Sudbury River - Rt. 62 to Fairhaven Bay & Return

Mrs. Trashpaddler joined me this morning for a trip to Fairhaven Bay in our new two-seater.  It was the maiden voyage for this boat and it proved very adept at providing us close encounters with wildlife.
At Clamshell Bank this Great Blue Heron hardly took notice of our passing...

 Similarly, this Musquash was more concerned with getting his breakfast home than our presence...

 At Conantum this White-tailed Deer paid us little heed as well...

We watched it feeding for several minutes before it casually sauntered off.

On our return trip we encountered several canoes and kayaks in addition to the fishermen we'd seen on the way upriver.

As trash patrols go, today was a bust and that was nice for a change.

Sudbury River - River Rd. to Power Lines & Back

This quiet Sunday morning was enjoyed while trash patrolling the Sudbury River from River Road to the power lines near the Allen H. Morgan Avian Study Area.   Construction at the Route 20 bridge is just about complete as the photo at left shows.  The area looks nice and the boat launch was being used despite the silt fence still being in place.

Trash was light until Indian Point and the outflow of Heard Pond where the numbers began to add up.  Most of what was recovered today looked pretty old and may have been repositioned by the March floods.

A little ways past the outlet from Heard Pond, I came upon this unfortunate male wood duck...
 
It appeared he was unable to fly and also had trouble keeping afloat. A female wood duck was just around the bend and seemed to be staying nearby.


Not too far away was this large snapping turtle with a head as big as my hand...

Other wildlife seen today were eastern kingbirds, red-winged blackbirds, belted kingfishers, tree swallows, robins, red-tailed hawks, blue herons, a great egret, painted turtles, and mallards.

On the return trip the river was much busier with folks fishing, canoeing and kayaking.

Today's trash haul spread out on a rare section of rocky (less muddy) shore...

The count for the day was 114 and it broke down as follows: 46 recyclable containers (4 redeemable) and 68 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish such as tennis balls, a softball, styrofoam cups/pieces, plastic bags, and nip bottles.  YTD total stands at 2710.

Concord River - Egg Rock to Fox Island & Return

Since today would be yet another with no ice cream production, I decided to trash patrol the Concord River from Egg Rock down to Fox Island.  You won't find an island by this name on any map, but I believe the island pictured at left is the one so named by Henry David Thoreau and his brother John after they spent a night camping on it back in 1839.
They had reached this point after rowing about 7 miles from the village of Concord.  Their journey ultimately took them to near Concord, New Hampshire and became the basis for Henry's first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers.

After launching my vessel at Egg Rock I began heading downriver and passed the point where Concord's Mill Brook enters the river via this beaver built structure...

Between Great Meadows and Davis Hill some trash was recovered and as I approached Rt. 225 the river began to open up...

About a half mile below Rt. 4, Fox Island was reached and I went ashore near some of its granite outcroppings...

My passengers whom had been enjoying the shady comfort of the fo'c'sle also decided to disembark and stretch their legs on the island while I enjoyed some lunch...

After lunch it was "All Aboard" and we began our trip back to Egg Rock.
We were joined for a few miles by Bedford paddler Leon G. who was introducing his new Epic 18-X to the Concord River.  Leon let up on the accelerator long enough for me to snap this photo...

Arriving back at Egg Rock I unloaded today's catch of 42 pieces of trash.  There were 27 recyclable containers (7 redeemable) and 15 pieces of miscellaneous trash such as the Igloo cooler, plastic bags, and nip bottles.  YTD total stands at 2596.
The photo was actually taken back on a small beach in Bedford and doesn't show 7 late and unexpected entries...

It was probably just as well no ice cream was made today as it would have been pretty tough to keep it from melting in the 95 + degree heat! 

Sudbury River - Egg Rock to Sherman's Bridge & Back

You can probably imagine how devastated I was upon finding that my ice cream making client wouldn't require my services today.  Apparently, folks aren't eating as much ice cream.  Oh well, I would just have to make do.  With such a beautiful weather forecast, I started thinking of all the places I'd like to paddle: The Taunton River, purported to be the longest undammed coastal river in New England; New Hampshire's Great Bay; Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay; Boston Harbor; and of course one of my all time favorites, Cape Ann.  I hemmed and hawed and finally decided that I wanted more time on the water and less time in the car.  The camping gear was left behind as well as my watch and shortly after leaving home I found myself launched into the Sudbury River and approaching Egg Rock.  I should say 'we' as two passengers had booked passage on this trip...

 They rode in the fo'c'sle and seemed to enjoy the voyage.

After passing under a mostly trash free Heaths Bridge, I came upon this little guy out for his morning swim...

Who knew Chipmunks could swim all the way across a river?  There was no response when he was asked why.
Reaching Fairhaven Bay, I had it all to myself and there was no waiting for an outside table at the Brooke Island Bistro...

