Connecticut's Gorge and Nashua's "Nip Bottle" Bonanza

 

The highlight of my kayaking week was paddling under the above pictured French King Bridge straddling the Connecticut River gorge between the Massachusetts towns of Gill and Erving.  

I spent two nights tent-camping at Barton Cove Campground in Gill where there was a feeling of fall in the air...

The campground, operated by FirstLight Energy, is located on a nearly mile-long narrow peninsula that juts out into Barton Cove...

  

The tent sites are spacious with raised tent platforms, picnic tables, charcoal grills, and a fire pit.  Electricity is not available.  Being about 30 feet above the river there's usually a breeze and therefore bugs were not a problem.  After setting up camp on Monday afternoon I drove 11 miles to Sunderland, MA where I utilized an informal launch near Gunn Brook for access to the Connecticut River.

Paddled upriver passing Third Island...

...where very shallow conditions were found between the island and the mouth of the Saw Mill River.  Eventually I reached the railroad bridge spanning the river near the large East Deerfield freight yard...

No sooner had I turned about and begun heading downriver than a Berkshire and Eastern Railroad freight crossed the bridge from east to west...

...pulling a string of center-beam cars which, combined with the bridge, provided a wealth of geometric angles...

The trip back to Gunn Brook included views of Mt. Toby known to the native Norwottuck people as Kunckquachu (per a 1658 deed)...

...and a pair of great egrets...

The following day I launched at the State Boat Ramp in Barton Cove a short drive from the campground...

Downriver passage isn't possible due to the Turners Falls dam, canal etc...

Heading upriver I passed this pair of bald eagles...

...before paddling through the "Narrows" at the tip of the peninsula. 

Further along was this large stand of bulrush...

...as well as Joe Pye weed...

Cliffs speak to when, before the dam, this was a true gorge with a section of rapids...

About 4 miles from the boat launch I reached the gorge and its French King Bridge. Paddled about a half mile upriver from the bridge to the mid-channel French King Rock (for which the bridge is named)...

The lore on how the rock was named is described as follows on the website of the French King Restaurant and Motel: "Historical records say that in 1674, a French and Indian Expedition, enroute to attack the colonists in nearby Deerfield, made camp on the western bank of the river to avoid running the rapids at nightfall.  The conspicuous rock seen from the bank of the river became a fixed landmark in the French commander's report.  In a ceremony of dedication an altar fire was started on the rock and sprinkled with river water. The stone was christened "French King Rock" in honor of King Louis XIV of France."

As I approached the bridge, returning from the rock, a utility truck atop the bridge provided a sense of scale...

The bridge, built in 1932, is said to be 139 feet high.  It is said that there is a spot in the vicinity of the bridge where the depth is 130 feet.

Lamp posts at the bridge's four corners are topped with sculpted eagles...

Just downstream of the bridge at Cabot Camp is the confluence of the Connecticut River and one of its larger tributaries, the Millers River...

On my return trip downriver I landed at a beach before passing back through the "Narrows"...

...and realized I did not want this paddle to end.

Once back in Barton Cove I extended things by paddling into Lily Pond which, before the dam, was separated from the river.  The pond has numerous cliffs of its own...

Very little trash was encountered in two paddles on the Connecticut...

Closed out my week yesterday with a Nashua River paddle from Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge in Harvard, MA.  Just before reaching the boat launch at the site of the former Still River Depot was the parked (awaiting a new crew) CSXT freight train M427...

The train runs daily from Portland, ME to Selkirk (near Albany) NY and carries a lot of Maine's paper mill traffic.

After launching I paddled about a half mile up to where trees blocked the river.  Turned about and heard the train signal that they were about to get underway.  This was followed by the sound of the three locomotives powering-up in order to get the 118 freight cars across the Nashua River and enroute to Worcester and beyond...

I was impressed with how quickly the locomotives got a train with that many cars up to speed.

Headed downriver on a beauty of a morning...

 Came across a dive-recovery operation below a bridge...

Plenty of plastic trash was encountered on this stretch of the Nashua...

After taking the above photo I encountered a large concentration of plastic "nip" bottles which ultimately resulted in this pile of 302 "nips"...

This topped my previous one-day record of 270 (also from the Nashua).  So far this year my total "nip" bottle count (from all rivers) is 1,649.  Of those, 1355 (82%) came from the Nashua River between Lancaster and the dam at East Pepperell...kind of like the "Bermuda Triangle" of "nip bottles".

At the Oxbow N.W.R. takeout I met Sr. Federal Wildlife Officer Chris Kelly of U.S. Fish and Wildlife who generously offered to dispose of the trash I'd collected.  Thanks, Chris