Found the Merrimack River to be a very quiet place this past Wednesday morning. I'd launched at Southwell Field Boat Ramp in North Chelmsford, MA...
The day was fairly typical of what we've seen too much of this summer...cloudy with occasional drizzle.
Not much else was seen on the move...no trains and not one other boat. Almost like a Twilight-Zone episode. In fact the only thing moving on the railroad tracks along the river was this railroad-related truck driving alongside the tracks over Stony Brook...
The truck was returning from a CSXT freight train idling-away the day just east of the North Chelmsford wye track. The diesel engines of locomotives 471 and 468 rumbled lowly, almost like they were snoring, with an occasionally louder burst when their air compressors cycled to maintain the train's air pressure. Perhaps the train was awaiting a new crew before heading westward.
Ventured into Stony Brook just a bit to where this fallen overhead support beam straddled the brook...
Glad I wasn't in there when it dropped down.
Came across this Disney themed Rubik's Cube...
Also another Hooksett Disk...
...which still occasionally turn up some 12 years after they entered the Merrimack.
There was also this messy spray-can of a tar-like substance...
The only real keeper was this 10-ounce mini-milk bottle with the applied color label "It's Hood's" which looks to date from the 1940s...
Yesterday, after the morning's thunderstorm and deluges of rain subsided, I got out on the Assabet River in West Concord, MA and headed upstream. The river was kicked up following several inches of rain in just a few hours. Several Massachusetts communities further to the southeast experienced small tornadoes from the same weather system.
Approaching the Main Street bridge the Assabet was a moving sheet of murky water...
At Westvale this rock which ordinarily looms above my head was almost submerged...
One plant that seems to have especially flourished under this summer's wet weather is Joe Pye weed...
...and there were great numbers of them along the river's banks.
Reaching Route 62 at Damonmill I was able to paddle past the bridge before my forward progress was gradually offset by the fast and shallow flow at the old dam site. Then, after a quick turnaround, I enjoyed a fast and effortless ride downriver to the confluence of the Assabet and Nashoba Brook...
...where this osprey was on the lookout for fish...
Nashoba Brook was found to be full and offered another 'up and back down' option. Passing the brook-side bakery on the way up...
...to the busy outlet from Warner's Pond...
...before enjoying my second downstream ride of the day.
Wednesday's trash from the Merrimack was heavy on the plastics with a dozen miniatures (aka nips)...
Yesterday's trash plucked from the Assabet included 7 miniatures...
My neoprene water shoes are in desperate need of some prolonged sunshine so they can dry out.
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