Last week my local rivers were iced over and I figured my paddling season had come to an end. Then we had a two-day thaw last Thursday and Friday which melted or blew away nearly all of the ice. On Solstice Sunday I paddled up the Sudbury River from Egg Rock in Concord, MA...
Passed by the buttoned-up-for-winter South Bridge Boathouse along the way...
At Martha's Point...
...the open water came to an end with my hoped-for destination of Brooke Island in view...
There'd be no island hot cocoa break on this day. On my way back downriver skies clouded-up as a cold front arrived. It was accompanied by gusty winds and fast-dropping temperatures seemingly signaling the official start of winter. Nonetheless, it was great to be out on the water and see so much of the river free of ice once again.
Yesterday morning I launched at the Calf Pasture on Lowell Rd in Concord after a small amount of ice chopping. Headed towards the Assabet River and noticed a bald eagle perched in a tree at Egg Rock...
Just as I realized he was one of a pair, he took flight and headed towards me...
The eagles may have been focused on this Canada goose which was motionless in the water nearby...
Snow was in the forecast and I'd hoped to have the experience of paddling through it. However, other than a few flurries, things stayed dry. Near Willow Island...
Beyond Spencer Brook near a cluster of fallen trees was a fly-fisherman...
Ended up paddling bits of the Assabet, Sudbury, and Concord rivers while waiting for snow that never arrived. A snowless Old North Bridge on my way back to Lowell Rd...
Trash on Solstice Sunday was on the light side...
Yesterday's trash was also fairly light...
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