Trash Pedalling on the Nashua River Rail Trail

Mrs. Trashpaddler and I trash pedalled from Ayer to  East Pepperell on the Nashua River Rail Trail early this morning.  Arriving in Railroad Square in E. Pepperell, we decided to leave the trail and head down Groton Street.  Doing so soon brought us to this covered bridge.  We were amazed at how close it is to Railroad Square, yet we'd never seen it.  It had been freshly reworked just last year and the kiosk in front of was made from remnants of an earlier version built in 1846.  The bridge spans the Nashua River about a half mile upstream of its confluence with the Nissitissit River.  There's a few I's to dot and T's to cross!  The Nissitissit is a river I hope to paddle one day. 
Despite the beautiful job done on refurbishing the covered bridge and surrounding area, I was disappointed to see that a boat launch hadn't been included.  Perhaps there's one nearby and I just didn't see it.
Another big change since our last visit was the demolition of the spawling mills between Mill Street and the Nashua River.   Looks like a bomb hit!  Will the dam remain for the hydro-plant?  The aquatic plants about a half mile above the dam are growing fast and furiously.  Almost looks like one could walk across some of the backwaters!

Our trash haul is pictured...

 It totaled 23 pieces of trash and brokedownas: 19 recyclable containers (8 redeemable) and 4 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish.  Note the plastic/styrofoam twofer scored by one Dunkin' Donuts patron.  YTD total stands at 3875.

Shawsheen River - Under the Canal and Upstream

Having recently paddled a stretch of the Shawsheen River, for the first time, I decided to return on today's beautiful afternoon and explore a bit more of this serpentine body of water.  The view at left shows one of the few straight sections.
I launched into the river between Rt. 129 and the Boston/Lowell commuter railroad bridge.  It is on the Wilmington/Billerica border.  Almost immediately I found myself admiring the remains of the Shawsheen Aqueduct...

This stonework, built while George Washington was our president, supported a wooden trough that carried the Middlesex Canal over the Shawsheen River (the stone bridge visible behind the column carries Route 129).  It is hard to visualize a flat-bottomed canal boat being pulled by a horse so high above...

If the structure were still there today, there would probably be water leaking from between the wood timbers.  The water supply for the canal was the Concord River so there was probably some inter-river mixing, so to speak. 

This plaque attests to the historical significance of the canal and this aqueduct...

The Middlesex Canal was built between 1795 and 1803 and operated until 1853.  It allowed freight and passengers to be conveyed from the Merrimack River (upstream of Pawtucket Falls, Lowell) to where the Charles River empties into Boston Harbor in Charlestown.  This was a distance of 27 miles.  More information about the canal can be viewed at this link.

The area under the aqueduct was too shallow for paddling, today, and required pulling my boat with a rope, much like the horse and canal boat.

Once back in deeper water, progress upriver resumed.

The most prevalent flowers lining the riverbank were these Morning Glorys...

Less prevalent were these Pickerelweed flowers...

As a consequence of all the tight bends in the river there were many surprised river critters along the way: a wood duck family, a blue heron, an eastern kingbird, several musquashes, and numerous turtles.

After proceeding about a mile upstream, I began to encounter some beaverdams and blowdowns such as this one...

While this may look impassable, it actually had just enough nooks and crannies to allow passage.  Another blowdown about a quarter-mile further up wasn't as accommodating, so I turned around and began the trip back downriver.

Reaching my takeout location, the day's catch of 41 pieces disembarked onto the only remaining sunlit section of beach...

It was an interesting mix of glass, plastic and styrofoam and brokedown as follows:  18 recyclable containers (3 redeemable) and 23 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish such as 6 plastic bags that once contained GAF roofing shingles, other plastic bags, a styrofoam food container, and a plastic baseball bat.  YTD total stands at 3852.

I got home in time to enjoy the remnants of the day in Summerville...

