Aftermath on the Assabet

Yesterday I got out on the Assabet River in Stow and paddled through the aftermath of Tuesday's crash.  The crash I'm referring to (lest there be any confusion) is a small ultralight airplane having crashed into the river shortly after taking off from nearby Crow Island.  News reports said the pilot was able to get out of the craft and make it to shore with injuries which weren't life-threatening...a fortunate thing.

This group of mute swans probably witnessed much of what occurred...

...but they weren't talking.

So, I was left to ponder things by myself as I paddled down to Ben Smith Dam and back.  The only indications of the crash I saw were several floating pads which had been deployed to absorb fuel from the aircraft, and some small pieces of wood and plexiglass.

Elizabeth Brook was still contributing a good flow to the river...

...but things looked a bit on the dreary side at Ben Smith Dam...

The afternoon's trash haul...

Plenty to mull over.

 

Connecticut River Respite

Got as faraway as possible from all the political banter early yesterday morning by launching into the Connecticut River in Sunderland, MA.  Once on the river my choice was simple...upstream and against the wind, or downstream with the wind.  I chose the "up and against" knowing I could look forward to having the wind and current at my back for the return trip.

While figuring out which side of the river offered more shelter from the breeze, I noted a small tent on an island and saw a fellow fishing from shore alongside the tent.  Odd thing was there wasn't a boat.

I ultimately found the east side more to my liking and made slow and steady progress northward until reaching the Boston and Maine Railroad bridge connecting Montague and Deerfield...

...where I stopped for lunch with hopes a big freight train might soon make the crossing.  None did.

My return trip downriver offered views of Mt. Toby...

  ...this well-built eagle's nest...

...and quite likely the nest owner himself...

The best weather of the day coincided with seeing the eagle...

Further downriver a fellow carrying a good-sized load of gear was seen hiking along the river's east bank.  I'm fairly sure he was the same fellow I'd seen earlier camped on an island.  No idea how he got across the channel without a boat.

The tongue of one island shows the different layers of vegetation...

Soon Sugarloaf appeared...

...and my all too brief escape came to an end.

Very little trash was recovered along the way...

Would Rivers Still Flow?

Ventured out onto the Sudbury River this morning from River Rd. in Wayland.  Tired and a bit groggy from having stayed up late watching the seventh and deciding game of the baseball World Series, I had to get out and see for myself just how different the world would look now that the Chicago Cubs are baseball's champions.  Would rivers still flow?  Birds still fly?

A peaceful, warm, and tranquil world was what I encountered.

Just before I launched, another boater, Ed, arrived and prepared to do some fishing from his fairly new Radisson...

He uses an electric motor to propel his craft... a nice set up.

Soon I was underway and heading upriver to Heard Pond Landing where fellow paddler, David, recently reported there being a new beaver dam across the full width of the river.  Beavers must have constructed it during the summer when water levels were at their lowest point...

The river has broken through on the far right side (looking upriver).

Proceeding a little further, I was stopped by this blowdown just before reaching Indian Point...

The trip back to River Rd. was fairly typical with sightings of kingfishers, red-tailed hawks, a marsh hawk, and several blue herons.  However, between the Greenways and Pelham Island Road a large bird flew towards me from downriver.  I'd just put my sunglasses on and, by the time I'd removed them to better see my camera's screen, the eagle was above my head.  I could only aim the camera and click...

Eagle sightings continue to increase (even around these parts).

My trash haul included a small snowsled...

...serving as a trash toboggan.

Connecticut River Convergence

The Connecticut River looked dreamlike and inviting yesterday morning as I headed upriver from the Pauchaug Boat Launch in Northfield, Massachusetts.

My goal was to explore the confluence of the Connecticut and Ashuelot rivers and make it to the Vernon Hydro Dam 2 miles beyond the Ashuelot.

Leaving Massachusetts and entering New Hampshire I soon encountered the remains of a Boston and Maine railroad bridge...

