A Thaw to Remember

 

Don't know where Old Man Winter went but for three successive days he was AWOL around these parts.  In his absence we were treated to a sweet preview of springtime.  Each of the three past days saw temperatures exceed 50 degrees F. with yesterday setting a record at 60 degrees F.  

On Friday I found the Assabet River at an ideal height (Maynard gauge 3.5') with open water between the Acton Canoe Launch and Nashoba Brook.  It was smooth sailing past Damonmill...

Plenty of sunshine and Canada geese though one goose met an unfortunate end on the ice...

A pair of mergansers traveled along with me for awhile...

The following morning, after an overnight with temps in the 40's, I launched in West Concord where I'd landed the day before.  Again found open water down to the confluence of the Assabet and Concord rivers where Egg Rock extended a tongue of ice to the point where the flow of the two rivers meet (opening photo).

Checked out the Sudbury River up to where the steel rails of the Boson and Maine RR's Reformatory Branch long ago left terra firma and stretched across the river...

Two well-placed chairs at the bridgehead provided a great spot for taking lunch.  An old photo from the collection of Charles Dee shows this same spot almost a hundred years ago when trains still made the crossing.  His photo can be seen at this link (4th photo down)...

https://www.bedforddepot.org/oralhistory/Dee/index.html

Next I paddled a bit down the Concord River past an iced-in launch at Lowell Road...

...and then a bit further to the Old North Bridge...

...where I turned about and began the trip back to West Concord.

Trash on ice:

Friday's...

Saturday's...

Perhaps the artwork on this recovered beer can may explain the strangeness of these past three days...

I awoke this morning and upon looking outside saw that the spell had been broken...

Was it just a dream?