Got out on two sections of the rain-swollen Assabet River this week. On Monday I paddled an up and back on the waters impounded by Ben Smith Dam. Launched from Ice House Landing in Maynard, MA (photo above). Yesterday got out for another up and back paddle on the lower Assabet from Lowell Road in Concord, MA. The inscription at Egg Rock showed only three words, "On the Hill..."...
Many of the usual landmarks such as Dove Rock were submerged. Willow Island was awash.
The high water level allowed a foray up Nashoba Brook to the Commonwealth Ave bridge...
...where the combined flow from Nashoba and Fort Pond brooks exit Warners Pond...
The above photo shows a strong tea-colored flow from one of two falls and therefore only represents about half of the total flow.
The swift trip back down the brook to the river brought me alongside Nashoba Bakery...
Wildflowers seen blooming along the Assabet River and Nashoba Brook include Button Bush...
...Joe Pye Weed...
...which according to legend is named for a Native American who is said to have cured folks suffering from typhoid fever with a tea made from this plant. A blogpost by Cathy Ludden on the Greenburgh Nature Center.org website mentioned the legend and referenced a 2017 article by Richard B. Pearce and James S. Pringle which appeared in the Great Lakes Botanist Journal. Pearce and Pringle concluded the plant was likely named for Joseph Shauquethqueat a highly respected Mohican sachem also known as Joe Pye who lived in the Mohican community at Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Another wildflower seen blooming yesterday was the Cardinal Flower. It's the first I've seen this year...
...and reminds us that summer is already getting long in the tooth.
Wildlife included this adult eagle in Stow on Monday...
...and this buck on Wednesday...
Trash saw an uptick due to the high levels and flows.
Monday's included an "Eternal" plastic water bottle (inadvertent truth in advertising?)...
Wednesday's included 28 miniature alcohol bottles...
Trash had definitely been on the move of late as it treks to the sea.
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