A Nest Restored

 

Paddled two stretches of the Assabet River in Stow and Hudson, MA this past week. On Wednesday I enjoyed a 1-day reprieve from what seems to be a fast-approaching winter.  The day provided ample portions of blue sky accompanied by temperatures on the plus side of 60 degrees F. giving the Assabet River between Crow Island and Gleasondale the feel of early fall.

Turtles sensed the warmth and began to reappear...

One of my objectives, besides just enjoying the warmth, was to check on the status of a long-standing eagle nest.  When I last visited the area in early October the nest was completely gone...

...whereas on Wednesday the nest is in the process of being rebuilt...

...in the same tree.  The same teardown and rebuild process happened in 2022.  Hopefully, the nest will be ready to cradle some eggs in a month or two.

This morning I paddled the 2-mile stretch of the Assabet River between Cox Street in Hudson, MA and the dam at Gleasondale.  Conditions were cloudy and cool with rain predicted for the afternoon...

Paddled around Orchard Hill...

...where there was another fallen tree to deal with...

Trash gathered up on Wednesday included 7 "nip" bottles, a Mylar balloon, and a storage tote's cover...

Trash from today included 48 "nip" bottles...

A Nod to Wachusett

 

This past Thursday I found myself paddling waters flowing from the west side of  Mt. Wachusett.  Paddled upstream on the Ware River in Barre, MA hoping to catch a view of the 2006 foot-high mountain.  Wachusett is a solo-standing mountain similar to Monadnock. To the Nipmuck peoples Wachusett is a sacred place.  With this being Native American month it's also worth mentioning that Mt Wachusett was the last true stronghold of the Nipmucks during the conflict known as "King Philip's War" in 1676.  

In recent paddles of some of the Sudbury River System's reservoirs I found myself following the City of Boston's westward search for even more sources of clean drinking water.  Boston's search ultimately resulted in the creation of today's two-component water supply system: Wachusett Reservoir created in 1900, and Quabbin Reservoir created in the 1930s.  However, there's a third component to the system, the Roger E. Lonergan Ware River Diversion Facility in Barre, MA. According to the website of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA): "In 1926, construction began on the Wachusett-Coldbrook Tunnel, which is now the eastern section of the Quabbin Tunnel. Surplus flow in the Ware River was diverted to the Wachusett Reservoir during eight high-water months of the year and increased the safe-yield by 40 MGD.  During the 1930s, the Wachusett-Coldbrook Tunnel was extended to the Swift River.  It is a two-way tunnel: water flows west from the Ware River to the Quabbin during the high-water months (10/15 to 6/15) and then east from the Quabbin to Wachusett at other times of the year."  So the water I was paddling on Thursday, a mixture of the Ware River's two branches and the Burnshirt River, was flowing towards the Roger E. Lonergan Diversion Facility where a portion of the flow could be diverted into the above mentioned tunnel provided the river has a flow greater than 85 MGD.  

Mt Wachusett, despite being a relatively small mountain, overachieves in regards to sending forth waterways. Several years back I came across a 1793 map of Worcester County by Charles Baker and John Peirce (found on the Norman B. Leventhal Map and Education Center's website).  The map impressed me with how much prominence was given to waterways emanating from and around the base of Mt Wachusett.  I modified the map by tracing (in blue) the tributaries Baker and Peirce showed, reaching finger-like towards Mt Wachusett (at tip of red arrow)...

Seems one could say that Mt Wachusett is the true center of Massachusetts, perhaps its very heart.  Because of this the watersheds on both sides of the mountain are designated for protection.  The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation owns approximately 23,000 acres of the Ware River Watershed.  Human activities are regulated by the DCR to insure that the watershed is protected. The regulations can be found here.  Additionally, waters on the mountain's north side provide drinking water to the City of Fitchburg and the Town of Westminster.

Back on the Ware River, as I neared the confluence of the Ware and Burnshirt rivers, I passed the spot where a covered bridge spanned the river for 90 years.   Constructed in 1848 the bridge stood until the 1938 Hurricane swept it downriver...

A photo found on Digital Commonwealth showing how the bridge looked in 1936...

The bridge has now been gone for almost as long as it stood, 90 years.  Only the stone abutments remain...

When the Ware River got too shallow for my boat I ascended the Burnshirt River for a short distance to a beaver dam sporting the first icicles I've encountered this season...

A mink (I think) pondered taking a swim...

The western side of Mount Wachusett never came into view but, nonetheless, was on my mind.  This is how Wachusett looked from the east back in August...

On Sunday morning I paddled up the Sudbury River from Egg Rock...

...which once again has water up to its base.  After a week with several nights in the low 20's (F.) I wondered if Fairhaven Bay would be iced-over.  Found about 1/3rd of it to be so, which surprised me a bit...

