Subject: thames shetucket willimantic middle sawmill moulton source try afoot<br/>
Date: May 30, 2004 @ 05:05<br/>
Author: Michael Donner (&quot;Michael Donner&quot; &lt;barbaria_longa@...&gt;)<br/>
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<div id="ygrps-yiv-505885221">the rest stop at stafford springs in message 14217 has already been <br/>
productive<br/>
<br/>
first<br/>
it afforded an actual look at middle river<br/>
which is the left fork<br/>
& at furnace brook<br/>
which is the right fork<br/>
at the head of the willimantic river proper<br/>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?t=1&s=10&x=3617&y=23239&z=18&w=1">http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?t=1&s=10&x=3617&y=23239&z=18&w=1</a><br/>
<br/>
then too<br/>
making a crude comparison of the watershed areas of these 2 forks has pretty <br/>
well confirmed my initial assessment that middle river is indeed mightier <br/>
than furnace brook<br/>
<br/>
& finally<br/>
wondering if i could take advantage of this rare opportunity to observe or <br/>
deduce exactly what does distinguish a river from a brook<br/>
& also wondering exactly what was so middling or medial about this river <br/>
that it came to be called middle river<br/>
i discovered not far above stafford springs a first major fork off the <br/>
middle river proper<br/>
named edson brook<br/>
coming in from the west side & roughly balancing furnace brook as it comes <br/>
in from the east side<br/>
& thus demonstrating in a way that middle river simply refers to the <br/>
continuation of the main stem of the willimantic past this pair of close <br/>
tributaries on its right & left<br/>
<br/>
so proceeding without further dilly dallying<br/>
first left up middle river & then right past edson brook<br/>
we come at length to state line pond at the top of middle river<br/>
yet not quite on the ctma state line<br/>
<br/>
here it is at lower left<br/>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?t=2&s=13&x=453&y=2911&z=18&w=2">http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?t=2&s=13&x=453&y=2911&z=18&w=2</a><br/>
& note the photo&topo toggle switch at upper left<br/>
<br/>
the sawanabori then proceeds again from state line pond directly up its <br/>
largest feeder stream<br/>
named in fact sawmill brook tho not indicated here as such<br/>
which comes in from the northeast & soon actually climbs across the state <br/>
line before petering out a couple of miles into massachusetts near a place <br/>
called cedar swamp<br/>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://topozone.com/map.asp?lat=42.05333&lon=-72.3">http://topozone.com/map.asp?lat=42.05333&lon=-72.3</a><br/>
<br/>
the final fork before this swamp<br/>
coming down from moulton hill on the east & entering just above ayers road<br/>
could well prove to be larger than the cedar swamp drainage itself<br/>
as it appears to drain a larger area<br/>
but this will need to be checked out carefully by eye on the ground<br/>
<br/>
if the map & my guess are right<br/>
a primary headspring or seep may emerge at the 950 foot elevation<br/>
as shown by the intermittent right fork petering out at the heavy brown <br/>
isobar<br/>
<br/>
but if we are lucky enough to get a good rain<br/>
then we may be able to source the stream above the spring<br/>
by panning east on the above map<br/>
& climbing across the road<br/>
& passing the little pond at elevation 1000<br/>
& then conceivably following any trickle some unknown distance up the little <br/>
cleft in moulton hill<br/>
& perhaps even all the way to its peak at elevation 1115 if there should be <br/>
a cloudburst<br/>
<br/>
but all this will be determined experientially on the scene<br/>
& in conformity with whatever the prevailing conditions actually are at the <br/>
time of the try<br/>
which will most probably be early tuesday morning<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
but in the meantime<br/>
for extra credit<br/>
or any credit at all<br/>
how many tripoints did we just bag along the thalweg from sea to source<br/>
<br/>
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