Local scouts canoe nine miles of Assabet River
By Angela Greiner Contributing Writer

Hudson - After a few practice runs with flooded canoes, 10 Boy Scouts from Hudson's Troop 77 recently completed a 9-1/2-mile canoe and camping trip down the Assabet River. The group of boys, led by Troop Master Dennis Rawley and Assistant Troop Master Mike Volt, launched eight canoes and 200 pounds of equipment Sept. 21.

Volt said that they canoed as much of the river as they could from one impassible dam to another impassible dam in Maynard.

The scouts who were gathered Oct. 6 for the troop's weekly can drive at the transfer station in Hudson were happy to retell the stories of being stuck in the "Milfoil Muck." Volt explained that the boys held up well during the trip.

"The river is naturally messy in some places ... It contains lots of duck weed," Volt said. "The weed on top was one-inch thick; with each paddle stroke, it moved us about a foot."

After pushing through the muck, the scouts were faced with a lesson in problemsolving when they reached a point in the river that was impassible because of a fallen tree that spanned the width. Not willing to abandon the trip, the scouts decided to climb out of the boats and push them through the twofoot opening between the tree and the water. Once through, the scouts climbed back in and continued their trip to Gleasondale Dam. There the troop was once again out of the canoes as they unloaded the 200 pounds of supplies and portaged around the dam.

"I was impressed with the scouts' planning for this trip," Volk said. "It was the first time they were limited with their equipment and they had to decide what would fit in the canoes."

Dennis Rawley said that they had to figure the equipment around essential needs

like 100 pounds of water and a camping stove, which was essential because the lack of rain made it unsafe to cook over a large campfire.

The scouts were a bit frustrated with the state of the river: the week before their canoe trip, they had participated in the Assabet River clean-up, during which they pulled out eight bikes.

"It is hard to get them out," scout Alex Rawley said. "We had to pulley one of them out that the weeds had grown around … It [the river] was still pretty dirty even after the clean-up."

The boys were disheartened to see that just one week later there was already a bike thrown into the river in the spot they recently cleaned out.

"We had just done the clean-up," Alex said, "and it looks like someone just chucked the bike in."

The trip gave the boys an opportunity to view their community from another perspective. According to Dennis, the river is serene and beautiful as it runs through the town.

"The reason for the town to be built here along the river was that it supplied water for the mills," Dennis said.

He added that he hopes the boys finished the trip with a new appreciation of the history of the town of Hudson.