It has been too long since I sat my butt in a canoe seat, and finally all the various facets of my life aligned with the weather, and the end of the marking period!   Sunday, in 60 degree weather, I convinced my wife and daughter to join me for a trip on the Missisquoi.  The day could not have been more enjoyable, unless it had been several days long.  The leaves were off the trees a couple weeks ago, and we’d already had snow on the ground in the higher elevations.

What a contrast!  With the canoe and an ancient kayak, we headed down stream from Richford.  The wild life was still present, and in amazing abundance.  More interestingly, you could follow it more easily as the leaves were not there to impede the viewing.  Before we got to East Berkshire, we had the following list to enthrall us in our late fall trip: a couple dozen Mergansers, four Red Tailed Hawks (one was screeching to beat the band for some unseen reason), Chickadees and Juncos in the underbrush, several Great Blues, a Muskrat (very shy), and the ever present Blue Jays.  The wild life highlight of the trip however was a local who is rarely ever seen.  There was a Wood Turtle sitting quietly on the shore above water line, sunning.  He/She was absorbing as much sun as possible, and had somehow figured out that the world outside where ever it was hiding was warm.  It’s markings were so covered with silt, that I couldn’t tell what kind it was till we got within a dozen feet.  Normally they are very shy, and it as only this single chance to ramp up its metabolism one last time to clean its blood before the big hibernation, that made it willing to allow us so close.  Very nice!  I believe that I’ve heard that these turtles can live to 30 years or so, and this makes a nice statement to the effect that the Missisquoi is still a fairly healthy river in spite of its challenges.  The couple books I have here state that they do not reach sexual maturity till 10 – 11 years of age.

Our weather has been typical up here for this time of year, a little sleet, snow, sun, cloud, lots of wind.  You know, typical New England stuff.  But it has been relatively dry and we haven’t had some of those soaking rains we normally see.  As a consequence, the water in the river was nice and clear.  It wasn’t clouded with silt of any kind, and while floating along, you could see to the bottom everywhere except for the deepest holes.  I hope you all got out on Sunday for some kind of floating activity, or anything at all.  It won’t be long for the waters to start freezing, and for me to switch over to skiing activities.  Happy dreams of  paddling!        John

Last summer, Gil Whitney was the first to through kayak the Northern Forest Canoe Trail.  Over the course of his journey and in the time since, we have become good friends with Gil and his wife Kathy, who have distinguished themselves as truly good people.  So it is with sadness that we report that on Wednesday, October 28, Gil and Kathy’s Lakeville, Maine home burned to the ground.  The Bangor Daily News described the efforts made to save the home….  Gil, Kathy, and their dogs are all safe, but the home was destroyed.

We know that many of you watched Gil’s journey last summer, and that all of you share our concern when any member of the NFCT community faces a hardship like this.  As a small way to engage us all in supporting the Whitneys, we have selected one of our auction items, the NFCT Complete Package, for which all proceeds will go to Gil and Kathy.    Our Online Auction runs November 4 – December 4.  Please spread the word.

We will keep you posted as we learn more!

Hi all!   I can’t figure it out.   Things keep happening to me, and I don’t have enough time to sit down and write about it.  What do the professional bloggers do?  Hire someone to do it for them, or do they just sit and write about life instead of living it.   I’m going to summarize the highlights of the past few weeks, and keep it simple. 

#1  I’m very excited to see the stuff about Montgomery, VT on the NFCT web site.   Why?  Because it is my town.   There is another place to eat in town (actually up the road to Jay Peak) called the Belfry.   More good eats.   People as me why I don’t go out to places in Newport or St. Albans, and the fact is that I’d rather stay in the neighborhood where I can be home quickly after a great dinner.   There’s no bad eats in town.

#2  While sitting on a bridge over the Missisquoi last week with a couple friends, we looked down through a foot of water and watched a Snapping Turtle swimming slowly up stream to pass under us.  It was using the eddies behind the rocks to make its trip up stream easier, and only fighting the current when it had to pass between them.   Very cool!   Who says you have to take a canoeing class to learn about eddies?  

#3  My college’s alumni magazine (PORTRAITS – by St. Anselm College) came up to learn more about me and do an article.  It was a great excuse to get out on the river after school one day, and before school the next morning.  ANY EXCUSE TO GET OUT OF SCHOOL!   It’s not just the kids who like to get out of the building.  If it hadn’t been for them, I wouldn’t have made the effort to get the big old wood stripper out.   I’m going to have toask them if I can post a couple of the photos here on the blog site, but I’m goign to need Kate to help me with that highly technical chore.  

