Almost Paddling the Blackstone

This past Friday Mrs. Trashpaddler and I discovered a new (to us) bike trail in neighboring Rhode Island.  The Blackstone River Bikeway proved a great place to experience both the river and historic canal while pedaling rather than paddling.

Of course finding the trailhead in Woonsocket was a bit of a challenge, but eventually we did find Davison Street and the Rivers Edge Recreation Complex (photo at left).  Better signage would be a big help.
 
From this location the trail took us south along the Providence and Worcester railroad tracks, and the Blackstone river and canal through Lincoln and Cumberland.  I lost track of how many times we crossed from one side of the river to the other.
We paused at the Manville Dam...

...and further down the trail checked out this viaduct-type structure...

...near the sprawling Ashton Mills...

 ...where this empty can of Shandy featuring the flavors of Narragansett beer and Del's Lemonade.  May have to give this beverage a try.  This can and one empty plastic water bottle were the only trash we saw on the ten mile stretch of bikeway.  

Paddling alongside the canal in the area of Canoe Rock...

 

 

...I had a deja-vu feeling and later realized I'd experienced this stretch before via Erik's camera on his Open Boat, Moving Water blog.  Specifically his post and video on paddling the Ashton Loop.

The Lonsdale Drive-In theater itself may be gone, but its colorful sign lives on...

It's a great bike trail that I'm sure we'll be visiting again.

Paddling to Spirit Falls

Woke up with the thought that after three days of rainy weather, today might be just the day to visit Spirit Falls in Royalston.

I launched from the Tully River Canoe Launch on Doane's Hill Road.  The boat launch is well-maintained by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and includes a portable toilet.

I headed upriver...

 ...towards Long Pond.

Just before reaching the pond I landed my boat...

...and began the short hike to Spirit Falls.  Along the way I encountered two friendly and helpful Trustees of Reservations employees who were performing trail maintenance work.  They assured me I was heading in the right direction and also told me about the Tully Lake Campground which is located near to where I'd launched.  The campground is operated by the Trustees of Reservations and sounds like an ideal place for campers desiring access to both the river and the lake. 

Shortly after leaving them the trail got steeper and the sound of the falls got louder...until the rugged path brought me close enough to where I could feel the spirit of the falls...

A beautiful spot to visit on this beautiful day.

Then it was back to the river and my boat for more paddling to the north end of Long Pond...

Once there, another mile above the pond was paddled thanks to the recently raised water levels.
Three or four beaver dams were slid over before I reached the builders' biggest lodge...

...and the dam they're proudest of...

At this location just beyond the power lines...

...I turned about and began heading back.

The view to the SE was a beauty...

Along the way I stopped to admire these pitcher plant flowers...

...and a nearby tree swallow...

Blue herons, Canada geese, mallard ducks, a belted kingfisher, an eastern kingbird, and a good-sized snapping turtle were also seen.

The area was pristine and since only two pieces of trash were encountered over six miles they were photographed in-situ...

I guess this is no river for old trashpaddlers...and that's nice for a change.

South of Doane's Hill Road I briefly visited the spot where Lawrence Brook enters the river and lake...

On my drive out of the area a brief visit was made to Doane's Falls (another Trustees of Reservation site)...

 

 

Doane's Falls is further up Lawrence Brook and, according to a stone monument, is where the brook drops some 200 feet before entering the Tully.

This inscribed millstone attests to how revered the site is...

Just Ducky on the Concord

 
 

Under yesterday morning's changeable skies I headed upriver on the Concord from Rt. 225 in Bedford.



A floating cardboard package containing these small packets of mosquito repellent were found and may get me through the summer...

Further upstream where the river makes a 90 degree bend, a recently expanded family of wood ducks were in the progress of crossing from one side to the other...

Mother wood duck is pretending to be injured and at the same time trying to get her brood of 12 little ones back in line (which she eventually did)...

Someone's artistic offering to the river...