Sated after a great lunch, my engine soon propelled me to Sherman's Bridge which became my turnaround point for the trip...

 The return trip downriver was pleasant.  This Canada geese family split their parenting duties 50/50...

Trash wasn't too bad and the usual suspects were rounded up.  The count was 34 pieces of trash which broke down as follows: 14 recyclable containers (8 redeemable) and 20 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish such as styrofoam and plastic bags.  YTD total stands at 2554.  Oddest find of the day was a nearly full can of beer (encased in a nice 'chill holder' bearing a fishing motif) at the base of a shady tree.  Perhaps the guy was abducted by aliens?

Assabet River - Egg Rock to Nashoba Brook & Back

Decided to trash patrol the lower Assabet River from Egg Rock to Nashoba Brook and take a look at the submerged dumpster found last week by the Karrs.  The opening photo shows the visible part of the dumpster as approached heading downstream.  It is located about 100 yards upstream from the Reformatory's treated wastewater outfall and is closer to the east bank than the west.  It is difficult to imagine how it came be in its present location.  Decals on the dumpster indicate it served a catering business located on Beharrell Street near Nashoba Brook.  My guess is that it was 'helped' into the flood-swollen brook back in March and was just buoyant enough to travel about 150 yards downstream.  Buoyancy may have been provided by the plastic bags of trash it still contains.  I would also guess it's size to be 1 or 2 cubic yards
 
On my way back to Egg Rock, I came upon this red-tailed hawk...

 I asked him to turn around and show his tail to the camera and he obliged...

Other wildlife seen today were blue herons, Canada geese, baby ducks, turtles, and Muscovite ducks.

Trash was plentiful today and included two automobile tires mounted on wheels.  Because they were still inflated it was possible to tow them back to my takeout location where they were left in the Concord DPW yard.   It is my hope that the DPW will be able to dispose of them.
The trash count for the day was 134 pieces and it brokedown as follows: 72 recyclable containers (14 redeemable), 62 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish consisting of a large block of styrofoam flotation, plastic bags, a dozen nip bottles, a frisbee, a plastic pail, styrofoam cups, etc.  YTD total stands at 2520.

Trash 'Mother Lode' Found in the Assabet River

About a week ago, David and Enid Karr of West Concord were boating on the Assabet River when they noticed a large submerged object.  David posted the following description on the http://www.concordma.com/ Discussion List: "On Saturday, Enid and I were enjoying the scenery along the Assabet River when we came across a bit more scenery than we'd counted on.  We spotted this item near the prison, upstream of the smokestack but downstream of Nashoba Brook.  I'd never expected to see one of these in the river.  I couldn't even guess what it was until we got almost to the point where I took the photo."  Enid clarified what the object was by saying "It's one of these, on its side, closed, but full and bulging.  Eeeeuuuwww!"
The Karrs wisely notified the Town of Concord and the dumpster company and report the authorities are working to have it removed.
Any trash paddlers encountering said dumpster, in the meantime, would be wise to heed Chief Brody's advice: "You're gonna need a bigger boat!"

Assabet River - Cox St. to Gleasondale Dam & Back

 On this idyllic spring day there was no place I wanted to be other than out on this stretch of the Assabet River paddling through what the Native Americans called Pompocitticut.
Almost immediately after launching and heading downriver, this Red-Winged Blackbird proudly displayed his impressive epaulettes and senior rank ...

 He had his second in command paddle over to brief me on today's mission...

Other wildlife seen today were eastern kingbirds, 2 blue herons, a red-tailed hawk, a wood duck family, 2 Canada geese families, a musquash, and a huge snapping turtle dining on a green leaf.
Yellow Flag flowers are blooming ...

The shooting range in Hudson was unusually quiet today leaving me to enjoy listening to Mark Knopfler's new release "Get Lucky".  For the guys at the shooting range he sang..."You can still get gas in Heaven, and a drink in Kingdom Come, In the meantime, I'm cleaning my gun."

And in the title song ..."Now I'm rambling through this meadow, happy as a man can be, Think I'll just lay me down, under this old tree, On and on we go, through this old world a' shuffling,   If you've got a truffle dog you can go truffling,   And you might get lucky now and then - you win some,  You might get lucky now and then - yeah, you win some"   Today, I won some! 

Returning to Cox Street, everyone disembarked and smiled for the camera...

Today's haul totaled 88 pieces of trash that brokedown as follows: 32 recyclables (4 redeemables) and 56 pieces of rubbish consisting of nip bottles, the mate to last weeks elaborate wine jug, styrofoam cups, plastic bags, soccer balls, a windshield snow scraper, a milk crate, and possibly Manny's old sneaker.  YTD total stands at 2386.