Brooke or Scout Island was only accessible from its southern tip.  Enjoyed a hot-cocoa break on the island not sure if it may have been my last until next spring.  A few spits of snow in the air reinforced the wintry feel.

Some hardy fishermen were working the bay's north end near the stone boathouse...

Still plenty of blue herons around...

...

...and this mink who seemed pretty sure that I couldn't see him...

No trash was found in the Ware River on Thursday.  Just these few containers which littered the shore...

...and included an empty can of "Witty Monkey".

The Sudbury River on Sunday had a modest amount...

What Wind?

 

With northwest wind-gusts up to 30 mph predicted for Sunday morning I sought refuge in the valley of the Nashua River...specifically Oxbow N.W.R. in Harvard, MA.

Descending Still River Depot Road's steep incline to the boat launch gave me this view of Mt. Wachusett...

...seemingly holding up a bank of clouds.

Thanks to that ridge of hills to the west and the ample amount of trees along the river (opening photo), I enjoyed mostly peaceful conditions...

There'd be no morning freight train and not a peep of gunfire from the Devens shooting range...just tons of peace and quiet.

A pair of white-tailed deer were well camouflaged in their much darker winter coats...

As is almost always the case when on this section of the river, there was plenty of plastic trash, especially "nip" bottles of which there were 118...

Stick Season is Upon Us

 

Stick season has arrived along the waters of the Assabet (above photo) and Concord rivers as of this past Sunday morning.

The Egg Rock inscription at the foot of the Assabet...

Concord River...

Brings to mind Joni Mitchell's song "Urge for Going" specifically the line "And all that's stays is dying,  and all that lives is getting out"...as perhaps this mink is thinking as he paused in riverbank patrol...

On Thursday I wheeled my boat down a bark-mulch covered path through a former industrial site to gain access to the Assabet River in West Concord, MA.  A hundred years ago it was the Boston Harness Company and it's said there were approximately 175 employees engaged in making leather harnesses, reins, and saddles.   A few concrete slabs and pieces of equipment serve as reminders...

Launched and headed upriver into a steady flow (Maynard gauge at 2.7 feet)...

A downed tree stopped my progress before reaching Pine Street so it then became a down and back up paddle passing beneath an outbound commuter train...

...before a side trip into Nashoba Brook where beavers had built a dam at the former railroad bridge, now the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail...

Managed to slide up-and-over which allowed paddling up the brook past Nashoba Bakery and almost up to the Commonwealth Ave bridge...

...where someone with a chain-saw opened a passageway recently.

The bridge at Route 2 under a cloud-filled sky...

The banks and shallows of the Assabet River are covered with these small plants...

...which release small sticky burrs to anything they make contact with.  They seem especially fond of neoprene boots like the ones I wear.  Saw a white-tailed deer in this area and wondered how their legs must get covered with the little burrs.

With this week's early feel of winter-like conditions another song comes to mind...Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", about a Great Lakes freighter that sank 50 years ago this week (11/10/1975) with the loss of 29 men..."When the gales of November came early".

On a cheerier note the raindrops on both days held off until I was off the water.

Trash from Sunday...

Trash from Thursday included 14 "nip" bottles...

Whitehall Reservoir

 

Continued my paddling of former reservoirs this past week with a Wednesday visit to the 600-acre Whitehall Reservoir in Hopkinton, MA.  Between 1896 to 1947 this reservoir was part of the Water Supply System of Metropolitan Boston.  Whitehall Reservoir was created by the damming of Whitehall Brook, a Sudbury River tributary, which flooded three smaller ponds. When no longer needed for drinking water supply in 1947, Whitehall Reservoir and the land around it became a Massachusetts State Park operated by the Massachusetts Dept. of Conservation and Recreation.  The map below is from the State Park's website shows Whitehall Reservoir as it is today...  

The Norman B. Leventhal Map and Education Center has this 1794 Plan of Hopkinton drawn by Matthew Metcalf showing the waterbody as it looked way back then...

...when it was already dammed and providing water power for several small mills.

I launched from the lake's northernmost point and paddled its perimeter in a counter-clockwise direction. This brought me through a group of islands...

...some of which are considered to be floating islands...

... with clusters of spire-like trees...

After reaching the lake's southernmost point I headed up the east shoreline passing several coves...

This bee's nest was attached to a tree limb overhanging the water...

In the lake's northeast corner is the dam and outlet to Whitehall Brook...

The outlet structure...

According to The Water Supply System of Metropolitan Boston 1845 - 1947 by the Metropolitan District Commission in 1985, prepared by Martha H. Bowers and Jane Carolan  "...the Boston Water Board built a wood dam and short dike above the original dam. In the 1920s a low concrete and earth dam was built, along with a square brick and granite gatehouse."

The last leg of my paddle saw a bald eagle circling the lake's north end...

Trash encountered was mostly aluminum cans...