Day 10 – North Hero Island State Park, VT, to East Highgate, VT

T-2016-8-30

Start: North Hero Island

End: Stealth site just beyond East Highgate, VT
On the Way:  North Hero, Missisquoi River, Swanton

Miles: ~26 (Milepost: 196.5.  So close!)

Map: 4

Weather: Sunny in AM, then overcast.  Would love some rain, but not overnight…

In lieu of NOT being able to report 200 miles down, harrumph, I instead report on my first stealth camping adventure.  It’s private land as far as the eye can see for most of Vermont and Quebec, and in one of those two landmasses I can get caught and tried without an embassy getting involved, so here I am.

Home sweet...rock mound.

It’s quite nice, as far as initial ventures go.  I pulled over to a mound of rocks, peeked over the bank and saw that the other side is just a remote hayfield, found a nice fold of rock to fit my back (just like we just to camp on Big Rock at Camp Redwing!), took a riverbath and washed out the river clothes, made dinner, and kept the headlamp beam under my shirt.  Not too bad, and I got to paddle from dawn to dusk and put some serious miles on, which feels great.

Gorgeous old ironwork on a bridge next to one of the many dam crossings.

The dam was inflatable!  It had this big rubber bladder that kept back the water along the top.
Very impressive engineering.

The bony Missiquoi River

Today I also lined up my first rapid, since this marks the upstream portion of the trail where rapids become climbs rather than drops.  It was right near the scary old remains of the Highgate Dam, and I had just worked up the courage to ask the landowner if I could venture across their river-ride yard with angry “NO TRESPASSING” signs every five feet.  It was a put-in right below the last ledge of the rapids, and to put in any higher upriver would entail an awful dirt road portage and a hand carry…

So I said eff it and walked the boat up through the rapids in the dying light.  Wasn’t that hard, and managed to fall only after the rapid was over.  Made me feel super-human, scaling upriver.  Good thing there will be plenty more of that to come…

Things Learned:

+ Ignore it long enough, and that right shoulder knot becomes a right bicep pain…  NO BUENO.

+ Green algae, when it gets under my clothes, makes me itch real bad.  Not a good sensation when 80% of your body is securely and carefully tucked into boat and skirt and lifejacket foam, far from the prying fingertips with their relief-granting nails.

Trail Magic:

+ Wild grapes, raspberries, and blackberries along the portage!

+ This morning saw me going through a heron rookery at the mouth of the Missiquoi!  Didn’t get to see as many as I had hoped, even though I made sure to get there early, but still saw lots of birds and a couple birders.

+ Had two slices of really fabulous cheese pizza, some chocolate milk, and a popsicle in Swanton, while taking a break from hauling up over two too-damned dams.

+ Here at the stealth site, I’ve seen four beavers playing in the rapids (one slapped at me!) king fishers, and maybe raccoons before the night is out, judging by all the scat around the rocks.

[EDIT: The raccoons stayed well enough away, but I did make a point of hollering into the brush whenever I was awoken by a rustling sound in the night…]