After having the July 4 th holiday off we reopened on the fifth with heavy rain. By our 9:00 am guided trip, all of our paddlers rescheduled for another time slot. Although the skies threatened to open up once more, the 2:00 pm group headed down stream to the Valley Falls Wetland. Passing under Lonsdale Avenue a pair of great blue heron play tag with us. A funny trait of this big bird is to fly head of our boats landing just out of sight. Then as we paddle towards them once more they repeat the move. Sometimes repeating this hide and seek game the whole paddle up and down the river. Giving the heron a break, the group was able to paddle into the Lonsdale Wetland and cruise around Turtle Lagoon. Paddling around an island in the lagoon I tell the group about this once was the Lonsdale drive-in were people watched movies on two screens in their cars and now we watch painted turtles, red-winged blackbirds and mallards in our kayaks. In the first cove after John Street, a great old snapping turtle is found. Leaving the cove a single mute swan glides by and kingfishers skim the water in front of the kayaks. Just before entering the Valley Falls Pond, the backend of a river otter is spotted heading into the brush. In the pond a pair of mute swans joins the lone bachelor, the osprey flies off a tree branch and several great blue heron take flight. During the return trip we are rewarded with the antics of a green heron, a fisherman catching a 4 pound largemouth bass, a large raft of geese and a deer walking along the bank were cars once parked.

Our Sunday trip started with a paddle up the historic Blackstone Canal, where fish broke the surface and turtles slipped back into the water as we pass. The heat of the day was dissipated by the shade of the sycamores that line the canal and a coyote is seen checking us out from the shadows. Leaving the manmade waterway and entering nature's creation, the group heads down the Blackstone River. After navigating through some quick water and passing under the bike path we are greeted with several great blue heron. After a quiet section of river, Mark leads the paddlers river right at the Martin Street Bridge. All member of our flotilla make it through a small section of Class I whitewater while cyclists watch on. As kingfishers chase us, we stay on the right side of a small island and ride the quick water around the bend. Weaving through the old Cumberland landfill area several chipmunks chase each other and a pair of turkey vultures soar overhead. The river takes a sharp turn left with a deceiving current that leads us into another small quick water section. Hearing the water pass through Pratt's Dam before we see it, the group takes out at the three culverts and portages the boats back to the Front Street parking lot, returning to watch Matt and Don shoot the tubes at the dam.