The hand-laid stone stairway made ascending the hill fairly easy even though it was covered in moss and pine needles...
The stairway's width would easily accommodate two adults walking side by side.  The view back down to the river and my waiting boat from the top of the stairs...
 On the hilltop were the remains of a stone foundation...

An old cast-iron sink lay on the ground nearby...

...and with only one faucet I'm thinking it provided cold water only.  Perhaps this concrete structure at the base of the hill was the water source...
...and this riveted tank a little further up the hillside might have been used for storage...

I wondered how long ago this well-positioned site had served as someone's home.  Searching a 1943 topo map showed a cluster of buildings existed at this spot, but on a subsequent topo map 7 years later the cluster of buildings did not appear.  Some additional research turned up mention of a seasonal resort, Assabet Lodge, having operated in this vicinity back in the early 1900's.  Perhaps the concrete structure, riveted tank, and stairway are related to that resort.  I tried imagining a lodger on the site descending the stone stairway to a boat dock at its base.  Across the river steam-powered trains frequently ran past carrying passengers to and from Boston with many stopping at Whitman's Crossing near Lake Boon.  Additionally, I learned from David Mark's blog Maynard Life Outdoors that back in the early 1900's, a passenger steamboat transported people from the Ben Smith Dam area to Lake Boon and back.  According to a 1911 timetable found on the Maynard Historical Society's website, this boat, possibly named "Gertrude", plied the river at 5 mph and would've passed by every half hour.  All of this provided food for thought while paddling the Assabet on a cloudy, calm, and peaceful Sunday morning...
Went as far as the mill at Gleasondale and within sight of where the river spilled over the dam and raced towards me from under the old footbridge...

Many of the structures I saw this day probably existed a century ago when the so-called "Spanish Flu" pandemic ravaged Boston during the fall of 1918.   Because that pandemic hit during September and continued into October I wondered if by the following spring the 1919 Boston Marathon was held.  A Quincy Patriot newspaper article on Monday April 21, 1919 mentioned the Marathon was held and the same edition also noted that churches were full for Easter Sunday as well.  Next I wondered if the baseball season started in April 1919...and found that it did for both the Boston Red Sox and Boston Braves.  In backtracking to see what was happening with the flu for Thanksgiving 2018 I came across an Influenza Encyclopedia developed by the University of Michigan Center for the History of Medicine which details the experiences of 50 American cities during the pandemic.  Public health professionals in Boston and other cities dealt with many of the same issues we're facing today...whether or not to limit public gatherings and when to consider relaxing those limitations.  I was struck by how similar our situation is to theirs.  The encyclopedia's essay on Boston shows the epidemic took about 6 or 7 months to run its course.  Hopefully our present epidemic will follow a similar timeline.

These mute swans are planning for a future...
...with or without us being around.

Friday, April 24, 2020

New Landings on the Assabet


Had hoped to paddle on the 50th Earth Day but the day's strong winds persuaded me to wait until yesterday.  The upriver terminus of my day-after Earth Day paddle on the Assabet River was just below where the Damonmill Dam formerly stood (above photo).  Had I needed to continue upriver, I could have utilized the new landing just below Route 62 and wheeled my boat along the trail to and then down Water Street.

While briefly exploring this new landing a hawk was encountered...
...who seemed unconcerned with my presence...

My travels from here brought me down the approximately 4 mile stretch of the Assabet designated as "Wild and Scenic".  About half way down I stopped at another recently established landing in West Concord between Route 62 and the commuter rail bridge...

Though I'd seen the sign before this was my first time actually landing there.  I was pleasantly surprised to find it incorporates the remains of an old industrial site's slabs and machinery...

Picnic tables are provided as well...
There's also a trail to a small parking area.

Post-lunch a swift current and bright blue skies brought me under the Elm Street (aka Rt. 2) bridge...
...and before I knew it the Egg Rock inscription was displaying a third line of text...

On my return trip upriver I encountered another paddler, Jim in his Bell canoe, working his way steadily against the flow...

The Covid-19 Pandemic unintentionally provided us with some unusually smog-free air and the 50th Earth Day may be remembered for giving our beleaguered planet a brief breather from our carbon emissions.  As we and our planet navigate these dangerous waters, wouldn't it be reassuring to look to our ship's helm and see a steady hand at the wheel?...

Monday, April 20, 2020

Staying-in-Home Waters

Do to the virus my paddling world has shrunk, and presently I'm using launch sites within a 6 mile radius of my home.  As limiting as that may sound, in truth, it's not so bad for I'm fortunate in having several rivers within that circle to choose from.  The photo above was taken from a spot on the Assabet River in Stow within 4 miles of my home.

This past week's paddles have covered two sections of the Assabet River, and the upper bit of the Concord River.

