The Charles River is running very strong with all of the recent rain. I cam across this video of Cordingly Dam. I paddled in this area on the Charles River from the Hemlock Gorge section [Paddling in Hemlock Gorge] a few year ago when it was much calmer. I managed to get my kayak stuck [...]
Brian Mardirosian used his red kayak to commute using the Charles River, traveling from West Roxbury to Beacon Hill. Mardirosian started out on the Charles River at 5:30 a.m. on June 26 near Marie Louise Kehoe Park and Bridge Street and he arrived at work at around 11 a.m. He documented the journey with a [...]
The Boston Public Library has posted a collection of Newton post cards using Flickr. Several of the pictures show how the Charles River used to look in its run through Newton. This looks like the dam at Upper Falls (the Silk Mill Dam): You can compare this to my recent picture of the dam at [...]
From the Boston Globe’s Green Blog: Oysters help clean the Charles River. Oysters eat silt, in addition to the phytoplankton that drift in the currents. As they eat, they also ingest some of the bacteria and organic compounds contained in sewer overflow, which Jay said runs untreated into the Charles from houses and streets during [...]
The Bellingham Meadows are part of the Natural Valley Storage Project. The Army Corps of Engineers uses stategic areas of wetlands along the Charles River to slow the progress of flood waters headed to Boston. Sensibly, the Army Corp recognized the ability of wetlands to hold back flood waters and have preserved 7800 wetland acres [...]
It was another beautifully warm and sunny October day, so I went back to the Charles River. I put in just downstream from the South Natick Dam. A little way downstream, I came across the beautiful Cheney Bridge spanning the river. The Cheney bridge provides access to Elm Bank, a state-owned property with two miles [...]
Unlike the rather pristine Stop River Confluence area of the Charles River, the Hemlock Gorge section is more urban, passing houses, factories and highways. I launched from Nahanton Park in Newton. There was plenty of parking here. There was a dock at the park which made the launch very easy. This park is where the [...]
It has been a long time since I have been in the kayak. Given my current free time, I thought it would it would be a great activity on a beautiful fall day. I have read that the Stop River Confluence area between Millis and Medfield is a beautiful stretch of the river. It certainly [...]