#4  ROCK ART BREWERY is now producing a recipe I developed 10-15 years ago.  It is called Pumpkin Imperial Spruce Stout  (aka- PISS) , and is available in 22 oz bottles with a bright orange and black label.   Matt Nadeau (owner and brew master) did a great job.  It wasn’t easy to take a 5 gallon recipe and turn it into a reality for 650 gallons.  He did however succeed and I’m excited to see my name in fine print on the label.  Little things can make a big difference in our lives- I’d prefer not to analyze that tooooo much though.   At any rate, it can be found on the market in a few places, but you can also go to the brewery in Morrisville on Friday afternooons and saturdays to taste it or buy it directly.   This beer I designed to sit in my knap sack during a day of back country skiing at -10 degrees and not gel.  It is 8% and is best shared with others.   Well, I’ve got to get moving.  I’m goign to meet Matt at the brewery this afternoon for a photo and to answer questions for the St. Albans Messenger.  They will be putting an article up in the next few days.  

PADDLE ON!

Wow!   Montgomery Center, Vermont is where it’s at.  This little community is no doubt one of the gems of Northern Vermont.  Why?  It’s just 13 miles from NFCT’s pastoral Missisquoi River; it’s at the base of Jay Peak, a majestic mountain that draws hikers and skiers from far and wide; and it’s got some of the best dining and lodging you’ll find anywhere.   We think it’s so great that we’ve gone ahead and teamed with the Montgomery Area Community Alliance to create our Montgomery Marvels Vacation Package that rolls fabulous activities and services into one so that you – the vacationer – don’t need to think too hard about where to paddle, hike, stay, and eat.  We’ve laid it all out for you with single, all-inclusive per person prices for the sake of simplicity.  

Here’s what we have in store for you:  Paddle the Missisquoi River with Montgomery Adventures.  Hike through woods and meadows at Hazen’s Notch.  Ride the Aerial Tram up Jay Peak. 

Spend a luxury night with the Phineas Swann Bed and Breakfast Inn.   Bring your dog – they’re welcome at Phineas; and then awaken to banana walnut pancakes, country omelets with Vermont cheddar cheese, or raspberry-stuffed French toast made with homemade potato bread.  (Oh, and extra biscuits for furry friends.)   If you prefer accomodations from the affordable category, you can stay in a vacation rental apartment at the Coach House, where you’ll have access to a full kitchen.  

Wherever you stay, you’ll receive vouchers for great local restaurants.   John Boucher of Bernie’s is known for his Italian and Mexican homemade specialities; Tosca Smith of Trout River Traders whips up creative American dishes using locally-raised meats and produce; Bettie Curboy of Montgomery Pizza and Subs melds local and organic ingrediants into fresh sandwiches and baked goods; last but not least, the Snowshoe Lodge and Pub provides a hearty pub atmosphere with hearty meals to match it.

Have I convinced you?  Why not this weekend?

The Pastoral Missisquoi River Valley

The pet-friendly Phineas Swann provides luxury accomodations.

The NFCT C-4 Crew (Mike Opuszynski, Erik Townsend, Christy Edgren-Opuszynski, Uncle Norm Simpson, Uncle Mike D, Chloe the Collie, Scout the Beagle) at the finish line.

What an experience!  I am amazed at how a region can come together to pull off a great event.  Much credit needs to go to the McDonnell’s, it was obvious that the whole family worked to pull this event off and I could tell that Brian was completely immersed.  At the finish line Brian was announcing the names of everyone as they crossed, and more times than not he would tell a brief and interesting story about each boat’s paddlers (that’s about 300 people).  There were volunteers everywhere, and any location that was accessible was loaded with community members ringing bells, rapping triangles, and shouting on the paddlers.  It didn’t matter if they knew you or not, as soon as you were close enough for people to see your canoe number they would start chanting it and telling those in the boat that they were doing great.  It always amazes me how much harder one can paddle when you are being cheered on.  I wish I could get a recording of it and play it in headphones for all the sections we would paddle through that were void of intersection with road or town.

Getting hauled into the finish line at “The Crusher” DEC boat launch after the Day 2 portion of the race over Long Lake and the Raquette River.

The race has been described to me as a gentleman’s race, and it prove itself to be so.  We placed our canoe in the open touring class, a group of mixed boat types that are not so much interested in being number one, but possibly trying not to be last.  I can say it is hard not to get caught up in the heat of the moment and push yourself to your limits.  Our boat pushed hard, wanting to see what our best time could be, but we were also faced with the challenge of four people learning to paddle together for their first time in a four person boat.  The first two days we worked out quite a few kinks and on day three wound up with a respectable time.  All in all we paddled 90-miles in 17 hours and 45 minutes over 3 days.  Ibuprofen and moleskin were at a premium and there was no shortage of groans and grunts coming from our tents in the mornings as we tried to drag our tired carcasses to the percolating coffee pot.  With this said, everyone from team NFCT was more than happy to exchange the aches for an opportunity to give our best to the 90-miler.

