Fairhaven Hopes for 2021

 

I welcomed the arrival of 2021 just as I did back in 2020 with a paddle up the Sudbury River to Fairhaven Bay in Concord, MA.   This year's trip would be at a higher water level than 2020's as evidenced by the mostly submerged inscription at Egg Rock...

...and less ice to boot.

While last New Year's Day trip brought me past the recently fire ravaged ruins of a once stately mansion, this year I looked up and saw a new building rising like a phoenix on the same site...

Arrived at Fairhaven Bay just in time to enjoy some lunch and hot cocoa on Brooks Island...

...where this welcoming sign greets all arriving boaters...

Another year-round paddler was encountered by the island and related having been enjoying the company of three bald eagles, two adults and one immature.  He's an excellent photographer and the images he captured of the eagles were amazing.

An additional kayaker entered the bay shortly before I departed.

Though I didn't see an eagle while in the bay, I did encounter one just upriver from Emerson Hospital on my return trip downriver...

There's till sufficient head-room at the Elm Street Bridge...

2021's first trash haul...

I'm hopeful that in this New Year we'll all pull together in doing whatever it takes for us to beat this COVID virus and see a return to normalcy.