A Cold Concord River

 

Awoke yesterday morning to an outdoor thermometer displaying a temperature in the mid 20s F.  By the time I was paddling down the Concord River in Concord, MA the temperature had climbed into the low 30s and a fog enveloped where the cold air and warm water met one another.  It was our first real freeze of the season and saw my paddle equipped with pogies for the first time.  A thermos of hot cocoa was on deck for the first time as well.  Drifted down past the Old North Bridge...

...where a splash of color hangs on.  Then the Monument Street Bridge...

Next came a docked fishing boat in need of some timely bailing...

Past there,  the trees provided a golden glow to the river...

This great blue heron looked frozen in place...

After about 3 miles I rounded the last bend in the river...

...before reaching my destination...

...where the last of my hot cocoa was enjoyed.

On the trip back upriver, at Sawmill Brook, the old cabin there had a broken back...

...from what appeared to have been a fallen tree limb.  It now tilts upward at both ends.

Further upriver this rose blossom did its best imitation of a water lily...

The inscription at Egg Rock was illuminated nicely...

Trash encountered in this 3-mile section of river was minimal...

...especially when compared to the last river I visited.

Nashua River Brought Plenty

 

Driving downhill on Still River Depot Road in Harvard, MA I was provided this view of Mt. Wachusett.

Just before reaching the bottom of the hill and the river, I came upon this stationary freight train on the CSX Railroad's Worcester Mainline...

Seeing the crew moving about had me thinking the train might soon be departing.  My hope was to launch my boat out on the river in time to witness the train pass through the bridge over the Nashua River.  However, I wasn't fast enough and soon heard a few short blasts of the horn indicating they were starting to move.  Walked a short path to record the four diesel locomotives getting this 106-car freight train underway...

The train is designated as M427 and runs from Portland, ME to Selkirk, NY pretty much daily.  After the train had disappeared to the south and things had quieted down I launched into the Nashua.  There was still plenty of fall-foliage color in places...

The recent rain from the remnants if hurricane Isaias had dislodged and sent another batch of flotsam downriver...

In just 2 miles of river this mess of plastic was gathered up...

...which included 114 "nip" bottles.

 

Nashoba and Fort Pond Brooks

 

Couldn't pass up a chance to paddle Fort Pond Brook (above photo) and Nashoba Brook yesterday afternoon.  Thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Isaias we'd recently received more than 1.5" of rain which made several of the beaver dams there less of an obstacle.  The 2 brooks combine before flowing into Warner's Pond in West Concord, MA.  After launching on the east side of Warner's Pond, I paddled westward to where the brooks enter the pond...

Passed over a well-built beaver dam into Nashoba Brook and began paddling up to the busy spot where the 2 brooks, 2 railroads (Framingham and Lowell/Nashua, Acton, and Boston), and the former Union Turnpike all converged...

Today the Union Turnpike is Route 2, the railroads are long gone, and the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail does an up-and-over all of it...

The steel "I" beams crossing at a slope in the distance may have facilitated getting farm equipment across the brook.

 After passing under Route 2 the higher water level allowed passage over submerged obstacles up Nashoba Brook towards East Acton...

...before several blowdowns persuaded me to return to the Route 2 bridge...

Next I entered Fort Pond Brook and paddled under the abandoned county road bridge (opening photo) after which the brook winds its way between 2 ridges towards Acton.

Some trash found along the way...

A Cloudy and Corny Sudbury River

 

Enjoyed the sanctity of a Sunday morning while ascending the Sudbury River in Concord, MA yesterday.  Early on I passed under the Union Turnpike Bridge (Elm St) with the South Bridge Boathouse seen through the portal (above photo).  Skies were cloudy but there were still bursts of color along the shoreline:

The little stone boathouse in Fairhaven Bay...

...where several fishing boats were plying the bay's waters.

 Lee's Bridge (Rt 117)...

Some wildlife encountered included:

This marsh hawk...

...and a group of 3 white-tailed deer...

...in addition to wood ducks and blue herons.

Trash gathered up included a fair bit of corn both canned and frozen evidently used by shore fishermen...

...the 4 Del Monte cans were found at one spot and may indicate their chumming the water with it.

Coachlace, Mossy, and South Meadow Ponds

Visited the three ponds that comprise the South Meadow Pond Complex in Clinton, MA yesterday morning.  In addition to seeing some colorful foliage it was also my hope to see a long freight train rumble past the above pictured display of fall foliage on the shore of Coachlace Pond.  I thought that one of two freight trains would pass through in the morning.  I'd later find out that one train had been cancelled and the other didn't pass through the area until after 1pm.

So, I spent the rest of the cool and crisp morning touring the other ponds by first passing through the culvert (beneath the train tracks) from Coachlace into South Meadow pond...

Paddling eastward on South Meadow brought me into Mossy Pond and its Blueberry Island.....

Not far from the island was this long and slender canoe sporting some interesting camouflage...

..which served as a reminder that duck hunting season in Massachusetts would be opening the following day.

Once back at where I'd launched, I portaged the short distance across South Meadow Rd into the Lancaster section to the road's west...

...where the pond's namesake brook enters.  At this section's opposite end is the closed and capped Clinton landfill.  Barriers are in place to prevent the landfill's leachate from entering the pond...

Some wildlife seen were this perched osprey...

...and wading blue heron...

...both on Coachlace Pond.

Trash gathered up reflected the season's many colors...

...most of it encountered where shore fishermen stand at water's edge.

A Nippy Assabet River in Hudson

 

Launched into the Assabet River yesterday behind the Fire Department's Station 1 in Hudson, MA and headed upriver passing under the Taylor Memorial Bridge (above photo) along the way.  The morning had earlier featured our fall season's first touch of frost.  My upriver progress was delayed a bit by encountering quite a few plastic "nip" bottles that had congregated behind these two buildings adjacent to the library...

...the spot being at the apex of a bend in the river where it turns from a northeast to southeast direction before passing over the Washington Street dam. The "nip" bottles captured by the vegetation at the above- pictured spot numbered 92, and almost all of them were the same brand Smirnoff...

Fall foliage is still displayed along the shore....

Turned around before reaching Route 495 where 4 short bridges once spanned the river...

Approaching my takeout back at the Fire Station some fall foliage highlighted a historic home's roof tower...

The Washington Street dam also had some color...

Trash gathered up along the way...