Ice Art on the Assabet

 

The Assabet River's ice art was on display earlier this week following 5 days where the temperature stayed below the freezing point.  It was seen on the way upriver to Damonmill in West Concord, MA...

There were multi-layered ice shelves...

and...

 

...

Seething teeth...

and crystal-clear columns...

Finally this one stood out...

...and tempted me into getting perpendicular to the current in order to get a better photo.  This resulted in my taking a not-on-the-schedule Polar Plunge.  Fortunately I was dressed for immersion and able to get to shore.  Note to self: NEVER, EVER get perpendicular to the current in order to snap a better photo.  Sim card survived, verdict still out on camera.

Paid a second visit to the same general area of the Assabet yesterday under much milder conditions...

...and found nearly all of the ice gone.

Temperatures were in the upper 40s F. which may have caused this fly to awaken earlier than usual...

A pair of bony hands beneath the surface resulted in this bit of plastic...

It sort of summed up my week.

Trash gathered up included 6 miniature aka "nip" bottles...

Paddling past the Concord Reformatory's power plant...

...brought to mind the recent announcement of the facility being shut down by this summer.  There's quite a bit of property related to this facility which has been a prison since 1878.  Quite a bit along the Assabet River.

Disoriented On the River

 

Ordinarily I wouldn't gain access to the Sudbury River by launching into Heard Pond in Wayland, MA...but these are not ordinary times.  January is impersonating March and river levels are high enough that many bridges are short on headroom.  Thus, this past Thursday, Heard Pond gave me access to a good bit of the Sudbury River without having to navigate bridges.

After launching into the almost completely ice-free pond, a short paddle brought me to the pond's southern end where it was difficult to determine where the pond ended and river began...

Once out on the newly widened river the main channel couldn't be discerned...

It was disorienting to have many of the usual markers submerged and reminded me of the feeling one gets when enveloped in fog on the ocean.  Nonetheless, I was very happy to be paddling in January under blue skies with a temperature near 40 degrees F.

The Pelham Island Road Bridge confirmed I'd made the right decision in launching at Heard Pond...

The only ice I came across that day was on the far western side of the pond...

The following day, Friday, delivered more sun, less wind, and even warmer temperatures...45 degrees F.  I launched from a flooded Calf Pasture at Lowell Road in Concord, MA...

...and after visiting the fully submerged inscription at Egg Rock...

...headed downstream on the Concord River.  Enjoyed a hot cup of cocoa while just sitting in my boat riding the current which was moving me along at close to 2 mph.  The Old North Bridge had ample headroom...

...as did the Monument Street bridge around the next bend.  Nearly all of last Sunday's snow was nowhere to be seen.

The Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge impoundments could have been accessed by boat (though doing so is not allowed)...

...and the Dike Trail/Landing area was also submerged...

High water allowed taking a shortcut straight across the Holt rather than following the river's jog around it.  I emerged back into the river below Buttrick's Hill and came across this Common Goldeneye pair...

More rain last night was accompanied by even more milder air with temperatures near 60 degrees F. today.  Perhaps this is our "January Thaw"? 
 

Trash encountered Thursday on the Sudbury (in areas not usually accessible) included 104 miniature bottles (aka "nips")...

Trash found Friday on the Concord (in areas not usually accessible) included 15 miniatures...

Good article in today's Boston Globe by Beth Treffeisen about the Town of Plymouth, MA where  voters will decide whether or not to ban the sale of miniature alcohol bottles.  What would the Pilgrims have thought of these troublesome little containers being all over the place? 

Shoving Off Into 2024

 

Shoved off from shore on New Year's Day in Stow, MA and paddled the Assabet River under gathering clouds.  There was not a crystal of ice nor flake of snow to be seen.  Just the way I like it.  My hope is that a delayed winter will be a short winter.

A few hours later the clouds had dispersed and the afternoon proved a beauty...

The first person I encountered out on the river in 2024 was a duck hunter returning downriver in his kayak.  He reported having witnessed a spectacular sunrise several hours earlier. 

Two days later on Wednesday I launched into the Nashua River at Petapawag...

Here things were reversed with the morning's bright sunshine rapidly fading behind clouds.

One small island hosted this large nest...

An adult eagle was seen flying past the same island...

A fellow paddler I ran into at the boat launch mentioned having heard a deceased adult eagle was recently found in this area of the Nashua River.  I believe he said that birdshot was the cause.  If true, I can't imagine how one would feel upon discovering they'd mistakenly shot our national bird. 

Now three days into the new year, and after a few cold mornings, ice was beginning to take hold again in this large cut-off oxbow...

The first trash of the new year included one balloon and 7 miniatures...

Trash from Wednesday included 57 miniatures...

2023 Out On a High Note

Yesterday provided the perfect day for closing out my 2023 paddling season.  Things started out real foggy on the Nashua River in Harvard, MA...

