What's On the Other Side?

This past July after launching from the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge in Harvard, MA I slowly worked my way 3.5 miles upriver to this bank-to-bank blockage of the Nashua River...

Like most river travelers I couldn't help but wonder "what's on the other side"?   While pondering, I looked to my left and saw this fellow...

...who I suspect knew but wasn't talking.

Fast forward to this past Thursday when I decided to find out for myself by reaching the spot from upriver.  After launching at the Seven Bridge Road (Rt. 117) canoe launch in Lancaster I paddled downriver...

Along the way I passed by this collection of worn-out tires perched rather close to the riverbank...

...and later followed the river where it swept hard to the right before this steep ridge...

...followed by a straight run to my objective 1.5 miles below the launch, the other side of the blockage...

...which ran across the full width of the river.

It had it all...pumpkins, basketballs, wheels, tire, and a cornucopia of plastic containers...

After filling 2 bags with plastic bottles I concentrated on miniatures (aka "nips") and ended up with this trash haul...

...which included 275 miniatures (all from that one spot) and established a new  one-day "high" or "low" (depending on how you look at it).

Because I had waited for the day to warmup a bit before starting my paddle, there was a price to be paid when I returned upriver facing into the low-angle sunshine.  Even with sunglasses and a hat with sun visor I found it blinding.  After packing up I needed to exit the parking area by driving directly into the sun just above a hilltop to the southwest.  The glare was the worst I've ever experienced in my years on this planet.  Where's a cloud when you need one? Now I can better relate to what Icarus experienced.