 ...which spanned the river between Vermont to the left and New Hampshire to the right.  The bridge's demise was brought about when the pier closest to the Vermont side tilted in that direction.

This red-tailed hawk enjoyed the morning sun on the Vermont side...

About 3 miles upriver I came upon Upper Island...

...where the wake from the first of only 3 other boats I would encounter all day was encountered.  The river got shallower at this point and the current became stronger.  Because of this, I passed by the Ashuelot confluence and continued north to see if I could overcome the current and make it to Vernon Dam.

I pushed past the west side of Stebbins Island and eventually reached a small island just downstream of Vernon Dam...

 ...where this eagle with a banded leg was waiting to greet me...

Perhaps expecting me to go past, he reversed his perch...

Another eagle was about 25 yards away...

Both watched over the river from the island closest to Vermont's Governor Hunt Recreation Area where I enjoyed lunch.

Returning to the river I then glided with the current down to the large Stebbins Island which is surrounded by very shallow conditions...

Staying river left soon brought me to the Ashuelot confluence where I entered its much smaller confines...

The former Boston and Maine RR bridge just up from the confluence serves now as a rail trail...

It was worth the climb to see the view the bridge provided of the confluence and my boat...

Clouds were rapidly filling the sky.

On my return trip to Pauchaug I stopped briefly a little downriver of the old railroad bridge piers and admired the remains of what was once a very majestic tree...

It's not often that I see a tree having this much girth, and I was left to wonder if this tree might be old enough to remember the events of 1675 when during the conflict known as "King Philip's War" a Native American war party sought refuge in these parts.  Following a February raid on the settlement of Lancaster, MA the Native Americans and their captives including Mary Rowlandson spent several weeks heading to the west and north.  Reaching Squakeag (present day Northfield) they crossed the Connecticut River in canoes somewhere near Pauchaug.  Once on the west side of the river, Mary Rowlandson came face to face with Philip himself (the Native American leader most feared and reviled by colonists).  She describes the encounter as follows in her Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson; "he bade me come in and sit down, and asked me whether I would smoke it (a usual compliment nowadays amongst saints and sinners) but this no way suited me.  For though I had formerly used tobacco, yet I had left it ever since I was first taken.  It seems to be the bait the devil lays to make men lose their precious time.  I remember with shame how formerly, when I had taken two or three pipes, I was ready for another, such a bewitching thing it is.  But I thank God, He has given me the power over it; surely there are many who may be better employed than to lie sucking a stinking tobacco-pipe."

Mary's account of her captivity became a best selling novel after it was published in 1682.  Rather than chapters, she uses "Removes".  They arrive at Squakeag in the Seventh Remove and the Connecticut is first crossed in the Eighth Remove.
The second crossing occurs in the Ninth Remove and was "five miles up the river" from the first.  Lancaster historian Henry Nourse published a map in 1903 showing the approximate locations.  The second crossing looks to have been near or at Stebbins Island.  I found the water very shallow there and it would have been even more so before the dam at Turners Falls was built.  Quite possibly they were able to wade across.

My trash haul for the day was modest...

 ...and included a long sheet of bubble wrap which I first mistook for fish eggs.

A Harried Assabet

The Assabet River provided a little taste of winter yesterday with chilly air accompanied by a blustery breeze.

I launched from Magazu's Landing and soon encountered my first ever "swimming rat" fishing lure minus a tail and no fishing line attached...

Found online, it's a BBZ-1 Rat 50 in "morning dawn" color and (with the tail) goes for just under $30...a keeper as I plan to do some lure-casting next year.  A lure this size should cast a long way.

At the box culvert where Fort Meadow Brook enters the river, head pressure was forcing brook water through the beaver dam within the culvert...

The water upstream of the culvert had ponded to a level even with the culvert's top.

Several trees have fallen across the Assabet recently and are acting as traps for leaves, grass, duckweed, and trash...

One fallen tree limb seemed to be pointing skyward...

