Meetup - Lake Quinsigamond

I have been waiting to see a post for paddling on the AMC website, but alas, they have been few and far between.  So, since I make contributions to the Worcester Paddler's Meetup group, I decided to see if there was any action there.  I found an activity on a body of water I have never been on before - Lake Quinsigamond in Shrewsbury & Worcester.  I signed up, but originally I was wait-listed.  However, later in the week I checked my various email folders to find out, that I was now "on" the trip - a Friday afternoon excursion from 4-6pm.  Perfect!

We started way south on lake, south of Rt 20 as a matter of fact.  I didn't even know it extended this far south.  But at this point we're on Oak Island.  It is in the town of Shrewsbury and it is quite populated.

There's a leader and 2 other paddlers launching from this wide boat ramp.  The parking lot also had ample space.

Looking to the east there's lots of lake, power lines and puffy clouds.

Here's our first bridge, passing under Rt 20.

This is a "private" island and it's posted as such,  There is at least picnic table.  Apparently, it can be used if you know the right people.

One of the homes in this compound is owned by Lt. Governor Karen Polito.  Reportedly her mother and brother own the other homes.  The bridge on the right leads from the compound to another private island.  We took a break on a small beach on the Worcester side of the lake.

On the way back, we catch a glimpse of a bald eagle family high up in the trees.

Looping around Oak Island, the lake gets narrow, obscured with lily pads.  And we pass under a very narrow bridge.

We come around the corner and I'm all turned around.  I almost blew right past the put-in site.  But there it is.

This was a leisurely paddle.  We traveled 3.87 miles in 1:40.  What surprised me the most was how long this lake was.  From the northernmost point of our journey, we were still 0.9 miles from Rt 9 where the White City shopping district is.  Moreover, the part of the lake with which I'm most familiar up to I-290 is another 1.3 miles beyond that.  I'll be heading back sometime to do more paddling there for sure.

Into Salem Sound

It was a very, very hot day and I had an itch to go paddling.  Betsy was busy with the first day of her 9 day virtual music teaching institute, so either I solo or find someone else to go with.  As providence would have it, Tom & Kay were also thinking about paddling today, so it's off to Marblehead I go.

Since we only decided this at noon time, by the time I load up and head to the North Shore, it's 2:20pm before we put in.

We start our adventure at Gas House Beach in Marblehead.  Since a few weeks ago we paddled in Marblehead Harbor then east around Marblehead Neck, this week we decide to head west. The route will take us around Peach's Point and then into Salem Sound.  On the way back, we decide to detour by way of Crownshield Island (also known as Brown's Island) before returning to our put in.

We navigate the choppy waters around Peach's Point and view the new Salem power plant in the distance.

The waters in the sound are much calmer.  Beyond Tom & Kay is the town of Marblehead

At almost 2 1/2 miles out, it's time to take a little stretch break.

This is the pier at Stranski's beach.

The water is warm and Tom decides a quick dip is in order.

Betsy isn't with us today, but I took this picture for her.  This boat is for sale (that means no paddling).  Just call the US Virgin Islands phone number on the sign.  If you can't see it, the home port on the back of the boat says "St. Thomas".  Sounds good to me.

The tide is still low as we skirt the near side of Crownsheild Island.  There's not enough water to paddle so we have to do a little portaging.

Just a few more stokes and we're home.

On our adventure today we traveled 5.28 miles in 2:46.   After an enjoyable dinner, I didn't get home until after 9pm.  It was dark, but I still had to clean my boat and gear from the salt water.

I can't wait to get out again with our friends and do some more exploration of Salem Sound.  My kayak books have plenty of potential routes, but I think we'll do fine just taking it a piece at a time.

Troop 11 - Bruce Freeman Rail Trail

With bike rides, I only occasionally will add a blog entry.  But with a new trail I will make an exception. 
Today, the plan is for Troop 11 to do 15 miles on the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail in Acton.  Well, we're going to start into Acton and ride up into Chelmsford center and stop for ice cream.  I found the trail description in my Rails-to-Trails book of bike trails in New England.  I printed the map, but little did I know that the trail has actually been expanded quite a bit since the book was published.  The trail extends 3 miles further north than we rode as well as another 2 miles to the south.  There is also a small piece of the trail in Concord and plans to extend beyond that another 21 miles to Framingham.  That will make a nice long, traffic-free rail trail.