Fish Creek Campground Site

 

 There are a few highlights that stood out. 

One category for highlights would lie in the realm of comaraderie: 

When you are paddling with a group of 250 canoes you eventually realize there are others traveling about the same speed as you and you continue to cross paths here and there.  We did this with the Haulin Daulins, a family team that we not only saw frequently on the course but ended up camping next to one night: good folks.  We realized after Day Two that we were two minutes behind them and the friendly “Open Touring Competitive Spirit” as we called it made us paddle our fastest on Day Three.  We also enjoyed paddling around team “Save the Boobies”, a lively C-5 devoted to raising breast cancer awareness.  The women in that boat were a riot and definitely spread their cheer as they paddled along.

Visual Highlight:

When we hustled through Bartlett Carry and got on toward the middle of Middle Saranac Lake we were treated to the delightful surprise of a Bald Eagle dive-bombing a mere 100 feet away from us to grab a 20 inch fish right out of the water and fly away with it all in one motion.  Unbelievable!  Although Uncle Norm took quite a few pictures along our race route, it all happen so fast that he couldn’t capture the money shot.  I’m sure he got plenty of good ones and when finds a tech savvy person (that would be you sister Michelle) to help him download the photos and send them along, I’ll be sure to put them in the blog and go into a little more detail about the adventure.

I have got to say I am a bundle of excitement this morning!  Two nights ago I had non-stop dreams about the 90-miler, in one I got to the Old Forge starting line and realized that I had forgotten my paddle (don’t worry I am fully packed and have double checked the paddles).  This is my first year participating in the 90-miler, a three day paddling race through the Adirondacks.  Some participants have been at it for 20+ years!

A photo taken at a previous 90-miler attended by NFCT staff

One of the first partners of the Trail that I began working with when I started with the NFCT back in December of 2008 was Brian McDonnell of Mac’s Canoe Livery.  He has collaborated with us to expand the NFCT Stewardship Intern program to include 2 more interns devoted to projects in New York and along the sections of NFCT/90-miler overlap.  He and his wife Grace do an amazing job coordinating the event and so many businesses and volunteers come together that I am blown away.  There are 250 boats that participate in the event/race!

I say event/race because there is an open touring section for those who are less inclined to compete, want to get an idea of what the course looks like, or have not practiced as much as they should have (team NFCT fits all categories), and then there are a number of other categories related to boat type deigned for those who want to give it all they have for the fastest time. 

Right from day one Brian asked if I was going to be participating in the 90-miler.  I had limited knowledge of the event in the beginning.  Next thing I know the NFCT office has a C-4 (four person, 23 foot) Wenonah canoe.  Well, little by little my office mates realized they had double or triple booked their schedules.  In a mad scramble I found three race-mates to fill their shoes (although I hope we can line up an office boat next year).  My brother Mike jumped to the occasion as well as Uncle Norm and my friend Erik from Vermont.  My friend Mike D and wife Christy are going as our support team, to cheer us on and pick us up at the end of the race each day (Thank you so much).  I am sure I’ll have a follow-up blog article with plenty of race pics (no I did not say “racey” pics) next week.

My brother Mike and I after practicing our paddling in the ADKs (nice farmer’s tan, Mike!)

 Planning has been fun.  It is great because camping is free and  Mac’s Canoe Livery picks up and delivers the canoe to and from each leg of the race.  We just have to show up and try not to paddle backwards.  I set up a google map to share the course with my paddle mates, it may not be 100% accurate, but it gives an idea of the course.

Wish us luck!

PS: check out this great commentary by Brian McDonnell: http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/90-miler/90-miler.php

Wet Wally?

or

 

Wet Wally

(Chris Gill-You should add this to your Outhouse of the NFCT blog!)

This season I was bestowed an honor I never thought I would achieve, I had a portable toilet named after me.  I am waiting to see if I go through a similar fate felt by those brave Americans who were the first to land on the moon.  When they returned to earth they were perplexed by not being presented with a challenge that would top the one they just accomplished.  So far, so good, but I will keep you posted.

I would like to thank the 2009 Stewardship Intern Crew, not only for the prestigious namesake, but also for a great season.  I’ve been getting a little choked up as I’ve been going back to places to see some of the end products of their labor for the first time.  Very impressive.  I hope school is going well, and hope you are not suffering the same fate of the moon-walkers after such an amazing summer (don’t worry, there is still plenty of work to do on the trail; come back any time!).