Despite the changes in landscape and blustery conditions, a harrier went about its business oblivious to all but the task at hand...

...which allowed me to see its owl-like face...

On the way back to the landing I encountered duck hunters heading upriver.  Though the season officially started two weeks ago, they were the first hunters of that type I've encountered this fall.

The trash haul for the day included 4 more mouthwash bottles (frequently found in this stretch of the Assabet)...

Assabet Snaps to Life

It's been quite awhile since the Assabet River chugged the way it did yesterday.  The effects of Friday night's deluge on the river are reflected by the USGS gauge in Maynard.  The river's water level, that had been languishing around 1 foot for months, rapidly rose to 3.3 feet in a matter of hours.  Flow rate went from 30 cubic feet per second to 420 cubic feet. 

I launched Saturday morning from Lowell Road, and paddled to the inscription at Egg Rock (opening photo) which showed a modest rise in water level.  However, the difference in flow rate between the Sudbury River and Assabet was obvious to the eye....and it seemed the Sudbury had stopped to admire the Assabet as it raced past.

Proceeding upriver on the Assabet I enjoyed making slow but steady progress, occasionally resting at eddies.  Many of the rocks that emerged over the summer were now submerged...

A short way above Willow Island I came across this boat...

...that had gone adrift and ended up pinned against a snag upstream of Willow Island.  Believe I've seen it beached behind a nearby home....guess it wasn't secured by rope.

At the confluence with Nashoba Brook this bag of Deer Corn was leaning up against a tree...

It no longer contained deer bait but rather 3 empty beer containers...

...a reminder that archery hunting season for deer is in progress.  According to Massachusetts hunting regulations baiting for deer during hunting season is illegal (but so is littering for that matter).

I stopped my upriver work at the MBTA commuter rail bridge in West Concord and began the much quicker and easier return trip back to Lowell Rd.  There I encountered Ray and Dave who'd just returned from paddling the Sudbury River.  Like me, they'd recovered trash found afloat along the way.

My trash haul from the Assabet...

Aside from the trash, it was good to see the Assabet looking its old self again.

A Swift Return

I'd last paddled the crystal-clear waters of the Swift River back in 2014 and this past Tuesday decided to return.  Doing so allowed my fortunate escape from the low clouds and fog that plagued eastern Massachusetts on that day.

  On the Swift in the central part of the state I enjoyed sunshine, fall foliage, and summer-like warmth. 

I launched my boat from the Swift River Access...

...on Cold Spring Rd. in Belchertown which provides access to an approximately 6 mile stretch of the Swift between Winsor Dam (actually Rt. 9) on the Quabbin and the dam downriver at Bondsville. 

After launching I paddled downriver to where I approached the dam at Bondsville...

Looking at the falls there from just below the dam...

I spent a little time in the area of the dam but didn't realize until later that not one, but two railroads, once occupied the immediate area.
This photo (from the book The Central Mass.) shows a westbound Central Massachusetts RR passenger train crossing high above the river just downstream of the same dam back in the 1920s...

The rails running alongside the Swift in the above photo were the Boston and Albany's Athol Branch which traversed the Swift River Valley until the creation of Quabbin Reservoir flooded the valley further upriver in the late 1930s.  The high Central Mass RR trestle survived until 1983.

Here's the view looking south towards where the 3 young men were standing in the 1920s photo...

From the dam at Bondsville I paddled approximately 4 miles upriver to where the Swift gets both shallower and narrower as it nears the outlet of Quabbin Reservoir which is located another 2 miles upriver.  A little ways above Cady Lane I encountered a fly-fisherman in waders...

...and turned about.

The waters of the Swift River are the clearest I've ever paddled.  As long as Quabbin Reservoir continues to provide high-quality drinking water to the faucets of Greater Boston, this section of the Swift should remain pristine.

There was very little trash...

To the left is trash found in the river while to the right are bottles found next to a fire ring on a small island.