In any event we started out at about 5:20pm from NARA Park in Acton.

Six boys and three adults waiting for one more leader to arrive in a fenced off portion of the NARA Park parking lot.

After pedaling 6.9 miles, we stop by the ice cream place whilst trying to find a little shade in the parking lot.  There weren't enough benches and they were in the sun anyway.

The Chelmsford Town Beach is viewable from the trail.  The parking lot was full and beach was very busy as well.

So we're going to have to go a little further to hit 15 miles (one of the requirements for Biking Merit Badge).  So Mr. O says to go down to "the cool bridge that passes over Rt 2A."  I still have dinner to eat this evening, so I take off by myself so I can relay info to those behind me.  We cross Rt. 27 again, but I can't find another obvious place to turn around to keep it at an even 15 miles.  Once I did turn around mid-bridge and headed back to the park, My final mileage was 16.5 miles.  Oh well, just couldn't get that estimation perfect.  My top speed was 23.0 mph, but because I didn't pause the tracker at our 30+ minute rest stop, my "average" came out to 8.6 mph.  Anyway, when I left, all but Mr. O and a couple younger scouts had returned.  It was a brutally hot and humid day, and everyone did well despite the weather. 

Lehigh Parkway

This recent issue of the AMC magazine had an article that highlighting less-crowded walking & hiking alternatives to some better known and popular hikes.  In Pennsylvania, a popular hike along the Lehigh River is Glen Onoko, a beautiful falls trail in Jim Thorpe, PA.  I have never hiked there, but Betsy did when she was younger.  As it turns out, the falls trail was permanently closed a year ago over safety concerns.  In any event, the author clearly didn't know that and provided a nearby alternative:  the Lehigh Parkway in Allentown.  Since I am in the area for the 4th of July holiday anyway, it seemed like an opportunity to check it out.

The directions in the magazine had me start at Klein's Bridge.  Try as I might I could find no indication (or even when I got there) of he name of the bridge.  I just took a shot that it might be near the Lehigh Runner's Club.  I took a shot and then moved on to the next phrase in the directions, "...follow the Dr. Ernest F. Andrews Memorial Planet Walk...".

A "planet walk" is a scale representation of the distance between the planets in our solar system.  There is one along the Cape Cod Rail Trail in Eastham.  However, this one has information markers and the appropriate "planet" locations.

This trail hugs the Lehigh Creek.  Apparently the waters are excellent for fly fishing judging from the number of anglers I saw along the banks.

You wouldn't expect there to be hills on this trail, but at a couple locations it actually climbs and descends pretty steeply.

Next, I am told to cross under Bogert's Bridge.  In truth, you can cross under it on the other side of the creek.  On this side, you just pass by.

A little further on, I pass under I-78, a major east-west corridor in the Lehigh Valley.

So the directions got a little confusing here.  I passed a Museum of Indian Culture, but because of my approach, I never noticed it.  When this trail went to very narrow, I figured I went too far.

I crossed the road bridge and found the Lil'-Le-Hi Trout Nursery.

The directions next tell me to "retrace my steps."  However, I found that there was a complimentary path on the other side of the creek.  In fact, to the left of this path, there's another pave path available that road bikes can use.

Finally, I make my way back to Klein's Bridge.  From this angle it's pretty impressive 

The article's stats for this walk was:  Difficulty:  Easy, Distance 2.6 miles round-trip.  However, it turned out to be a 4 miles walk (I wonder how they got those calculations wrong).  But I was moving at 3.3 mph, so it only took 1:12.  The best part of my walk today was greeting the other walkers, runner, and bikers along the path, 98% of whom observed physical distancing,but were unmasked, like me.  Sharing a friendly "Good Morning" and a smile does wonders for to lighten the heart.