P is for Paddling

We’re back for another installment of our Alphabet Adventure. I’ve been on the clock since August, and I finally got around to scheduling my “P” this past weekend with a trip to Concord, MA to go canoeing on the Concord River. This is something we’ve wanted to do all summer, but just now got around to.

Sunday morning was chilly, with temps in the low 50’s, and the sun was stuck behind thin clouds to begin the day, but we launched from the Concord Canoe Rental shop at the South Bridge Boat House around 10:00 am. We headed north, thinking we were going up river (more on this later), headed toward the Old North Bridge, where the Battle of Concord began the American Revolution in April of 1775. The Concord River is not very wide or very swift, so the paddling was easy. The first part of the trip goes by some really nice houses on the river, and we also passed a few kayakers doing a morning workout. We arrived at the North Bridge in about 30 minutes, and we seemed to provide a measure of noteworthiness to the tourists on the bridge, as several seemed enamored to take our picture. Or maybe they were just waiting for the big man in the canoe to lose his balance and capsize into the river. Either way, they left disappointed.

Old North Bridge, from the south

Old North Bridge, from the north

A weeping willow tree along the river bank

After the bridge the river goes through the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. This area is much quieter and more peaceful, although after a while we realized it’s actually more interesting to look at houses than it is to see the same stand of trees over and over. (We did espy some wildlife, as we saw a couple of herons and a bird that Sage thinks was a cormorant.) After about 45 minutes or so we decided to turn around back to downtown Concord. It was around this point that we realized our paddling was a bit tougher going. After assuming it must be the wind, as we were sure we were now going downstream, we soon discovered that we had in fact been going downstream to begin the day, and were now going into the current. Thankfully, as I said before, the river is extremely calm and sedate, so paddling upstream really wasn’t that difficult, and it didn’t take us long to get back to the boat house.

A heron does some fishing along the river bank

Doug enjoys some paddling

The time on the river was short (less than 2 hours) but we had a great time and look forward to doing some more exploring on the Concord, Sudbury and Assabet Rivers in the future.