One month ago today the Williams and Jamieson families set out from Chamberlain Bridge on a 7-day journey to Allagash Village.  I guess a month ago would be considered ancient history in the blogosphere, so forgive me.  But I find myself reflecting fondly on that trip, which I never managed to write about in the hustle and bustle of our return, so a short post now as my thoughts reach back to our great adventure.

In our party were 4 adults, 4 children age 10 and younger, and two canoes.  It was, quite simply, an amazing trip.  The rainy weather pattern broke for us, and we enjoyed mostly sunny paddling days, relatively low winds, beautiful views, 13 moose (my son keeps wanting to add a moose or two with every telling…), 4 bald eagles, and more.  Thanks to the State of Maine for managing this resource, and to the resource itself for its lasting beauty.

My daughter, age 10, taking a spin on calm waters on Chamberlain Lake

The whole crew at our campsite on Eagle Lake

A family boat on the Allagash River

I’m happy to report that this kind of peacefulness stays with you, even a month out….

Written by Nick Olson-NFCT 14-week Summer Stewardship Intern

When you think of The Northern Forest Canoe Trail and the stewardship interns, smoke and destruction is the last thing you think of. Rather than constructing carefully planned structures and improving the trail, the week at Upper Saranac Lake was full of sledgehammers, fire, and saws. The Department of Environmental Conservation purchased a parcel of private land on the edge of the lake. Unfortunately there was quite the mess from an old cabin that had collapsed in on itself. Who better to clean it all up than the unruly New York crew? They came wielding trash bags, crow bars, and sledges wearing the same clothes from week one and smelling worse than the decaying bodies of mice in the walls of the cabin. The site was riddled with smashed lumber, old tiles, soggy insulation, brick, and other debris.

Before NFCT cleanup

Julie Harjung of the Department of Environmental Conservation organized a group of volunteers to help demo the cabin. She also arranged for a boat to transport the debris to the launch where it would be taken away by a dump truck. Everyone there worked really hard and we were able to band and remove all the debris by the end of the week. All the volunteers were hard working good people and it was a pleasure to work with them. We owe a huge thanks to Julie for inviting the interns into her home for a home cooked meal and a hot shower. It’s really nice to see people go above and beyond to support the trail. We also had the pleasure of working with a camp group called “La Vida.” Although the group was only there for a few hours one morning they made a big difference. The kids were freshmen in high school and after a short training became excellent nail pullers. Having the kids there to remove nails while we moved the big lumber around made things very efficient. By the end of the week all that remained was a fire ring with a few benches around it. It was pretty incredible to see the transformation happen so fast. A big thanks goes out to all that were involved.

Burning debris in the frame of the cabin

Written by Nick Olson-NFCT 14 Week Stewardship Intern

Attean Pond in Maine is by far the longest trip we have taken for a Waterway Work Trip but what a wonderful way to end the season. We camped about a mile paddle from the boat launch on a beautiful beach surveying the islands and distant hills of Attean Pond. The loons would sing us to sleep every night in perfect harmony. The first several days we spent completing some work on the Demo Road portage on the Moose River. It was nice to be “forced” to paddle to and from work everyday. We took some measurements of the portage trail and cleared brush in the corridor. We also re-painted a primitive river gauge on a rock above the rapids. The trail was rather confusing and it wasn’t signed very well so we went along the trail and put up new signs and blazes to ensure everyone found their way back to the river. If you plan to be on this portage, you may want some wheels. It’s a long one.

Just when we could hardly stand the smell of one another and camp started getting lonely, six volunteers showed up as well as two other interns from NFCT. What a fantastic group of volunteers to boot. Everyone was fun to be around and had a passion for paddling. These Waterway Work Trips really draw some great people. We welcomed our guests with our traditional four layer pizza cooked only with cast iron and fire. Needless to say, it was a hit. In the morning we paddled upwind into what seemed like a hurricane on our way to the work site. After pushing through the wind we made it to the far side of the lake where we would be fixing the portage trail. The old bog bridging along the trail was rotting out and becoming dangerous. We started by ripping all that soggy mess and making room for the new and improved bog bridging. With all the hands the bog bridges seemed to go in faster than I could walk across them. The paddle back was much smoother and I think everyone appreciated the flat water. Some people went for an evening hike up the trail just behind our campsite. Sam and Noah thought the hike was too easy so they would wait until night fell before hiking the trail.

Textbook Bog Bridging

The next morning was full of crap, literally. Two new holes had to be dug for the outhouses at the two campsites on the beach. One hole turned into a less exciting form of an archaeological dig when they stumbled across what appeared to be an old privy hole that had been decomposing for some time. Everyone got their hands dirty on this project but some more than others. After sliding the outhouses over the new holes camp was packed up and everyone slowly paddled back to the boat launch. The cars were all packed and after everyone said their goodbyes the lingering smell of privy holes slowly faded away.

Whos First?