Borderland State Park - October 31, 2020

Masked up and ready to go

A freak snowstorm yesterday left everything covered in snow this morning. I had a couple of options for things to do today. This was the annual Halloween dam release on the Piscat in Goffstown. I actually haven’t done that trip in a couple of years, and was thinking about heading up with my bike and doing a bike shuttle. Unfortunately a trip didn’t materialize, and with the snow I wasn’t sure about a bike shuttle. Instead I decided to do a hike at Borderland State Park with Papa Joe.  

The Borderland Estate was established in 1906 when Oakes Ames, a Harvard botanist and his wife Blanche purchased land on the border of Sharon and Easton. There they built a mansion and created a nature preserve with woodland paths, roadways and man-made ponds. The estate remained in the family for 65 years until it was acquired by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1971 and opened as a state park. Today the park includes 1,843 acres with more than 20 miles of trails including sections of the Bay Circuit Trail.

Mike at Leach Pond

We started at the main entrance, and hiked 5-miles around Leach Pond and up through the woods around the Granite Loop Trail. For the first couple of hours snow covered the trees making for a beautiful walk through a winter wonderland. By the time we got back to the Stone Lodge at Leach Pond for our break, most of the snow had fallen off the trees and it felt more like fall again.  

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My Pictures

Upper Blackstone – Worcester/Millbury – October 24, 2020

Visitor Center in Worcester

My talk on historical sites on the lower Blackstone River got me thinking about investigating sites on the upper Blackstone, so I was up with the sun loading my boat and bike for a trip to the Visitor Center of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor in Worcester. I wanted to find a put in near the headwaters of the Blackstone River.  

The Blackstone arises in Worcester at the confluence of the Middle River and Mill Brook near the Visitor Center. From there, it flows general south for 48-miles through Millbury, Sutton, Grafton, Northbridge, Uxbridge, Millville, and Blackstone in MA, and Woonsocket, Cumberland, Lincoln, Central Falls, and Pawtucket in RI. After the river flows over the Pawtucket Falls it becomes the Seekonk River.

Upstream from Riverlin Street, Millbury

The confluence Middle River and Mill Brook is visible from the Visitor Center, but waterfalls, fences and high retaining walls make the river inaccessible. I hopped on my bike to see if I could find a put-in a little further downstream. Unfortunately, fences along the bike path separate it from the river for most of its course. Where access is available it is far downstream making for a long portage. I rode all the way down to Millbury center with no luck finding an easy put in.  

With no luck at the headwaters, I decided to check out the put-in at Riverlin Street in Millbury. Parking is easy and access to the river isn’t too bad near the bridge from the parking lot of the Goretti’s Supermarket across the street. I paddled upstream until the river became too shallow, and then I bushwhacked it up to the Millbury Rapid under the South Main Street Bridge. It was around 100 cfs on the Milbury gage and looked runnable, so it must be huge with the river is up. I suppose you could try to put in at Elm Street/River Street near the Council on Aging if you wanted to run this rapid.

Millbury Rapid

Links:

My Pictures – Bike Path – Worcester to Millbury

My Pictures – Riverlin Street, Millbury – Upstream

Millbury Gage

RICKA October General Meeting Presentation - Historic Sites on the Blackstone River

Here is a recording of my Zoom presentation for RICKA's October General Meeting on historic sites along the Blackstone River in RI.

If you would like to skip to a particular section, here is the timing: 

History - 4:29 

Woonsocket Falls - 9:16 

Globe - 11:35 

Bernon - 13:26

Blackstone Canal - 15:07 

Providence Worcester Railroad - 16:55 

Hamlet - 21:19 

Manville - 23:15 

Albion - 31:26 

Ashton - 33:55 

Berkley - 35:47 

Lonsdale - 36:42 

Valley Falls - 39:14 

Central Falls - 41:16 

Thanks to Pat for recording and to everyone who joined.

Links:

Video on YouTube

Tully Lake - October 18, 2020

I 've been talking about doing a RICKA trip at Tully Lake for years, and I finally did it. We put in at the Tully River Canoe Launch, paddled up to Long Pond and a short ways up the Tully River before we hit the first beaver dam and turned around. We then headed back and stopped for lunch and a hike at Spirit Falls. The hike was longer and steeper than I remembered, so I'm glad Spirit Falls was flowing. We then paddled around Tully Lake before walking over to Doanes Falls.

 

The crew after a break for lunch

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My Pictures

Blackstone Gorge Foliage Tour - October 10, 2020

Rolling Dam

This was the last weekend for a scheduled Deerfield release at Fife, and I thought about heading up for a run. Then again, the shuttle is a pain, and it a long drive, so I opted for something local instead.  There are usually other released during the year.

There were lots of options for RICKA trips – Saturday at Blackstone Gorge with Gary, Sunday at Potter Hill with Sharon, and Monday at Pachaug Pond with Cheryl. Saturday looked like the nicest day, the Gorge is the closest to my house, and it fit best with my schedule, so the Blackstone Gorge it was.

 

Triad Bridge

I headed over early to hike down into the Gorge for some pictures.  There was plenty of color above the dam, but it will be at least another week for the color to peak in the Gorge itself. I snapped a few pictures at the Rolling Dam and at the Gorge Drop before heading back to the put in to meet the group.  

Paddling upstream from the dam is always a pleasant trip, and the colors were nice – not quite peak, but close.  We paddle through the Triad Bridge site, and took a break to check out the Millville Lock. From there it is a short paddle up to Millville where we turned around.  

Millville Lock

Links:

My Pictures - Blackstone Gorge Foliage

My Pictures - Rolling Dam to Millville

Saranac Dam in Blackstone

Found this short history of the Saranac Dam on Facebook. Saranac Dam was built by Daniel Simmons in 1856 to power the Waterford Mills. The canal and the river intersected at this point, and there was a small bridge used by horses to tow barges to cross the river.