Weather: Windless, hot, dead calm
Portages: 1, only a few hundred yards through Swanton. Wheelable, easy. Water was low. Take out was a little challenging only in the steepness of the shore and broken rocks. May have been due to 2011 spring floods.
Wildlife: Birds, 3 or 4 beaver, muskrat, deer, fish, coyote voices
Dinner: Granola bars and an orange
After breakfast, Mike, wearing an Academy Awards hat, took us to Swanton, Highgate and Eastgate Dams to take a look, before heading out by canoe. We admitted to having googled him last night and discovering exactly who he was. Said our goodbyes and was on the water around 10 a.m. Paddled to the top of the Missisquoi Wildlife Refuge by Shad Island and saw hundreds of herons, snowy egrets, cormorants and ducks. Not as many sightings once we were on the Missisquoi away from Lake Champlain. Took a lunch break at Max's bend and paddled on to Swanton where we hoped to stay at the Swanton Motel. Being a Friday night, all the smaller rooms are booked. Front desk didn't understand we were traveling by canoe or about any NFCT discount. This was a little disappointing as the motel is promoting itself within the NFCT membership, so I'm not sure why there was confusion, but recognize that showing up on a Friday night without a reservation was iffy. Luckily the Marble Mill Inn Bar and Restaurant was right along the portage route, so we steeled oursleves for the next 7 mile paddle to the campsite with some local (Lake Trail Harvest, I think it was), beer.
Got back on the river around 5 p.m. on flat water and an easy upstream paddle. Met two section paddlers from NH, SweetMeat and GoldThumb, who were just finishing up their Island Pond to Louie's Landing segment going downstream, something which I now think may be the saner way to travel this river. Arrived at camp just as the sun was setting. Had passed about a mile earlier, what seemed to be a very sketchy "camp." It was dusk, but we swear we saw a goose and an owl nailed to the fence posts by this guy's place. At least that is what the silhouettes looked like. Plus the guy was jet skiing on the river for a while. Raised lots of questions in my head. Oh, and we can't pump the water from this river. Too much agricultural runoff.
Washed up by a spring that was trickling into the river and it was so late, we only had granola bars for dinner. Joked that I'm only giving Beckie "rations." Isn't as funny when it's a few days later and we still are finding we only have time to eat "rations."
The site itself, is just off the river, located up along the portage in the woods before the long ascension to the dam. Mike was sure we were going to be having a heck of a time portaging. This is the section where a big part of the trail washed out in the spring flood, but it actually turned out to be rather easy. The site included a notebook and we got to read a few notes from people who camped there ahead of us including advice on an excellent bakery to get coffee and donuts in the morning. Team Moxie camped here a month earlier. (They just finished their trip this past week in 50 days. Yeah Team Moxie!) Heard a few coyotes as we were falling asleep.
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| Shad Island Heron Rookery/ The Missisquoi Nat'l Wildlife Refuge |
