Merrimack and Three Tributaries

 

Paddled a bit of the Merrimack River/Stony Brook and two other Merrimack tributaries this past week.  Water levels were high Monday as the above photo of where Stony Brook enters the river shows.  I believe the pictured freight train is a westbound CSX M427 having originated in Waterville, ME and destined for Selkirk, NY.  A portion of the train ran a short distance north on the New Hampshire line before backing down to the rest of the train.  Once their work was done and the train was back together the freight would leave the Merrimack and follow the Stony Brook line westward.  While they were doing that I passed under the low-headroom bridge and followed the brook beneath a good-sized mill building...

...so as to get ahead of the train's intended route.  Got a few casts into Stony Brook before the freight came along...

...with 3 locomotives pulling 128 freight cars heading towards Ayer, MA where it would then follow the Nashua River.

The day was a beauty with a busy breeze out of the northwest.  Once back out on the Merrimack I ventured downriver to about a half mile above Pawtucket Falls...

...where it appears the warning floats ahead of the dam are yet to be deployed.  Both the Merrimack River and Stony Brook were running high and fast.

I'd launched earlier at Southwell Park in North Chelmsford and found that the boat launch is now open to canoes and cartop boats only...

Trailered boats can still access the river from the Lowell side within sight of  Southwell Park.

On Wednesday I launched into the Nashua River from the Oxbow NWS (north access) at Hospital Road in Devens, MA and paddled 3 miles upriver and back down.  The day was another beauty with a refreshing breeze as well...

Encountered folks working in or on the water on both days.  On Monday two guys in waders were gathering water quality data from Stony Brook, and on Wednesday one worker rowed while another took measurements where the Nashua River passes under Route 2...

Both days were ideal for working outdoors.

Wrapped up the week yesterday with a visit to the Assabet River eagle family and its newest member...

A proud parent gazed up at the nest...

Nearby a newly expanded Canada goose family was on high alert (as they should be) considering their close proximity to the eagle nest...

The Assabet River was looking fine on a splendid morning...

Encountered this osprey on my way up to Gleasondale...

The long-ongoing Rt. 62 bridge replacement project is starting to show a finished look on the half that's been completed...

Monday's trash was of a mostly plastic nature from the Merrimack...

...and included 7 "miniature" alcohol bottles and one more Hooksett disk.

Wednesday's  trash from the Nashua...

...included a whopping 218 "miniature" alcohol bottles.

Friday's trash from the Assabet...

...was on the lighter side and included 8 "miniature" alcohol bottles which brought the weekly total for "miniatures" to 233.

 

Trains Along the Nashua

 

The bridge over the Nashua River near Still River Depot Road in Harvard was busier than usual this past Friday.  On my return trip from an up-and-back-paddle I drifted downriver alongside the sounds of an eastbound freight train (CSX M426) reverberating through the valley.  I reached the bridge just in time to see the train's last car reach the other side.  Then, less than an hour later, as I was driving away from the boat launch a second freight train (CSX M427) going in the opposite direction made its way towards the bridge...

...and I watched the last car reach the bridge...

It was the first I'd seen two trains there in such a short timespan-guessing they'd passed each other a few miles to the north in Ayer.

Out on the river the water level was high and the flow was swift.  This mostly submerged kayak was seen about 1.25 miles upriver from the boat launch...

Hoping it floated away from someone's yard rather than having become separated from its paddler. 

As is often the case on this stretch of river there was plenty of trash...

...which included 132 miniature alcohol bottles. Made hardly a dent in what was seen there.

 

Back to Devilsfoot Island

 

Don't know just what drew me to the Charles River yesterday.  Perhaps it had something to do with this weekend's Coronation of King Charles. After all, the river is said to have been named in honor of another Prince Charles back in 1616 by Captain John Smith.  At any rate I launched from Old Bridge Road in Medfield and paddled upriver with hopes of entering the Stop River and stopping (appropriately) at Devilsfoot Island (photo above).   Believe I last visited the island in 2016. 

