Charles River

Classic shot from Cambridge.

I'm cycling or rollerblading to work and back home almost everyday along the Charles river, when the weather allows. Everybody, who travels same way starting from Channel 4 and beyond, must use the Eliot bridge underpass. I don't know who is responsible for it's cleaning, but this tunnel's pavement hasn't been cleaned up since it has been open, I believe. Could be good to force the Boston's authority person to force at least ones to pass throught by rollerblades. I'm not sure, if if that person could make succesfuly it.

Leslie continues her kayak explorations of the Charles. Near Arsenal Street:

You would hardly think you are in the middle of the city, with cars whizzing by on both sides just beyond the trees. ...

Leslie Turek rents a kayak and spends an hour on the Charles:

... There was a lovely cool breeze on the water, the sun sparkled, the trees were green, and the traffic noise was hidden away behind a screen of foliage. There was the soft splashing sound of the paddles, and the sight of the occasional bird or dragonfly skimming over the water. It was like being in a dream. ...

LM posts photos from Sunday's Dragon Boat Festival on the Charles.

Natural flood control in action this afternoon along the Charles River near Milliennium Park in West Roxbury.

Part of the reason you're not hearing much about flooding along the Charles is simply because a lot more rain fell up near the Merrimack than around the Charles. But part of it might also have to do with a decision made by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1970s.

Until the '70s, the federal and state governments used classic engineering techniques to try to reduce flooding in the Charles - they built a dam at the mouth and some mega-pumps to pump water from the river into the harbor. And the Corps came up with a $100-million proposal to build levees and flood-control dams along the middle Charles. But the Corps abandoned that plan in favor of something more unusual: It began buying up or acquiring easements to some 8,100 acres of low-lying riverbank land from the Medfield/Millis line to the Dedham/Boston line - and then just let the land sit there.

The idea was that the various parcels of land would act as giant natural sponges during floods, absorbing vast amounts of water quickly, then releasing it slowly as the river receded. And it seems to work. During heavy rain (or the spring thaw), the Medfield/Millis border becomes a large lake - but since nobody lives on the Corps land, nobody has to be evacuated, either. You can see similar flood control in action from the top of Millennium Park in West Roxbury - or even across from the northbound side of Rte. 128 just past Great Plain Avenue.

Acquiring the land cost $10 million - or 10% of what the government had originally expected to spend on manmade structures.

• Charles River Valley Natural Storage Area
• Charles River Watershed Association
• Water Resources and the Urban Environment, Lower Charles River Watershed, Massachusetts, 1630-2005 (via Charles Swift)
• Charles River at Mother Brook flow information

Neal discovers the joy of driving when no one's around:

... Like I said, peace, tranquility, peace of mind. When there's no reason to speed, there's no speed to reason with. Glowing acorn lights seem to make sense, and you notice the timing of green lights as you move away from Beacon Hill and toward Audubon Circle. You take note that Memorial Drive East is easier to navigate when it's just you, the road, and the vehicle going 40 MPH. Note the speed. There's a reason why the speed limit isn't 65 there. How else do you watch Boston skyline glow across the Charles. ...

A lucky few would take the Charles River detour.

Krissy and Matt launch a canoe in Newton and take photos of the trip.

UPDATE: But it will re-open in a couple of days.

Suddenly, a blast from the past:

Echo Bridge closed to the public.

Understandable, I guess, but still sad.

More Echo Bridge and Hemlock Gorge photos.

The Charles River White Geese Blog chronicles efforts to save the white geese of the Charles River basin:

... Yesterday, February 20, 2006, I was able to visit the Goose Meadow/Destroyed Nesting Area, the only part of the habitat of the Charles River White Geese from which they have not been barred since September 2004, and it was destroyed by Boston University for normal use in October 1999.

The gaggle of the Charles River White Geese greeted me with their usual happy hello. ...

Nice riverside shot of the underside of the Mass. Ave. bridge.

Thanks to the Regatta, it took Rose 2 hours and 45 minutes to get from Davis Square to Coolidge Corner on the T. However, she resists the temptation to push any slumming stoner rich kids on the tracks.

No, not on the races themselves. Jonelle provides the over/under odds for regatta-related happenings: Men spotted wearing Nantucket Reds; bodies found in the river by hapless rowing crews; and drunk college students falling off the footbridge.

Marty wonders if he's getting too old for the Head of the Charles, which is this weekend:

... Is anyone else out there planning to go to the river? Or did you, too, totally miss the fact that the Head of the Charles is this weekend? Or, has this event just gone past its prime and no one cares anymore?

Official Head of the Charles site.

Scroll down this page to see just how much more water has been flowing past the Moody Street dam on the Charles River of late.

Via Bob, who also notes a page for more Massachusetts rivers.

Sunset after the storm.

Also see: Sunset over the Charles in Watertown.

We picked up some subs at Roggie's, then headed over to the MDC, um, DCR park on the Charles River in Brighton. As we ate, we watched the parade of canoes, kayaks and big/bigger/biggest power boats on the river - with the odd sculler thrown in. But my favorite was the guy chugging along in his own personal tug boat:

Jeffrey runs in a 5k race along the Charles this morning:

... It was hot, way hotter than I expected. Hovering a bit above ninety degrees with no wind, at 9am. Trying to escape the heat, I bolted out of the gate, passing this person, passing that person, until after a while there was nobody left that I really was able to pass; my body was saying enough, and at that point I realized that I was running quite a bit faster than I had thought. ...

Dedicated anglers aren't going to let cold, wind and rain stop them from fishing at the Charles River Dam in Charlestown.