Three Sunday’s in a row in Northern VT, everyone of them sunny and relatively warm.  OK most of the year, but in November?   I have lots of memories of sitting indoors while it spits snow or rain, or both with some wind thrown in, thanking my lucky stars that I’m in by the fire.  Those are the days that even make correcting look like a great activity!   At any rate, yesterday was another great one to be out on the water.   I got a call from Dr. Louis Dandurand in the morning.  Our schedules rarely coincide well, but he wasn’t going to the ER, and both our family’s were self sufficient without us.  Soooooooooooo, what else but paddle? 

But, let me tell you about this guy.  Not only is he an Emergency Room Doc, but a great paddler, and an inventor.  He is a top notch telemarker, and designs, promotes and sells the Telebulldog  step in telemark binding.  He’s always working on improvements, and whenever we go out back country skiing, he’s always trying to get me to try out his latest new piece.  

At any rate, we went to do the Missisquoi between Richford and E. Berkshire.  The river was up, and it was auto-pilot style paddling, where you do not have to worry about hitting much, and can drift along yacking and taking in the sunshine, and planning to get our two 13 year old daughters to go on one more trip with us next summer.  You know, before they think we’re just old trash that stinks no matter what you cover it with!   The only things on the river were Great Blues, Mergansers, Blue Jays flying back and forth with throats stuffed with food of some sort, and a smaller falcon of some sort.  That one wouldn’t sit still long enough to get ID’d, but that’s allright.  It was such a wondrful day, that we even passed a guy sitting on a bucket down by the river. sitting in the sun, and sipping on a beer in the mid afternoon sun.  We asked if he’d caught any fish, and he said he wasn’t bothering.  Should I keep the boat out in the yard still?   I’m going to risk it, in the hopes of catching one more day.  If I jinx it, then it’ll be time to get out the telemark skiis and go sliding.   Enjoy all, and Happy Thanksgiving!    John

Who would have thunk it?  I figured that two weekends ago would be my last paddle before stuffing my green Tripper up in the attic of the garage.  BUT NO!  Thanks to procrastinating, and a belief in the uncertainty of NE weather, the boat is still out, and got a chance to get wet yesterday.  It rained saturday, and I should have headed for the Missisquoi River because it was up and running well.  However, I was looking at no wind, and clearing out in the late morning.  Instead I headed for Lake Carmi.  Its a small lake nearby, and with a few hours to kill, I headed that way.  It was a great choice, and as always a lesson was learned.  Carmi is a small lake, maybe a couple miles long by three fourths wide.  It has a VT state park covering about one fourth of the shore line, and the rest is camps.  Well……………the camps are basically shut for the season, all the docks are up and out of the water, and I had the lake to myself for the afternoon.  The older I get, the more I seem to take advantage of the off season paddling, and loving it more.  I do however always take along a dry bag of spare clothes, etc, and I spend my time close to shore.  It’s tempting to cross a larger bay, but the water is cold, I’m not built like a seal (although I’ve enjoyed too much beer over the years!), and swimming while towing anything is exhausting.  Besides, all the wild life is along the shore line.

Speaking of which, I got to see some on this trip, although not as much as last week on the river.  There were a few Great Blues, a very shy loon out in the middle, a couple of Ring Billed Gulls, Blue Jays, chickadees, and a species of duck out there.   They hung out in groups of a dozen or so, and were very shy.  They spooked very quickly, and a long way from me.  I believe they were Golden Eyes, but I have an email out to a former student of mine who is an award winning decoy painter, hunter and all around duck nut.  I sent Eddie the traits I recognized, and asked him what he thought.  I’ll hear from him at some point in the future, but with deer season in full swing, I don’t expect it too soon.  The thing that surprised me the most, was the lack of Mallards.  During the summer, Carmi has lots of Mallards cruising the camp docks.  There were none yesterday.  I wonder if it is the lack of docks for resting spots, or just the lack of ready food hand outs.  At any rate, it was a wonderful time to be able to circle the lake, be off from the rest of humanity, be warm, and not having to do anything.

Well, my wife has a home made pizza coming out of the oven, and I’ve got to get off the computer if I’m going to get some of it.  Later!   My boat’s still in the yard, and hoping for another chance.           John

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….