Winter's Reboot

Our recent January Thaw did an amazing job at melting away much of Old Man Winter's best work. Now he's back from his vacation and restoring his icy grip on things.  Since my local waterways are still open to navigation I decided, yesterday, to see if the thaw had made a dent in Fairhaven Bay's ice.  The bay is usually the last bastion for water's solid form.  To find out I paddled the Sudbury River starting from Egg Rock in Concord, MA...

...and headed upriver.

The Southbridge Boathouse had a wintry look...

Saw branches wearing ice hats...

...and this bald eagle watching over some ducks...

On one of the straighter sections the shoreline stretched out before me...

Nearing Fairhaven Bay a welcoming committee of mergansers assembled...

Just beyond them I got the answer to my question...a still frozen over Fairhaven Bay...

With snow and frigid temperatures predicted for the remainder of January it may be awhile before Old Man Winter takes his next sabbatical.  Nonetheless it was surreal being out on the river yesterday with light snow falling, no wind, no trash, and all kinds of quiet. 

Thoroughly Thawed Out

All good things must come to an end they say and, yesterday, our recent January Thaw bid us farewell.  Things looked pretty bleak eight days ago when the thaw arrived.  Most local waterways and boat launches were iced-over.  Though my expectations were low, I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when I  found springlike conditions on the Assabet River in Stow, MA.  The temperature was nearly 50 degrees F. and the river was wide open...

Launched from Magazu's Landing...

Some remaining slabs of ice in shady spots showed just how thick the ice was before the thaw...

Even in the shallow sloughs the ice was rapidly receding...

...which is a good thing.

These common mergansers were putting some remaining ice to good use...

This bald eagle had the best seat in the house...

A second eagle was seen chasing a group of Canada geese...

Went upriver as far as Gleasondale...

Trash was a little different today with more trash actually found on the ground at the boat launch...

...than what was found in the river...

Hopefully the thaw enjoyed its stay and knows it's welcome to return any time.

Double-Stacks Cross the Nashua

Last Sunday I paddled on the Nashua River in Harvard, MA in hopes of seeing the inaugural run of  Norfolk Southern RR's double-stack container train between Chicago, IL and Ayer, MA.  Unbeknownst to me, the inaugural run had been delayed for two days.  Last night I saw mention on railroad.net's  message board of today being the day the first train of double-stacks would arrive at Ayer.  This morning I headed out to try my luck again, and was rewarded at 10:20 am with a sighting of the train as it crossed over the Nashua River about four miles south of its destination, the freight yard in Ayer.  In honor of the occasion the train was powered by two "heritage" locomotives each decked out in the colors of predecessor railroads.  The lead unit 8098 is in Conrail blue and the trailing unit 1080 in Delaware and Hudson colors...

 The double-stacked containers...

Numerous structures, including this bridge, needed to be modified for greater clearance before double -stacks could fit through.  By being double-stacked the train was able to transport the same number of shipping containers with half as many railcars as would have been needed via the previously used single-stack Hoosac Tunnel route.

The day was a beauty for mid-January as our "thaw" continues...

Before and after the train's passage some trash was rounded up (which included 40 "nip" bottles)...

First Paddles of 2026

 

My 2026 paddling season got underway this past weekend thanks to a greatly appreciated January thaw.   Three days in a row with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees F.  saw the ice retreat enough to make my local rivers navigable again.  On Saturday I enjoyed a three river sampler of sorts starting from Egg Rock in Concord, MA...

From Egg Rock I first ascended the Assabet River to Willow Island...

Then it was down the Concord River passing under the Old North Bridge...

...and the Minuteman Statue along the way...

Finally paddled up the Sudbury River a short distance to the Nashawtuc Road Bridge...

The next day, Sunday, I paddled a bit of the Nasua River from Oxbow N.W.R. in Harvard, MA.  The thaw may have peaked on this day with even more sunshine and temperatures nudging the mid-40s F...

The CSX railroad bridge...

...which in the coming week will start seeing Norfolk Southern double-stack container trains reach Ayer MA for the first time.  Previously, these Norfolk Southern trains were routed through the Hoosac Tunnel which is unable to accommodate double-stack trains.

Leaving the Nashua River valley I was afforded this view to the northwest which looked pretty good for January (especially from the viewpoint of a winter hater like myself)...

