This past week I traveled a bit further afield and paddled two locations I'd not previously experienced in the Deerfield River watershed. Sherman Reservoir straddles the border between Massachusetts and Vermont. The Vermont portion of the reservoir and river is within the Green Mountain National Forest. The view above is looking upriver towards Readsboro, VT and shows the Deerfield River as it enters Sherman Reservoir.
A map showing the reservoir...
The drive to this remote and scenic part of Massachusetts and Vermont brought this 'flatlander' through the small community of Monroe Bridge, MA where a kiosk tells some of the area's history...
As I paddled north from the boat launch I looked for signs of the Hoosac Tunnel and Wilmington Railroad (aka Hoot, Toot, and Whistle) which ran along the Deerfield's east shore and was abandoned in 1971. This hand-laid stone arch bridge perhaps dating to 1884 once supported trains crossing a Deerfield tributary...
Water for this station actually flows some 12,812 feet through a 14 foot diameter pipe from the "Morning Glory" intake located upriver and above the Harriman Dam. The tall structure seen above and behind the station accommodates surges in flow.
My upstream paddle ended about where the opening photo was taken and I began paddling the 2.5 miles down to the Sherman Station Dam located in Rowe, MA...
In doing so I crossed the state line back into Massachusetts. The boundary line was drawn back in 1741 by surveyor, Richard Hazen and stretched about 100 miles from a point 3 miles north of Pawtucket Falls on the Merrimack River. A royal decree said "a straight line drawn from thence due west, across said river (Merrimack), till it meets his Majesty's other governments." Richard Hazen and his 6 assistants established the line (on foot) between March 20th and April 26th. According to Hazen's diary found in the "New England Historical and Genealogical Register Vol. 33 (1879)" his surveying party reached and crossed the Deerfield River on April 10, 1741 and his diary entry for that day is as follows: "At the End of half a mile from where we set Out this morning we come to Deerfield River, verry high and Steep mountains being on each side of it, and so up and down that river as far as we Could See. We met with great difficulty in passing that River, first attempting to wade and One Only got Over, then tried to Raft but it was so shallow in some places we could not use it, and at length we found a place where we all waded Over, tho with great hazard the water ran so swift. The mountain on ye West side was so steep we could not Carry the Chain to Measure; but in four or five hours time when we had ascended the Top of it we judged we had got forward on Our Course forty poles and no more at the furthest. The Snow this day was about Three feet Deep, the weather fair and wind northwest. At about Sunsett we left off measuring and built a fire on the Snow and Lodged by it." (Fortunately, I experienced the area on a much warmer day).
Looking south towards the dam and Sherman Station....
The Yankee Rowe Atomic Power Plant once stood to the dam's left until it was decommissioned in the 1990's. All that remains of the facility today are the cement casks storing the spent fuel rods.
The power of both the upper Deerfield and Connecticut rivers has been harnessed for many years. Great River Hydro, on their website, states that they operate 13 hydro generating stations on the 2 rivers...7 on the Deerfield and 6 on the Connecticut which combined can produce 589 megawatts or enough electricity to supply 213,000 homes. Sherman Station can produce 6 megawatts.
Before getting off the reservoir I stopped briefly at this lucky spot...
My early morning start allowed for a second paddle a few miles away on Lake Sadawga (also in Whitingham and a tributary to the Deerfield)...
The lake's Native American name, Sadawga, intrigued me and I found it explained as follows in an 1886 History of Whitingham by Clark Jillson and Abby Marie Hemenway: "It is claimed this pond was named in honor of a 'lone Indian' who continued to dwell about its shores after his tribe had 'moved on'. It is said that 'old Sadawga' lived by fishing and hunting and that he occasionally made a trip to Northampton and Springfield to dispose of furs and articles in the market, and that while going down Deerfield River in his canoe, he was wrecked and drowned. As this Indian was known to the first settlers of the town, his traditionary fate is not improbable."
The same book says the pond "glistens like a diamond" and "bears upon its surface an island of some 50 acres in extent." The island is said to be a mat of sphagnum moss and supports a variety of grasses, plants, and even trees...
Some folklore accounts mention Sadawga swimming under the floating island on a single breath.
...with the intention of paddling up to Third Island.
...and the cliff across from it...
Looking in a southerly direction from near Sadawga's outlet...
Leaving Whitingham I drove a scenic route via Routes 8 and 112 back into Massachusetts and on to Deerfield where I spent the night in a motel a couple of miles from the Connecticut River.
Staying there allowed me to launch the following morning before sunrise at Sunderland...
Doing so brought me past First Island...
...then Second Island...
Finally I reached Third Island...
Oddest thing seen along the way was this old wheel with wood spokes...
Saw several eagles along the way as well. One was being quite vocal and looking upwards...
The eagle flew off which revealed the object of his attention, this hawk...
On Friday I got out on the Sudbury River closer to home...
...where a white-tailed doe and fawn were perhaps looking to dry out after Friday's tropical downpours...
and an osprey seemed to be drying its wings...
Also on Friday I stopped at Acton's Powder Mill Dam where the Assabet River was showing the effects from Tropical Storm Fred's remnants...
Now, as I write this, Tropical Storm Henri is approaching an already soaked New England. Hope Henri doesn't decide to stay awhile.
Trash for the past week...
No trash was encountered on Lake Sadawga. Some fishermen there reported good catches of perch and bluegills.
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