...but eventually blossomed into a beautiful sunny day with only a light southwest breeze and temperatures in the low 50's F...

It'd be hard to top such conditions this late in December, so I won't even try.

The scent of fresh creosote (which I'm partial to) was wafting from the CSX railroad bridge...

A short hike to the bridge found the source to be newly-installed wood timber decking ...

Thus this old bridge heads into 2024 sporting new crossties and new rails.

On Christmas Eve my second-to-last paddle was on the Assabet River in West Concord, MA which allowed for one last foray up Nashoba Brook to one of the two dams at Warner's Pond...

...where the vertical drop was minimal (the gauge at the Commonwealth Ave bridge showed 4.7').

My final wildlife encounter of 2023 was with this red-tailed hawk along the Assabet near Westvale...

My last two trash hauls of 2023:

Christmas Eve from the Assabet River included 40 miniatures and some Christmas colors...

Yesterday's final trash from the Nashua River at Oxbow (south) included 135 miniatures...

It was appropriate to close out 2023 with a good haul of miniatures as the year's consistently high water levels kept miniatures on the move.   Here's a look at the small bottles (aka "nips")...

So, since my boat and paddle will be resting until 2024 gets underway, it's a good time to look astern at my 2023 paddling year.

It wasn't long into 2023, February 12th to be exact, that I encountered my first and only floating, unopened fortune cookie on the Assabet River in Stow, MA...

...and, of course, I had to open it to see if I'd stumbled upon good fortune...

...deep stuff and I couldn't agree more.  I guess it helps explain why 2023 had me subsequently having to get used to using a smart phone instead of my trusty Kindle to read the daily newspaper (Kindle was better).  On a more positive note, Mrs.Trashpaddler and I replaced our conventional bicycles with new electric-assist bikes (which we love riding and kind of takes me back to my long-ago motorcycle riding days).

Paddling-wise, things were pretty much the same with my boats, gear, and local waterways.  Took several multi-day trips to places further afield: 

In April I went west and spent 4 days with summerlike warmth paddling the tidal reach of the Hudson River below Albany, NY.  The Mahican people once occupied Schodack and Papscanee islands in this stretch of the Hudson. Nowadays it's not unusual to encounter ocean-going vessels here, some 140 miles up from the ocean where they dwarf most other watercraft...

The Hudson also provided these hot-tub duckies...

g

In May a 2-day trip brought me to the Poultney River on the Vermont/New York border...

...and provided this encounter with a mink enjoying some fish take-out...

In June I spent 5 days paddling and camping in the Bangor/Old Town/Orrington area of Maine.  Paddled alongside Indian Island, ancestral home of the Penobscot people...

The area is also remembered for the legendary log drivers personified by the pictured Paul Bunyan...

Explored the tidal reach of Maine's Penobscot River...

...where eagles were aplenty...

Speaking of wildlife, my favorite encounters in 2023 were the following: 

This 6-point buck along the Assabet River...

This green heron also along the Assabet River...

However, my most memorable wildlife encounter took place in the Assabet River where I came upon a coyote entering the river in pursuit of Canada geese goslings...

...and working his way upriver of the geese...

His ultimate lunge for the goslings was repulsed by one of the adult geese while the other adult herded the goslings away...leaving him dumbfounded...

2023's most egregious piece of litter was a 1-gallon plastic jug full to the brim with someone's used motor oil.  It was found floating in the Connecticut River...

The number of miniature alcohol bottles (aka "nips") I come across continues to increase each year.

Total miniatures for 2023 = 3,553 (2,604) from the Nashua R.).  This compares with 1,453 in 2022.

  The biggest single-day gathering of miniatures occurred on the Nashua River near Bolton Flats...

The plastic bag contains 275 miniatures recovered from one large trash trap on the Nashua River in Bolton...

The aforementioned trash trap...

...which will quite likely provide job security for trash paddlers in 2024.

With the year's generous water levels there were lots of Ducky Race escapees on the loose.

This group came from the Assabet River...

...and these more laid-back ducks came from the Nashua River...

The year's consistently high water levels resulted in fewer glass bottles.  Here's the 3 keepers I came across...

The cobalt blue Genuine Phillips bottle came from the Connecticut River in Hatfield, MA; the "It's Hoods" 1-pint bottle came from the Merrimack River in Lowell, MA; and the quart-sized milk bottle marked "Old Acre Farm" came from the Concord River in Concord, MA.

But wait...there's one more.  Yesterday when I least expected to find a glass bottle I saw an old one peeking out from the riverbank...

The bottle was in like-new condition but has no embossing or marks to help identify it.  It held one quart and would've been sealed with a cork.  

One final item noticed yesterday was this old railing attesting to the location of the long-gone Still River Railroad Station...

It's the only piece of the station that I've been able to find and can be seen in an old postcard showing the area to the station's right side.

Happy 2024 to all and safe waters to fellow paddlers!