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!           

Mystic River Reflections

MYSTIC

("Great Tidal River")

Would Nanepashemet find today's river worthy of its name?



In planning my recent visits to the Mystic River, I found the Web site of the Mystic River Watershed Association most helpful. On their site, under the heading Mystic River History is the following:
"The name Mystic is derived from the Indian word "MissiTuk" or "great tidal river" a reference to the Mystic having once been tidal. For hundreds of years, Native Americans lived and fished along the Mystic..."
I'm left to wonder why this river can't be restored, at least minimally, to its tidal nature. While I understand the Amelia Earhart Dam (AED) was built as a flood control measure to prevent tidal flooding such as occurred during the Hurricane of 1938, I don't understand why the AED locks can't be left open and function the same as the hurricane gates do in Providence, Rhode Island. Thousands of anadromous fish could then gain passage upriver in the middle of the night without having to wait for a powerboat to sound its horn and alert the lock tender. From my observations, the river could use the twice daily flushing it is named for.  Aside from a hurricane, leave the gates open!

Further into the Mystic

After working a graveyard shift last night, I decided to trash patrol another stretch of the Mystic River before going home.  Rain showers had passed through the area at around 4 am and skies were still cloudy on my drive to Mystic Riverbend Park.  I launched at the same location as last Monday, but headed upriver this time.  By the time I reached Main Street, the sun had emerged from the clouds and a nice day was in the making (opening photo).
Trash was plentiful right from the start as were black-crowned night-herons...

These herons were seen in trees, on docks, and on boats.  Blue herons were few and far between, for a change.  Cormorants, Canada geese, and mallards were also present in good numbers.

In addition to large floating mats of lily pads there were large clumps of water chestnut plants.  Areas where folks had been removing the plants were evident.  Looks like hard work.

I kept an eye out for Rock Hill somewhere upstream of the Winthrop Street bridge, but couldn't discern where it may have been located.

Train horns drew my attention to the commuter rail bridge in time to see an inbound train cross over the river after having stopped at West Medford...

Shortly thereafter I gazed into Alewife Brook...

Though it looked inviting, I resisted and continued up the Mystic.

Not knowing how much further it was to Lower Mystic Lake, I almost turned around at the Route 60 overpass.  Instead I decided to take a peek around the next bend, and there it was...

I paddled up to the distant structures and could see the higher water level of Upper Mystic Lake...

This became my turn around point and I began heading back to where I'd launched.

Did I say that trash was plentiful?  Once my ship's holds were full, overflow began piling up on-deck...

Reaching the takeout, another good catch was unloaded hullside...

Today's haul numbered 191 pieces of trash.  There were 114 recyclable containers (27 redeemable) and 77 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish such as plastic bags, styrofoam, nip bottles, and an open container of "Never-Seez" pipe thread coating.  My YTD total stands at 3635.
 
There's still lots of trash remaining along the banks.  I'm reminded of Bottle Bill opponents saying there's no need for a bottle bill nowadays because curbside recycling has made redemption programs obsolete.  The above picture tells a different story.