Shawsheen River - Ballardvale

Today was an ideal day to experience a new river.  Having started work at the crack of dawn, I was finished at mid-day and decided to deviate just a bit from my usual route home and pass through the village of Ballardvale situated on the Shawsheen River.  The approach to the river was temporarily blocked by a long freight train.  As I'm a railfan, the delay was not the problem for this driver that it appeared to be for others.  Soon the train had left town and traffic resumed its flow.  Launch spots weren't clearly marked so I improvised in getting my boat into the water.  Once afloat, I looked downriver towards the dam (opening photo), then turned about and headed upriver.   
The Shawsheen is pretty much a mill pond until reaching the first of two railroad bridges...

After passing under this bridge the river starts to look and feel as a river should.

Some say the river's name is a Native American word meaning "serpentine".  Others say the meaning is "great spring".  After paddling 2.8 miles to the point where major power lines cross, I found it was only 1.6 miles as the crow flies.  Therefore, I'm thinking "serpentine" might carry the day.  Regardless of name issues, the river was an ideal place to spend this hot afternoon.  Shade was plentiful and a nice breeze freshened at regular intervals.
This section of the Shawsheen had very little trash in it and there were no blow-downs to impede a boat's progress.  I suspect there are folks who work hard at keeping it this way.
One group advocating for the Shawsheen is the Shawsheen River Watershed Association.  I found their Web site most helpful, especially their interactive map.
Wildlife seen today were turtles, a musquash, swallows, and a red-tailed hawk.
One kayaking fisherman reported catching a couple of bass and a couple of trout.
Everything seemed mellow on the river, even Route 93 looked tame...

Of course it didn't seem so tame, about 2 hours later when my car and I merged into vehicular mayhem!

Here is another view of the railroad bridge (looking downriver)...

 At the takeout, a very modest haul of 28 pieces of trash gathered hullside...

There were 14 recyclable containers (3 redeemable) and 14 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish such as plastic bags, styrofoam, and nip bottles.  YTD total stands at 3811.

A Trashpaddler's Paradise?

Is there such a place?  Where the skies are blue and a fresh breeze blows across ocean waters.  Protected harbors are within easy reach and discarded rum bottles have dollar bills in them!  Yes, I can almost hear Burl Ives singing that old hobo song "There's a lake of stew, and ginger ale too, and you can paddle all around it in a big canoe, In the Big Rock Candy Mountain" and then the chorus "Oh the buzzin of the bees, in the cigarette trees, near the soda water fountains, at the lemonade springs, where the blue bird sings, on the Big Rock Candy Mountain."

Well today, after Mrs. Trashpaddler and I briefly visited this quaint and safe old harbor...

we emerged to find such a Trashpaddler's dream, an empty rum bottle with a rolled-up dollar bill inside...

Note the bill inside.  Nice!

The beer bottle floating near it was missing its dollar bill...

Probably just an oversight.

A visit to one of the many beaches provided some of those wafer-thin "Hooksett Poker Chips" absolutely free of charge!

Yes, this truly was paradise, and this picture would show a very wide smile if it weren't for my hat providing too much shade...

Of course, being that this place was paradise, I'm not at liberty to divulge the location.  However, there are ample clues, not the least of which is the required flying of the International Trashpaddler's flag.

Back at the takeout location the day's booty was divvied up...

Salty chips anyone?

Todays count: 21 pieces of trash breaking down as 7 recyclable containers (3 redeemable) and 14 pieces of miscellaneous trash such as plastic and 8 Hooksett Discs.  YTD total = 3783

By the way, I like the slogan on the Cape Pond Ice bag: PURE YANKEE COLD    That's cold!!!

A lot to ponder while enjoying our post-paddle "Dark and Stormy".

Sudbury River - Little Farms to Saxonville

It had been awhile since my last visit to Saxonville.  In fact, since the ice cream plant ceased operations and put a stop to my once frequent commutes.  So, early this morning I decided to re-visit Little Farms Road and get in a trash patrol before the heat of the day. 
The launch area itself was good for about 24 pieces of trash before reaching the water.  After getting my boat launched, I headed upriver and found things quiet and peaceful.  Water levels have dropped quite a bit and the river is revealing all her secrets:  the bottom is littered with approximately 24 automobile tires between Little Farms and Cochituate Brook.  There is easily a dozen or more within 100' of where the brook enters the river.  One tire from the riverbank was lashed to my aft deck.

