Day 25

14June2008

Woke on the bright and early and portaged into the outlet of Pensioner Pond. Bean got a chance to try out her stern skills. Impressive.

Across Pensioner we tackled the undulating Clyde. Lots of twists and turns - as the picture shows, we ran into a HUGE turtle...gorgeous paddling, just a bit wandering...

Made it to the East Charleston general store and picked up some cold drinks and snacks - day old cookies on sale! Peanut Butter! After which we paddled to the boat launch at 10 Mile Square Road where we called it a day. Sort of a sketchy place to camp, but there was nothing downriver except soggy cow pasture, and nothing but wetlands ahead. Not the best options...

Weather: Humid - mid-80's storms a brewin

Wildlife: 3 deer, cows, beaver, 2 loons, heron, damsel and dragonflies

"The reeds give

Way to theWind

and give

The wind away" ~ A.R. Ammons

Day 24

13June2008

FRIDAY THE 13th!!! Pretty quiet on our end... Portage cart didn't make it in to Newport, we are having it forwarded to Island Pond, VT. One cool side note from waiting around Newport is that we ran into some fellow NFCT paddlers! Paul and Jonathan started a couple of days behind us and caught us at the campground this morning. We all got some breakfast at the local diner and talked shop. Awesome to meet fellow thru-paddlers.

Departed Newport around noonish via a shuttle from the Great Outdoors, the local outfitter. Made our way up to Lake Salem - bypassing some gnarly whitewater on the Clyde River. Nice paddling until almost East Charleston where it shallowed out and we ended up poling and lining a mile or so. Took out into someones backyard and portaged into Charleston Pond. Set up camp at a site near another portage around another dam. Should be a good morning tomorrow!

Weather: same, bit warmer

Wildlife: Bald eagle, 2 turtles, deer, elk (in cages...) Heron, fish, dragon and damsel flies, canadian goose with 4 big goslings

"The majestic river floated on, Out of the mist and hum of that low land, Into the frosty starlight." ~Matthew Arnold

Day 23

12June2008

In town waiting on the portage cart, re-suppying, and just hanging out. Newport is a very convenient and pedestrian friendly town. We will spend tonight back at the campground and then head out tomorrow morning to head upstream on the Clyde River. We do so enjoy a good upstream paddle.

Weather: fair - sunny and 70's

Wildlife: cars in town - they move quick!

"To stick your hands into the river is to feel the cords that bind the earth together in one piece."
~Barry Lopez

Day 22

11June2008

Continued southward to Newport, VT. Bid adieu to Herman's cozy cottage and safe harbor. It was a most excellent sanctuary.

Memphramagog was calm - the surface like a mirror. Great paddling. As we got closer to town, the wind picked up - as it was a good following wind we set sail and breezed through the last few miles. A quick check in at US Customs and we suddenly found ourselves in town.

Hit the library to get our bearings and made some reservations at a local campground. Walked to the outfitters and swung by the post office to get our mail. Ate lunch. A whirlwind of activity takes place once you get back to town!

Made a phone call to the Eastern Mountain Sports in South Burlington - should have a new portage cart by tomorrow. This is most excellent as the next stretch of river has many portages! The good folks at EMS really went above and beyond to help us out! Hooray for exceptional customer service!

Paddled over to the campground and set up shop. We are the only tent in a sea of RV's. Sort of funny. Showers, laundry - we even saw a movie at the local cinema. Town livin' - it's a hard knock life...

Weather: fair - quick evening shower

Wildlife: River otter, 18 Turkey vultures riding thermals over camp, 2 loons, a duck with 7 babies

"At times on quiet waters one does not speak aloud but only in whispers, for then all noise is sacrilege." ~Sigurd F. Olson

We are actually about a week ahead of our schedule, oops.

