“Why I Kayaked the Entire Charles River”

“At dawn, fog rose from the surface of the Charles River. On that morning last autumn, songbirds darted over the water as I kayaked downstream through a wide channel lined by maples and oaks in the suburban semi-wilderness of Millis, Medfield, and Dover. The presence of people seemed faint, almost primitive. The river twisted through S-turns, the current silent but strong under my boat, pushing me along. The world felt wild.

As soon as I reached Natick, though, everything changed…This radical shift in both vibe and appearance along the river occurred because the South Natick Dam—a wide, 135-foot-long earthen berm built in 1934 and now topped by pine trees—was just ahead of me. It choked and reshaped—indeed, tamed—the river, creating a pond and a gentle waterfall burbling over its concrete spillway.”

Take some time to read this incredible Boston Magazine article by Bill Donahue.