I met up with a couple of paddling buddies yesterday to paddle the section of the Sudbury River in Wayland, MA from Route 27 to Heard Pond. We had been planning a trip all week, but with potential rain, wind and high water, we made a last minute call to paddle this section.
The Sudbury arises in Westborough and flows generally northeast for 37 miles to its convergence with the Assabet River at Egg Rock in Concord to form the Concord River. In Sudbury and Wayland, it forms the huge wetlands that are part of the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. In hindsight these wide-open marshes weren’t the best choice on a day when strong wind gusts were forecast.
No matter, we met at the put-in around 10:00 and headed out. The water was high, the sky was cloudy, but fortunately we didn’t get any rain. With the high water, we had to portage the Pelham Island Bridge. As we continued upstream toward Heard Pond the wind picked up. After 3 miles, knowing that we would be paddling into the wind on the return trip, we turned around and headed back to the put-in. Wind gusts of 25-miles per hour made for a long slog back, especially for Jonathan who was paddling solo, but it was still a good trip.
Few more pictures here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/eckilson/sets/72157703443680885/with/31946497388/