Bea and I carpooled to the Concord River and found Skip already at the boat ramp when we arrived.
Our goal for the day was to find some nice foliage. It seemed that we were a week or so too late but there was still a little color here and there.
Heading upstream, there was a little current against us due to the recent rain, but barely noticeable in the wide parts of the river. After about an hour and a half of paddling, we reached the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and decided to take a quick break to stretch our legs.
The refuge is concerned about invasive fish species, so it appears they have shut off water flow from the river and now pump in water when needed.
We had landed right beside the pump and sat on the benches for a quick snack before moving on.
Our snack time view across the river.
A nice stone bridge on the way upstream.
A mansion near the Old North Bridge that once had extensive gardens and is now used by the National Park Service.
Since we had already had a recent stop, we continued past the Old North Bridge, planning to stop on the way back. Not much further upstream, the river splits. On the left is the Sudbury River and on the right is the Assabet River.
Just before the fork in the river, we came across some very tame wildlife that were so tame, they may have been injured or sick. This duck was a little ugly.
Bea has never been this close to a great blue heron. Too bad she didn't bring a camera.
Skip got even closer and took some of pictures.
Then I got my chance to get a close-up.
The intersection of the rivers served as a meeting place for indians.
There seemed to be more water in the Sudbury River so we headed up to the left.
A little more wildlife - three turtles on a rock.
A stone bridge across the Sudbury.
The sky became brighter and brighter as the day went on.
Two of us had places to be later in the day, so we had to turn around and start heading back downstream. There were a lot of homes along the Sudbury compared to the section of the Concord that we had traveled.
Coming back downstream to the Old North Bridge, it's obvious we're well beyond peak foliage.
We went ashore at the left end of the bridge and found a bench to sit and have lunch.
Each of us took a walk across the bridge to use the rest rooms up by the parking lots.
There was a single colonial guarding the bridge.
Coming back over the bridge, the field beside the Minuteman Statue.
The Minuteman Statue.
A final shot of the waning foliage as we return to the takeout.
Here is a Google Earth picture of our actual GPS track.
A few specs from the trip:
Launch time: 9:52am
Stop at Great Meadows: 11:06am Distance: 3.2 miles
Depart Great Meadows: 11:28am
Arrive at Old North Bridge: 12:54pm Distance: 6.7 miles
Depart Old North Bridge: 1:21pm
Take out: 2:34pm Distance: 11.05 miles
Thanks for joining me Bea and Skip. Sorry we were too late to see some fine foliage.
Norm
Concord River - Saturday - 10/20/2012
Moderator: Chip
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Re: Concord River - Saturday - 10/20/2012
Very nice paddle, even though the colors were (to our surprise) past peak. We can't be picky at this time of year, we just have to take what we can get. Thank you for organizing the trip and entertaining us with a trip report and photos afterwards.
Bea
Bea
Bea
Proud foster mother of Athena (P&H Cetus LV turquoise-white)
Proud foster mother of Athena (P&H Cetus LV turquoise-white)