5-31-09 Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park, Uxbridge, MA

This was actually our second attempt at conquering the section of the Blackstone River near Uxbridge, MA. On May 16th, we had put in at the Stanley Woolen Mill, and paddled up the canal only to discover that the portage up near Hartford Pike was closed because of the BRWA 33rd Annual Canoe & Kayak Race. Tracy took it in her usual stride and Eric just wanted to get back to the car, and didn't want to communicate with anyone on shore on the trip back. He (me) can be a baby sometimes.
Anyway, passing some of the leaders in the race was a bit of a treat. The guy in first place was really hauling and created some wakes in the canal. Same thing for the first canoe to paddle by. The two guys had synchronized paddling down to a science. I think next year I (Eric) might have to try this race. (Or maybe not when you see the results of our return downriver.) We got to the entrance and waited until there was an opening, then pulled out of the water and picnicked in a spot along the competitors portage. It looked like fun, but a lot of work.

So, two weeks later we decided to tackle this river and canal again. To get to this launch, we took Route 146 to the Route 16 exit. We then headed east on Rte 16/Douglas st. About two miles in there is a stoplight where you take a right then an immediate left to stay on Rte 16, but the street changes to Mendon st. About another half mile you come to Stanley Woolen Mill. Immediately before the mill, take a left onto Cross street and park in the parking lot. We parked right to the left of this bridge.


To get to the boat launch, you have to cross the bridge and carry your boats down the bike trail. It is about 200 yards (very rough guesstimate) to the stairs leading to the river. On this particular day, the still waters of the canal had accumulated a layer of algae* that covered the entire body of water.
* I don't know what else to call this mysterious green plant-like material.


In the distance is the bridge that we crossed to get to this launch. Not too far.
On one of the kayaks you can see a Marine Corps issue canteen. Our kayaks have bungee straps stretched across the tops, and I thought that it good idea to clip the canteens to the boats. These kayaks didn't come with cupholders and the Camelbacks, if they even fit under the life vests, would probably be uncomfortable, so this seemed like a nice way to have convenient water at hand.

Tracy in the water.

The algae in the canal was everywhere. You can see the swath Tracy's boat cut in it was we headed upriver as well as some stuck on my bow.

Here is a turtle. We saw several but I only got a decent shot of this one. Since the first leg of this trip abuts the bike path, there was not a whole lot of wildlife to be scene. We were hoping that when we hit the river portion there would be more.

Some pics of the northern end of the canal. At this point, there is a short portage. From here you can see the dam and the water overflow. The day we were there it was not overflowing, but according to the pamphlet we downloaded (and I have somehow forgotten the link, will find) if it is, the river section might be a wee bit challenging. Eric found it a wee bit challenging as it was. More on that later.




Views of the portage. First is the bridge that Hartford Ave. (I believe) crosses.

The spillway.

The view from on top of the lock.

View from the second portage.

Some photos of the first leg of the river portion north of the portage.


Here you can just make out Lookout Rock, which we have hiked to previously and described here. It is that white spot just down and left of center.

You can make out the disturbances in the water that some fish were making. I am not much of a wildlife photographer.

We stopped here to picnic. Tracy is removing her gloves as she checks something out.

Lookout Rock is just left of center. Kind of like my politics.

And its Eric. Cut-off cammy pants make excellent hiking/kayaking gear. Comfortable and sturdy.

A close-up of my canteen set-up.

Here we come upon Goat Hill Lock.

And Eric going into the lock.

And Eric backing out of the lock.

We got out at Goat Hill Lock and walked around. Some hiking trails also pass through this area.

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After this was a pretty uneventful trip back down river. At the portage, instead of setting back in to the canal, we headed over to the river portion that is south of Hartford Ave. Know that this area has a lot of twists and turns, and having read some warnings that if the river was high we should be careful. Since the river was not high, we figured our meager amateur kayaking skills would be sufficient. There was the occasional spots where the current spun us around or maneuvered us to some interesting predicaments. Of course, Eric found himself crashed into a tree at one point. Tracy parked her kayak and attempted to help, but the current was very strong and Eric had to bail. Of course, the river was more deep at this spot and we sustained a soaking. Eric lost one of the Alice clips that held the canteens to the boat. When we got moving again, it turned out that the next portage was right around the corner. It was a fun day.