Heading in a southerly direction afforded me this view of Noon Hill located west of the Stop and beyond the island...

Water levels were high and upon reaching Causeway Street I saw that paddling through the culvert was out of the question...

...but a short and easy portage across the roadway allowed my trip to resume.

Devilsfoot Island looked pretty much the same with the blend of man-made and natural stonework marking the location of a long-gone cabin...

Later I returned to the Charles, paddled downriver to Bogastow Brook, and made a short trip up the brook to South End Pond...

The day was another in a string of fickle spring days with ominous skies yet little to no precipitation...

The railroad trestle across the Charles near the Old Bridge Road launch...

...which still sees occasional use.

Trash included the typical stuff...

Still no sign of my invitation to the Coronation!

A Budding Sudbury

 

Had the Sudbury River between Weir Hill and Fairhaven Bay to myself yesterday morning.  A cool easterly breeze, though not ideal, did however keep the approaching rain stalled to our west. 

At the Lincoln Canoe Launch a new kiosk provides boaters helpful information...

  

Wildlife were noted as being busier than usual...once I realized they were there.  A group of six small white-tailed deer were browsing along the river...

...and only briefly did a few of them emerge into view...

I'm guessing these soon-to-be-ferns may be on their menu...

I wasn't the only one watching them...

Trash consisted of one lone bobber and one plastic bag...

As April departs on the cool and rainy side I fondly remember that spell of summer-like warmth earlier in the month.

 

Another Assabet Eaglet

 

The Assabet River held a few surprises yesterday.  The first was hearing from another kayaker that an eaglet had hatched recently in a riverside nest.  He was correct as I would later catch this glimpse of the eaglet's head...

...along with one of the proud parents standing guard...

...and seemingly pondering the future.

This nest produced 2 eaglets in both 2021 and 2022.  Not sure yet if there's a second eaglet this time.

Another surprise was this lone sandpiper, perhaps a greater yellowlegs...

An egg and a "mini bottle"...

Apple blossoms?...

Trash included 14 "mini bottles"...

My Earth Week Afloat

 

This Earth Week found my boat and me making the transition from the larger-scale waters of New York's Hudson River to the considerably smaller-scale of my local waters such as the Concord River (photo above) and the Assabet River...

Paddled the Concord between Bedford, MA and the old Middlesex Turnpike crossing on Thursday, and the Assabet from Cox Street in Hudson between the old Mass Central RR trestle...

...and the Gleasondale Dam downriver in Stow, MA on the officially designated Earth Day.

The most scenic section was where the Assabet sweeps around Orchard Hill...

The section between the railroad trestle and Orchard Hill produced a fair bit of trash...

...whereas the Concord had considerably less...

Note the Sharkool lithium-powered remote control speedboat found dead-in-the-water in the river...

Another curiosity was coming across another ball-shaped miniature alcohol plastic bottle, "Chiller".  Unlike the majority of miniature plastic bottles typically containing 50 mls and presently littering our roadsides, parks, and waterways, these plastic orbs with aluminum tops contain 187 mls.  With many communities planning to implement bans on miniatures holding less than 100 mls. Could these ball-shaped containers have been specifically designed to skirt such bans?

Here's a look at the two I've recovered from different waterways this spring...

The manufacturer recommends that consumers ship the empty containers to a specific recycler.  Will most folks take the time to do that?...or instead just toss them in the trash or wherever they feel is convenient?  Communities considering banning miniatures containing less-than 100 mls may want to reconsider.  Perhaps a better approach would be having a deposit on all containers, regardless of volume.

I would also respectfully request that our elected state representatives seriously consider increasing the state's container deposit from a nickel to a dime per container.  The present nickel just doesn't have anywhere near the value it did back in 1982 when the Massachusetts Bottle Bill was created.  The State of Maine, noted for a common-sense approach, places a 15-cent deposit on miniatures including these ball-shaped ones.  The states of Iowa and Vermont place a nickel deposit on them.  In Massachusetts, as well as most other states, they have no deposit and therefore no monetary incentive for anyone to care how they're disposed of.