Merrimack's Mirrors

 

The Merrimack River had an enticing appearance when I paddled it last Friday morning.  It was a warm morning that felt more like September than November.  Clouds were gaining ground with rain predicted for later in the day.

A short detour was taken into Stony Brook where paddling beneath an old mill had me seeing the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel...

...and after emerging from it I came upon another brookside mill...

Back on the Merrimack and along the shore of Wickasee Island I came upon what looks to have been one half of a Disco Ball decorated with hundreds of tiny plastic mirrors...

Later I watched a westbound CSX freight train do some work at North Chelmsford...

...near the junction with the Stony Brook Branch.

My paddling week had gotten underway on the Concord River with a Tuesday morning paddle between Two Brothers Rocks and Great Meadows. Launched from the Bedford Boat Ramp near the Route 225 bridge...

Though it didn't feel like November it was beginning to look like it...

...and a gusty northwest wind was blowing upriver.  About 2 miles upriver from the boat launch I  encountered a young man fishing from a two-man canoe.  He was able to fish while standing up in his canoe despite the choppy waters.  He told me the gusty winds were preventing him from gaining any headway back downriver to where his truck was parked, and that he'd subsequently decided to just go with the conditions and later "Uber" himself back.  Guess it shows how differently the smartphone generation deals with such a situation.  Without much concern he went about his fishing.    

Wrapped up the week on Sunday with a one-way paddle down the Assabet River starting from the Acton Canoe Launch.  The day turned out to be a more typical November day with occasional showers and much cooler temperatures.  The gloomy conditions most likely marked the end of our spell of November warmth...which was much enjoyed by this paddler.   Passed the Damondale Mill where the old broken dam formerly stood...

Speaking of dams it was good to read a recent article in the Boston Globe by Travis Andersen and Daniel Kool on the Natick Select Board's vote to remove the dam on the Charles River in South Natick.  The dam which was built in 1934 and no longer serves a purpose is in need of repairs costing in the neighborhood of 2 million dollars.  Removal of the dam, on the other hand, is estimated to be 1.5 million dollars.  A photo of the dam as I saw it in 2020...

The Globe article quoted the Select Board Chair Paul R. Joseph as follows:  "I don't take lightly the fact that the climate is changing,...and the resilience of a river that's not dammed is, by far, stronger than a river that is impeded by man-made structures. Again, to paraphrase a different environmentalist, 'let the water go where it knows to go.'  And I think, in some ways, that's what we're facing right now."

The best example of the beneficial effects of a dam removal project that I've seen is the removal of the Fort Halifax Dam in Winslow, ME.  This dam was located at the confluence of the Kennebec and Sebasticook rivers and had long blocked anadromous fish from ascending the Sebasticook River.  Following its removal in 2008 (combined with the earlier removal of the Edwards Dam)  the Sebasticook River began seeing alewife, shad, striped bass, and salmon again.  According to the Natural Resources Council of Maine website, in 2014 the Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife counted 58 bald eagles in a five mile stretch of the Sebasticook River.   A photo of where the dam formerly spanned the Sebasticook (June 2018)...

  

Trash for the week:

Tuesday's from the Concord...

Friday's from the Merrimack...

Sunday's from the Assabet...

Came across this painted turtle on the Concord River that was catching some rays and didn't seem concerned in the least about the close proximity of my boat...