Subject: sawanabori of the thames shetucket & on up the creek without a bucket continued<br/>
Date: May 29, 2004 @ 21:00<br/>
Author: Michael Donner (&quot;Michael Donner&quot; &lt;barbaria_longa@...&gt;)<br/>
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<br/><br/>
<div id="ygrps-yiv-165410233">when last we stalled for further meditation at the foot of message 14211<br/>
you probably recall we were just below willimantic at the head of the <br/>
shetucket<br/>
marveling at the near equality of its left prong the willimantic river & its <br/>
right prong the natchaug river<br/>
<br/>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?t=1&s=10&x=3667&y=23108&z=18&w=1">http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?t=1&s=10&x=3667&y=23108&z=18&w=1</a><br/>
<br/>
the shetucket<br/>
at bottom<br/>
which we have just ascended<br/>
did well to just quit here in name if not deed rather than show partiality <br/>
for either of its prongs<br/>
<br/>
& the prongs did well to take their own names & set off to make their own <br/>
ways in the world<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
& we might do well to perform sawanaboris on both prongs just to be sure we <br/>
do get the right one<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
but if a river can have more than one true source then its only true source <br/>
is its entire watershed<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
moreover<br/>
if you dont play<br/>
you cant win<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
also<br/>
second guessing comes with the territory in sawanabori anyway<br/>
like other afterthoughts i am having again now as i return to the watershed <br/>
map<br/>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.mywatershed.com/all/sne/tha/qui12.htm">http://www.mywatershed.com/all/sne/tha/qui12.htm</a><br/>
for not having persevered with the quinebaug up to the most distant point of <br/>
the entire watershed<br/>
somewhere on a ridge line above its farthest if not also highest headspring<br/>
in fact way up around spencer in central massachusetts<br/>
<br/>
for surely that point has as much a claim as any in the entire watershed to <br/>
be called source of thames<br/>
i mean<br/>
if any other than the single truest available experiential sawanabori source <br/>
might be acceptable<br/>
<br/>
which of course it isnt<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
but my reason for returning to the watershed map was to forge ahead<br/>
by comparing the relative areas of the willimantic & natchaug sheds<br/>
<br/>
& i have to say i get a distinct sense both from examining the confluence & <br/>
comparing the sheds<br/>
that the willimantic may be generally something on the order of 10 percent <br/>
grander than the natchaug<br/>
<br/>
or wouldnt you agree<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
the willimantic btw is the westernmost shed on the above map & the natchaug <br/>
is directly to its east<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
for a third opinion & an overview of the lower willimantic & natchaug <br/>
valleys<br/>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?t=1&s=14&x=228&y=1444&z=18&w=1">http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?t=1&s=14&x=228&y=1444&z=18&w=1</a><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
in any case<br/>
all these considerations<br/>
plus the fact that only the willimantic river prong is honored by an <br/>
eponymous city near its mouth<br/>
& that the natchaug river prong must endure a reservoir upon it named not <br/>
natchaug but willimantic<br/>
sends us packing finally & as definitively as possible up not the natchaug <br/>
river but the willimantic river<br/>
& indeed all the way up this river to its nominal head at stafford springs<br/>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://topozone.com/map.asp?lat=41.95417&lon=-72.30278">http://topozone.com/map.asp?lat=41.95417&lon=-72.30278</a><br/>
where its left fork headstream is middle river & its right or straight fork <br/>
headstream is furnace brook<br/>
<br/>
again a visual comparison is not immediately conclusive<br/>
<br/>
but the fact that one of the 2 forks is called a river & the other a brook <br/>
argues a good deal<br/>
in this case for a hard left<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
still maybe stafford springs itself looks like a good place to put in to for <br/>
the night too<br/>
& maybe dial up some more pix & maps at least<br/>
& check the water levels again in the morning<br/>
before continuing up one fork or the other<br/>
<br/>
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