SuAsCo River Paddling – June 3, 2011

Suasco Al - the Trash Paddler

I took the day off last Friday and headed up to Wayland, MA to paddle the Sudbury, Assabet and Concord Rivers with Suasco Al – the Trash Paddler. I’ll be leading a RICKA trip there next Saturday, and Al was nice enough to help me scout the trip.

We put in on the Sudbury River at Sherman’s Bridge Road in Wayland (N 42 degrees 23.803', W 071 degrees 21.867'), and paddled down to the Old Calf Pasture on Lowell Road in Concord at Egg Rock (N 42 degrees 27.893',  W 071 degrees 21.496') where the Sudbury converges with the Assabet to form the Concord. For much of the trip, the Sudbury meanders through marshland that is protected as part of the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge – there were birds everywhere. We stopped for lunch at an island at Fairhaven Bay.


Four bloggers - Al, Jackie, Sue and Erik

After lunch we continued downstream into a strong headwind which kicked up small waves and made the river look like it was flowing upstream. I was glad to get into Concord, MA where the river is more protected from the wind. At Egg Rock we met up with fellow bloggers Sue (Water-lily) and Jackie (Saratoga Woods and Waterways), had a nice chat, and posed for a quick picture. Once back on the river, we paddled a couple of hundred yards up the Assabet River just so I could say that I did. Then we paddled down the Concord River to the Old North Bridge in the Minute Man National Historical Park.

Minute Man statue

Being a history buff, it was cool to see the restored Old North Bridge from the water. There were a lot more people at the park than I would have thought. We pulled our boats ashore and checked out the 1837 Monument and the famous Minute Man statue before walking up to the Visitor Center. We snapped a couple of pictures of the Old North Bridge from the water before heading back to the take-out at Egg Rock.

Sure beats working – great day. Thanks Al.

In front of the restored Old North Bridge

Links:
Al’s blog – the Trash Paddler
Lisa's blog - Waterlily