Sunday, March 30, 2008

Nashua River - Pepperell

Early each spring I make it a point to check out my favorite spots to see what the changes were over the winter. Typically the spring melt changes the landscape somewhat - new blowdowns, old blowdowns washed away, and of course, checking on the status of ne trash.
Today I went in at the Nashua River in Pepperell at Rt. 119. It's an easy place to get in and out of. I went upstream to just about Rt. 225. I dodn't find too much new debris - I did collect about a basket full including a 1-gallon container of Coleman Fuel - I hope it was empty when it did find the river. All-in-all though, the river was in good shape.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Squannacook River

I finally got a chance to get back out on the river - it's so good for my head. I went to the Squannacook River in West Groton. The ice was up to the boat launch so I portaged through the woods a ways and threw in.
The current was strong and was a pretty good paddle after a couple of months off. There were some new blowdowns, particularly one just below the Bertozzi rapids. I might have been able to get over it, but really didn't want to risk swamping in the icy water.
There wasn't much trash either, I did a pretty good job and only came away with a basket full - and nothing too nasty either, mostly Dunkin Donuts cups and water or beer bottles.