My Water Roots

I have recently re-activated my original blog, Trashpaddler and will place trash-themed posts there.  This post concerning the message in a bottle found on the Assabet River can be found here .

Spent last Sunday and Monday paddling bits of the Connecticut River in Springfield and Easthampton, MA.  For the Springfield section (about 70 miles above Long Island Sound) I launched from Bondi's Island in Agawam, MA under cloudy skies.  The launch there offers little in the way of  facilities but gets the job done.  With the wind being calm the river reflected Springfield's skyline (above) and the stately Memorial Bridge... ...before occasional light rain put an end to such reflections.   It was between this bridge and the railroad bridge beyond that a tornado formed back on June 1st, 2011.  An article by Brian Brenner in Engineering News-Record titled Strange Doings on Memorial Bridge includes a link to a camera recording of the tornado's forming.  Brenner's article also mentions the bridge having been featured in an advertisement for the casino MGM Springfield. Downstream, on the Springfield side, the Mill River enters in a concrete...

This past September was memorable to me for the number of paddling outings in which bald eagles were encountered.  While I'd noticed a general uptick in the number of times I see these majestic birds while paddling, this September was just crazy.  I went out paddling 11 times during September and encountered eagles on 7 of those occasions (4 in Massachusetts and 3 in New Hampshire).   Even though eagle encounters are becoming more and more frequent, I still feel a sense of excitement upon seeing one and remember all the years when I never saw them.  It's been incredible to witness how fast our nation's symbol has rebounded from near extinction.  The success is said to be a result of the 1972 ban on the pesticide DDT (thanks to Rachel Carson's book "Silent Spring") as well as protection provided to eagles by the Endangered Species Act of 1973.  Each time we see an eagle it's a reminder of how successful the Endangered Species Act can be in protecting...

As the last of the early morning fog dissipated this past Friday, I paddled away from the Route 116 bridge in Sunderland, MA and headed up a very low Connecticut River.  The waters around the islands were particularly shallow.  Second Island, being in the middle of the river, basked in the sunshine... Third Island had a pair of ospreys at its south end and this eagle at the north end... The crook of a dead tree cradled a nest... In addition to being an avid paddler, I'm also a railfan and couldn't resist paddling a bit further to the double-track railroad bridge providing access to Pan-Am Railway's East Deerfield freight yard... My plan was to stop below the bridge in hopes a train might grace the structure.  I didn't have to wait long as the yard switcher began pulling a cut of cars towards the Montague side... While the switcher crossed and recrossed the bridge several times working the yard's east end, I found a spot on shore for my lunch...

The fall foliage was an unexpected surprise when I paddled the 697-acre Highland Lake in Stoddard, NH this past Monday.  Being 2 weeks after Labor Day and a weekday, most cottages were unoccupied and their related watercraft secured to docks.  The lake is tributary to the Contoocook River's North Branch. A map of the lake found on the New Hampshire Fish and Game web site (public access maps for NH's 36 largest lakes) ... I launched at the south end... The lake's outlet is a short distance from the ramp.  The gatehouse there was being renovated... This long and narrow lake has more of a river-feel in places.  The wind (sw) was most noticed in the wider sections... ...whereas at the lake's northern end, things were quite serene... ...so quiet, in fact, that water could be heard tumbling through the rocks of this tributary... More signs of fall foliage... An osprey surveyed over a cove on the lake's east side... ...while this regal eag...