Trash found along the way...

Possibly the life jacket from the crawdad?

Crawdad in the Assabet

The inscription at Egg Rock was found to be high and dry at the start of a lazy ascent of the Assabet River yesterday afternoon.  The river is already at water levels more typical of late summer.



At the Leaning Hemlocks the other inscribed rock (in memory of George Bartlett) was found to also be in a dry and parched condition...

Just before reaching Spencer Brook I came upon this upside-down and partially-submerged crawdad...

Pretty sure it's a Crawdad Jon boat made by Coleman back in the 1980s and 90s.  Looked to be in "not too bad shape" with a registration decal from 1990.
The only possible former occupant found in the area was this guy...

...and he wasn't talkin'.

Some recent blowdowns were found beyond where the former Reformatory Branch railroad bridge once stood...

Trash was mostly of a benthic nature...

 

 

...and included 2 coke bottles: one from the early 1940s and the other from 1951.  Both were laying on the bottom, mid-stream beneath the Leaning Hemlocks.

Great Day for Great Bay

Following Sunday's paddle to Newichawannock, repairing to overnight lodging in Portsmouth allowed me to access New Hampshire's Great Bay early on this past Monday morning.  With a 7:30 am high tide I launched at 6:30 am from Chapmans Landing on the Squamscott River in the town of Stratham. 

With me was nautical chart 13285 and a copy of Phil Blampied's Two Dozen Great Places to Float Your Small Boat (around Seacoast New Hampshire) both of which I'd purchased years ago in anticipation of this day.  Also fresh in my mind was this passage found in Russell M. Lawson's The Piscataqua Valley in the Age of Sail: A Brief History: "At high tide, according to one nineteenth-century observer "when this large basin is filled by the sea, the prospect over its pellucid surface, framed all around with green meadows and waving grain and noble woods, is truly enchanting.  but when the tide is out, a vast bed of black ooze is exposed to view, bearing the scanty waters of several small streams which empty into the great lagune." 
Launching from the "all tides" Chapman Landing would hopefully keep me out of that "black ooze".

After paddling about a mile I reached and passed under the railroad trestle where the Great Bay opened up before me...

Great Bay is said to be one of the largest estuaries on the Atlantic coast and also one of the furthest from the sea at about 10 miles distant.   The bay is a good 3 miles across and I headed NE towards the tidal outlet at Furber Strait.  This common tern watched my passage...

Approaching one of the Footman Islands...

...before reaching Furber Strait near Adams Point...

This strait leads to Little Bay and past the mouths of the Oyster and Bellamy rivers before reaching the Piscataqua River's main stem at Dover Point.  A considerable amount of water passes through here during each tide cycle.  At the time I reached this spot, the tide was just beginning to ebb.  Fishermen in several boats were trolling across on the Great Bay side of the strait.

This loon kept an eye on me...

Staying in the Great Bay I headed SE towards Thomas and Woodman points before arriving at little Nannie Island...

On Nannie were found both an Oyster shell and evidence of related crackers...

The day was developing into a beauty with Mr. Wind apparently sleeping-in as this view across the bay shows...

On my way back to the Squamscott River, I made a brief foray into the Lamprey River where this sign warned me to slow things down...

This beached canoe may pay testament to need for the sign...

The Lamprey narrows a short distance from its mouth...

Here I turned about and headed back to the Chapmans Landing passing under the railroad trestle...

...and by this occupied osprey nest...

By the time I arrived at the boat landing it was busy with both boat launchers and shore fishermen.

I found Great Bay to be truly a beautiful place to paddle, especially having done so with high water and light winds!

Before leaving Chapmans Landing for home, I checked out this swing bridge mechanism on display there...

It was once used in allowing the passage of sailing vessels transporting freight to and from Exeter at the head of tidewater.

This adjacent plaque explained just how important maintaining such navigation once was...

 

Very little trash was encountered in Great Bay which was great!...