Fine Time on the Assabet

 

The Assabet River in West Concord, MA couldn't have looked better than it did yesterday.  It was a splendid spring morning.  The bridge pictured above carries the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail across the river.

The first piece of trash encountered, "Clown Shoes" beer, seemed to set the tone...

...and was followed by a motocross rider who'd lost his bike...

A pair of wood ducks with the male in clownish plumage...

I eventually worked my way upriver to Damon Mill's tail race where I found refuge from the current.  After following the canal beneath Route 62, I emerged to find the mill's name in granite framed by the wooden railings of a foot bridge...

...and past the foot bridge found myself gazing skyward at the mill's facade...

Once back downriver I couldn't resist venturing up Nashoba Brook to the outlets of Warner's Pond...

Later I watched an outbound MBTA commuter train cross over the Assabet before stopping at West Concord...

This bridge hadn't seen any scheduled trains for 2 months while a new positive train control system was being installed.  While weekday service resumed last Monday weekend service remains shutdown.

Trash gathered up...

The motocross rider and an orange marker buoy were the oddest finds of the day.  The buoy featured some interesting pvc piping...

...with none of the joints having been cemented.  I'm wondering if the buoy may have been used as a stabilizing float (sponson) for someone's fishing canoe or kayak.