BVO JOURNAL |
Cumberland, Lincoln, Central Falls, RI
The weatherman was wrong again, instead of clear skies I woke up to heavy rain. By 5:30 am the rain had stopped so I decided to ride my bicycle. After my 2.5-mile trip to the bike path I met my first person, a man walking two miniature collies. Crossing the Blackstone River I cycle passed the Kelly House Museum, not a creature stirring. Just passed mile marker 10, I run into a traffic jam. A flock of wild turkey blocked the bike path. Slowly they crossed the right of way as me and two joggers waited. Reaching the edge of the canal the flock took flight. Sounding like helicopters they beat their wings loudly to achieve altitude and finally are able to lift their large bodies into the trees on the far side of the canal. With a photographer from the New York Times coming down to do a photo shot about the Blackstone Heritage Corridor and us, I hoped we would have a good turn out. The threat of more rain though had half our clientele canceling out. Still with a fair number we headed down river from the store. Paddling into the Lonsdale Marsh a great blue heron takes flight above the vegetation on the island. Traversing around the island the waterway earns its nickname Turtle Lagoon. On every partially submerged tree are painted turtles warming up on this cloudy summer day. Slowly most of them returned to the depths of the lagoon as we pass by and red-winded blackbirds fly overhead from reed clump to reed clump. Back on the river, bank swallows fly out of their holes to go after insects and in the first cove only a pair of tree swallows are seen making a wood duck box their home. The wildlife must be tired of all the rain June had to offer the river seems almost void of life. At the Central Falls Landing, the Explorer is tied up to her mooring while a grandma sits on the dock knitting and watching her charges fish. A few people wave to us from the walkway on the Broad Street Bridge as we head up river to the Valley Falls Wetland. Finally the wildlife starts to show itself. First a pair of osprey circles slowly overhead, scanning the water for a meal. On the far bank four mute swans cruise along and a giant snapping turtle raises its head above the water. In Hidden Pond a great blue heron disappears into the reeds and the shape of a snapper’s shell is seen just below the surface, leaving muddy circles and bubbles in its wake. Upon our return the wind kicks up and the river seems to flow fasted. From the wetland to John Street we make slow but good time paddling up river. By the time the group reaches the mouth of the Turtle Lagoon the current has picked up. Working from eddy to eddy we travel, finally the Lonsdale Bridge is in sight. Now for the final push under the bridge, ferrying from river left to river right and our take out. The river had risen about 6 inches from the time we put in. Our final scene of the river that day was a beaver munching on vegetation not 30 feet from our portage. Live the Experience! |