Green Dragon goes a kayaking - Chapter 9

Leaving a trail behind
Originally uploaded by greendragon50

It's a warm, sunny afternoon when we reach the Nashua River. The Powers That Be at work had unexpectedly told us to take the afternoon before Labor Day off. What could be better than to grab a boat and head out ot the river?

Once we get to the launch site, my friend M is a gentleman and picks up my boat and carries it to the dock. We launch and head out. This is my first time on this river and from the first, I am enchanted. It's a calm, wide river, with a wide variety of trees surrounding us. This will be a fantastic place in the autumn!

There's a lot of deadfall in the water, but none of it prevents us from moving down the river. We haven't gone too far before we see some movement off to the side. As we pause, we realize that we are seeing the absolute, most adorable baby beavers that you can imagine!They're out among the fallen trees in the water, doing what beavers do best...chewing and gnawing.

After hanging around for awhile in gleeful astonishment, we continue down the river. Next on our checklist of wildlife is an abundance of turtles. Lots and lots of turtles. We're able to get reasonably close to them. My friend M snags one which doesn't please the little creature. It waves it's little feet frantically. I'm sure he was thrilled to be back in the water once M lets it go.

The further along the river we get, the more the plant life increases. M tells me the green, pea soup stuff on the surface of the river is duck week. It's mucky, but doesn't impede our progress.

We catch site of an enormous Great Blue Heron. We try to get close enough for pictures, but he's a cautious bird and keeps his distance. At times like this, I wish I had a high-end camera with a decent telephoto lens.

We continue on until we run out of river. Back we return, past the turtles and ducks (did I mention the ducks? They're out on the river with us as well). We finish off the day with a yummy dinner of fresh lobster and steak tips. It really doesn't get much better than this.