 

The very first piece of 2026 trash was encountered on the Assabet River...

The very first "nip" bottle of 2026 was found in the Nashua River...

Saturday's small SuAsCo haul...

Sunday's haul from the Nashua included 18 "nip" bottles...

Looking Astern at 2025

This past year I greatly enjoyed seeking out and paddling sections of several historic water trails.  Thankfully, each search proved successful.  There was, however, one particular on-the-water moment that stands out as my favorite of the year.  It was mid-March and I was coming to the end of a winter-escape trip to Virginia.   After having paddled to the Native American Powhatan village of Werowocomoco on the York River, I was returning to where I'd launched from at Cappahosic.  It would be the final in-boat moment of my trip and, before landing, I stopped paddling to savor it.  The sun was shining, the temperature was 60 degrees F. and a warm breeze kissed my face.  Looking out towards Chesapeake Bay I knew that Old Man Winter was losing his grip...

Historical marker for Werowocomoco...

I'd gone to Virginia to experience first-hand some of the water-routes taken by Captain John Smith in 1607...

   Retracing a small part of his route up the Chickahominy River...

This statue of Captain Smith stands at Jamestown Fort...

In June I ventured to the opposite end of the compass...the Canadian Province of New Brunswick...

...where, on the hottest day of the year, I dipped my paddle into the Saint John River for the first time...

 Back in 1775 Col. John Allan persuaded several hundred Maliseet people to undertake an exodus via canoe with all of their belongings...

I paddled bits of the route they followed on both sides of the border:

North Lake and the Thoroughfare in the St. Croix watershed...

Further to the south and in the State of Maine was Big Lake and its Kuwesuwi Monihg Island, recently reacquired by the Passamaquoddy people ...

...and Crawford Lake leading to the East Machias River...

Finally, in late August, in recognition of the American Revolution's 250th, I paddled the stretch of the Merrimack River where the 1100-man Arnold Expedition in 1775 disembarked from Newburyport, MA...

Imagining the sight of the 11-ship fleet exiting the mouth of the Merrimack River and sailing northeastward towards the Kennebec River...

At the height of summer while visiting in Guilford, CT I was afforded the chance to paddle into Sachem's Head Harbor...

...named for a Pequot sachem's misfortune. He swam for his life across a channel only to be captured and executed at the hands of his enemy.

Got in several car-camping/paddling trips. One included my first-time glamping in a yurt-tent at Cold River Campground in Eddington, ME (not bad). The others were more traditional tent-camping done at Cape Ann Camp Site in Gloucester, MA, Barton Cove Campground in Gill, MA, and Salisbury State Park in Salisbury, MA. 

Memorable "eye-to-eye" wildlife encounters for me included:

This white-tailed deer along the Sudbury River...

This northern water snake on the Nashua River...

This mink on the Sudbury River...

Knocked one item off my "Bucket List" this past March by driving my car with boat on the roof across the mouth of Chesapeake Bay via the 17.6 mile long Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel...

With it being a windy day I had some anxiety as to whether vehicles with roof-top cargo like mine would be allowed passage.  Only upon reaching the southern tip of the Delmarva Peninsula was I relieved to find no restrictions, and onto the bridge I went praying that my tie-down straps would hold.

As I was driving across I saw a US Navy vessel preparing to enter the bay...

Rather than elevating the bridge to accommodate such vessels, there are, instead, two places where the roadway descends via tunnels beneath the waters of the bay thus allowing sea-going vessels to sail above them.   

2025's trash consisted of the usual mostly plastic suspects with the miniature liquor bottles aka "nips" being the only ones I keep count of.  Total "nips" for 2025 was 2,278.  By comparison "nip" counts for the past 4 years: 2024 = 1,649; 2023 = 3,553; 2022 = 1,453; 2021 = 1,765

Two of the more unusual pieces of trash to come aboard my vessel:

One was this "BuzzBalls" container...

...which had been repurposed as a fishing bobber. No longer connected by fishing line to the shore it drifted about in Lake Quinsigamond.

The other was this plastic bag stuffed with bubblewrap...

Happy 2026 to all fellow waterway travelers and to those folks whom I had the pleasure of meeting while out and about in my boat!