Saturday I had the chance to go for a paddle so I chose a place that others generally don't prefer to put in since I was by myself. Rt. 2A at the Nashua is covered with Poison Ivy and long grass that's ideal for ticks. Aside from that, it's a good launch point to clean up below the dam in Shirley.
I paddled upstream althought the current was stiff, and made it up to just below the train bridge - then it gets to fast and shallow to keep going upstream. I collected a little less than a basket full of trash, I was a bit surprised how little there was - maybe all this is starting to pay off?
Since I wasn't fully loaded and I don't like to give up unless I collect a tire or 2, I headed downstream and up the Squannacook River. At the joining of the two in a logjam I spotted a tire, but it was a truck tire - as in a tractor-trailer sized tire.
I noticed it was not lodged in so I wiggled it free and wrestled it onto the tree I was stopped at. After draining most of the water out I then rolled it down the tree to my kayak and flopped it on the deck. I thought I was gonna swamp my poor little boat! But I managed to get it situated, balance the rest of the garbage and very gingerly slide myself in.
Wow was that tire heavy! The boat was so unstable that several times I thought I was going to swamp. I did manage to get it back to the launch, unload it and drag it back to the truck - through the poison ivy of course. But it's out of there and fortunately it was not a long distance from the launch point - I'm glad I chose that stretch to work on.
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