This was the view (above the surface) looking into Cochituate Brook...

Between this point and Lake Cochituate, at the bridge carrying the Old Connecticut Path over the brook, is a historical marker.  In all the times I've passed over the bridge, I'd never stopped to check it out.  So, on this quiet holiday morning, at the completion of my paddle, I drove to the bridge and examined the marker...

  It seemed appropriate subject matter for this Independence Day.

One very noticeable difference in the river since my last visit was the missing bridge at Danforth Street...

Oddly, the much older (pedestrian only) bridge remains.

The trip downriver was enhanced by a chance encounter with a raccoon family...

Mother raccoon seemed nonplussed and went about her business while one of the youngters was most curious...

Other wildlife seen were a blue heron, a hawk, a northern flicker, a musquash, and a healthy looking crayfish.

Back at Little Farms, the day's haul of 107 pieces spread-out hullside...

There were 34 recyclable containers (6 redeemable) and 73 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish such as plastic bags, styrofoam, and the 3rd tire of the season.  YTD total stands at 3762.

Dunkin' Donuts, WHAT ARE YOU THINKIN' ?

Let's sell some iced coffee and spread some more polystyrene (aka styrofoam) into the environment? More free trash for our "throw away" society!!!

Yesterday, needing to stay awake late in the day, I went into the nearest Dunkin' Donuts and purchased a medium iced coffee.  It was handed to me with the plastic cup inserted into a styrofoam cup which apparently is meant to act as an insulator.  I, nor any of the customers in front of me, asked for this extra cup, yet we all received one.  For would be litterers it's a twofer!
Is this how a socially responsible corporation acts...  especially when they know that poylstyrene is one of the worst man-made products to release into the environment? (Caught off-guard this time, next time this customer will refuse it).
At a minimum, this should be something customers need to ask for and there should be an additional charge.  Wouldn't a re-usable neoprene insulator bearing their logo be a better option?  

Bruce Freeman Rail Trail Litter

Mrs. Trashpaddler and I did some pedaling this morning on the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail.  Starting near the old Carlisle Depot location, we journeyed up to Lowell and back and recovered the trash pictured at left along the way.  These 20 pieces of trash are fairly typical of what we see along other rail trails.  There were 7 recyclable plastic bottles, 5 recyclable iced-coffee cups, 2 redeemable soda cans, and 6 plastic bags.  This brought my YTD total to 3655.

I'm left to wonder if the increasingly popular slurpy and iced-coffee cups would be included in an expanded Bottle Bill that addresses non-carbonated beverage containers.  Hopefully, they will be.

Another issue that concerns me is the labels on plastic bottles.  The bottles pictured above still retain their identifying labels whereas most of the plastic bottles found in waterways do not (note recent pictures of plastic bottles from the Mystic River).  Apparently, prolonged contact with water dissolves the glue and thus renders plastic soda bottles unredeemable.  A solution to this problem would be to have the redemption status embossed on the plastic rather than on a glued label.   Updating our Bottle Bill is the right thing to do. 
The reality is that the odds don't look good for any progress to be made on our outdated Bottle Bill as seemingly all of Massachusetts is transfixed on "all Whitey Bulger, all the time".  They used to say "that's what sells newspapers".  Today, it should be "that's what sells furniture and automobiles".
What passes for Boston television news coverage these days would be comical if it wasn't so pathetic.  Wait, I just heard one major channel has an exclusive on "the Whitey Bulger letters" (written from Alcatraz in the 1950s).  How do the longtime newscasters keep a straight face?  Do they use facial paralysis drugs? Easy to understand why that fellow was living in an underground bunker on Nantucket!  A true visionary?

Since I'm ranting....
The best example of why the Bottle Bill needs to be updated was the guy I saw at a traffic light while driving to the Mystic River on Wednesday.  He was marching up and down the traffic stopped at the light while carrying a sign saying "homeless, please help".  His footwork needed to be nimble to avoid all the worthless plastic trash littering the ground.  An updated Bottle Bill would have resulted in a whole bunch of nickels on the ground rather than worthless litter!