Day 21

10June2008

Rise and shine at Canoe and Co. - if you are paddling on the NFCT, swing in and stay. They offer a place to camp, shuttles, and guide services. Francois is super nice - they'll take good care of you - check them out: 1121 chemin Burnett Glen Sutton (QC) JOE 2KO phone: 450.538.4052.

Broke camp and made arrangements to shuttle over the Grand Portage to Memphramagog - since our portage cart died we decided it would be wise to get a lift over this 7 mile portage... and good thing too - it was another incredibly hot day!

Put back in at Perkins Landing on the lake and paddled South towards Newport, VT. We crossed back into the states at 245pm - shortly therafter a HUGE, SCARY storm rolled through. Luckily we had seen some kids playing in the water so we paddled like crazy and asked for sanctuary. The mom even ran down to help us get our boat up on land and we huddled under the porch while the heavens opened up! SEVERE weather. Lightning, thunder, torrential rain. It was biblical. Apparantly that area had recieved a potential tornado warning. We were not fortunate enough to witness the tornado part.

As chance would have it, the patriarch of the clan, Herman, had a little cottage that he rents out to folks and he offered it to us to stay the night for free. We were very grateful. Especially later that evening when another, even more severe storm tore through the area knocking down trees and power lines. Yikes. We were happy to be safe and warm!

Tomorrow we head to town.

Weather: wild and crazy

Wildlife: fish (the water is very clear), a mink, toy poodle, cormorants and ducks.

"Even at the very bottom of the river, I didn't think to myself, `is this a hearty joke or the merest accident'. I just thought, `it's wet'."
~ Eeyore

Day 20

9June2008

Began the day once again in Richford, VT - the day was already hot at 5am, and we were glad that we got moving so early! Portaged through town to the put in upriver past a series of gnarly ledges. At least, we thought we had...

We spent the next 2 1/2 hours eddy hopping, lining, and paddling like the dickens trying to make head way up a shallow, bony stretch of river. The current was fast, and the ledges were covered with algae making poling impossible as you couldn't manage a good set. Lining was not an option as the edge of the river was hemmed in by fallen down trees - strainers are sort of scary, eh?

Finally we decided to take out and try our luck on the road to get around this shallow stretch of water. And there we sat. For 3 hours...

Until Randy rolled up with his sweet station wagon of joy. Thanks be to the canoe gods! Just by chance he happened to live just up the road where we were going so we loaded everything into/onto his car and made our way up and around the bony stretch.

Bid Randy farewell and checked in with US Customs as we prepared to cross into Canada. After the US side we walked across to Canada and checked in with them. After they were satisfied that we weren't smuggling cocaine or people, they sent us on our way.

We officially paddled into Canada at 2pm on the nose - just as soon as we did, the river instantly turned smooth and deep - what a change! This stretch of the Missisquoi is easily the most beautiful portion we have seen - just in time too as our arms were rather tired!

An easy few miles to Glen Sutton and we made our way to Canoe and Co. - a local outfitter. Francoise, the owner, let us crash on his lawn for the night. How sweet it is!

Weather: T-storms early, rainy hot and humid - ugh.

Wildlife: crawfish and Canadians

"If there's a place, Canoe there." ~ Brent Kelly

Day 19

8June2008

Woke up in Davis Park meaning to hit the water - but we were both dead tired (I guess 16 miles in 90 degree temps upriver can really take it out of you...) and the temps were already on the rise, so we decided to call it good and stay in Richford another day.

Rest and re-hydration.

Weather: Sunny, HOT (90's), Thunderstorms as we turned in

Wildlife: Desert tortoise (random encounter on the street, someones pet...), turkey vultures sunning themselves on the bridge

"Thus the Birch Canoe was builded

In the valley, by the river,

In the bosom of the forest;

And the forest’s life was in it,

All its mystery and its magic,

All the lightness of the birch-tree,

All the toughness of the cedar,

All the larch’s supple sinews;

And it floated on the river

Like a yellow leaf in Autumn,

Like a yellow water-lily." ~Longfellow