On this past Wednesday another bald eagle was encountered on the Stow section of the Assabet near the mouth of Fort Meadow Brook...
...and another day-dreaming beaver above Crow Island...

On Friday the Concord section of the Assabet provided a different look and feel...
...including the Main St. bridge in West Concord dating to 1886...
 ...and thanks to a short diversion from the Assabet my paddling brought me up Nashoba Brook past the brook's namesake bakery...

My week ended yesterday on April 19th (the traditional Patriot's Day holiday in Massachusetts), with a paddle to the Concord River's Old North Bridge.  Ordinarily I'd avoid this place (like the plague) on either the present legal or traditional holiday to avoid all the hoopla. However, yesterday I found it pretty much deserted...
...with the obelisk looking lonely on the side where the British soldiers assembled...
 ...and the farmer/minuteman standing on the opposite side...
...ready to cross the bridge...

The bridge was important because the British force needed to cross it in en route to one of their main objectives...a suspected store of weapons at a provincial commander Col. James Barrett's farm lying some 2 miles distant.  Once across the bridge they left some men behind to secure the bridge for their later return.

I paddled a water route (Concord and Assabet rivers) roughly parallel to their 2 mile march from the bridge to Barrett's farm.  After landing and ascending the riverbank I looked across to the farm house...
 ...probably close to the same time of morning as the British soldiers were searching the house without success.

A closer look from the appropriately named Barrett's Mill Road...
...of the farm house restored to its 1775 appearance.

Back then, some 245 years ago, the Minutemen were our "First Responders".  On April 19th 2020 the folks answering the alarm are our doctors and nurses who are putting their own lives at risk for us.

The water level continues to slowly decline revealing another few words of the Egg Rock inscription...
..."On the Hill Nashawtuck At the Meeting of the Rivers...'

Even though I'm paddling many of the same waters these days, nonetheless, I'm noticing things not noticed before such as this strange wood board bolted to a granite post...
It's just downstream and adjacent to the Route 2 bridge over the Assabet River and near Assabet Ave.  Anyone know what its purpose is/was?




Tuesday, April 14, 2020

An Easter Egg Rock


Egg Rock hosted another Easter Sunday at the confluence of the Sudbury and Assabet rivers...
...and the inscription at Egg Rock included a few more words...


Despite all the things that aren't happening of late, spring is nonetheless upon us...and the weeping willows are coming to life.  The bridge in the photo is Flint's on Monument Street which lies just downstream of the Concord River's Old North Bridge...



This recently returned osprey has his catch in hand...

The shed at Saw Mill Brook was a lot closer to water's edge...

The Old North Bridge appeared ready for what is usually its biggest week of the year...

The farmer/minuteman stood ever at the ready...


Davis Hill...
...sported a welcoming bench I'd never noticed before...

Saw quite a few paddlers out on the Concord and Assabet rivers over the course of the day.  Most were solo paddlers like myself.  Ran into Roger who was paddling upriver all the way from Bedford to Lincoln.  Also encountered a facemask-wearing stand-up-paddler, and numerous other kayakers.  The only fishermen I saw were two guys in a canoe.  We solo paddlers are fortunate to have a non-group activity we can enjoy...provided we can find a way to maintain the required social distancing while getting on and off the water.  In that regard, these days it pays to have a fall-back plan if one arrives to find a crowded boat launch.  It's also a good time to avoid taking any unnecessary risks and be as prepared for the unexpected as is possible.

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Paddlin' to Damon's Mill

Paddled out through the woods to a nicely swollen Assabet River yesterday.  Not a soul around.  Making it upriver to Damon's Mill was relatively easy as most all of the usual obstacles were submerged.

The Mill's tail race offered a welcome spot to get out of the current...
...and beckoned me further under two footbridges and Route 62 to the spot where it exits the building...
...and the former textile mill looms above...

A piece of the mill's machinery...perhaps a Line Shaft rests nearby...
Textiles were manufactured at this site from 1808 until 1923.  It was then used for providing cold storage for apples until 1977 when it was renovated as DamonMill Square...

A great source of information concerning Mr. Damon and the mill he ran can be found in Renee Garrelick's book Clothier of the Assabet.

Once back on the Assabet, a recently built landing by Concord's Division of Natural Resources across the river provided a great spot for lunch...

 An after-lunch visit was made to Nashoba Brook and the spot where it exits Warner's Pond...
...which once was the site of the 19th century Warner's Pail factory.

A little further down the Assabet was this flooded beach-head of sorts...
...with its identifying sign...

The day was a beauty...
...with little in the way of plastic/Styrofoam...

While this commuter train headed inbound to Boston...
...I headed home and, thanks to staying local, returned in time for "Baghdad Bob's" daily appearance.