M-2016-9-5
Start:
Clyde River Recreation, Pensioner Pond, VT
End:
Brighton State Park, VT
On the
Way:
Pensioner Pond, Island Pond Village, Island Pond
Miles: ~21
(Milepost: 301.5!)
Map: 6
Weather: All
clear, and will be for next few days.
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| This turtle statue says "Goodbye" as you head out from the last open water of the day. |
Ung. Today shouldn’t
have been a long day, but it was. My
shoulder really started bothering me. It
started getting annoyed through the twisty, turny S-curves of the Clyde, which
Dieter, that Cadillac of a boat, is just not made to handle. Then it held up okay through a couple wrong
turns in the Fens. But by the time I was
making my way into Island Pond, bashing through tiny cattail corridors and
lugging the boat over countless beaver dams, it was not happy.
 |
| Osprey nest in the Fens |
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| The most open (albeit very shallow) segment of the day! |
There’s something psychological about having your boat and
person covered in dust and cobwebs and dead bracken that just makes it feel
like a bad time. I’m not one to whinge
about getting a little grungy, but watersports are mainly a clean activity, and
one gets used to avoiding the dust and debris that land-based sports face every
day. An AT hiker, for example, would
consider my hair and boat deck clean by the time I finally slid under the
historical hotel that marks entry to Island Pond. But I was looking and feeling quite
bedraggled, like an overworked swamp witch.
I was ready for a break.
 |
| The sub-hotellean entrance to Island Pond |
I made the executive decision to declare tomorrow a town zero
day, and checked myself in to a State Park site for two days to enjoy a secure
parking space and some coin-op showers.
But my, these Parks are pricey. I
don’t begrudge Conservancy budgets their chance to make some dough, but damn, I
could find myself a solid motel room for this price.
Anyway, the hot shower means I could soak my shoulder this evening, and I had a nice hot meal and got to spread out my beta reading resplendently on the big picnic table. Tomorrow I check in with my folks in Boston and MD, Internet a little at the library, pick up my mail drop at the convenience store (I’ve learned!), and ask hard questions about which clothes to keep and where next to send the box. Maybe I’ll stop by the pharmacy and see if there are any shoulder solutions to be had. Postcards, too, are my luxurious commodity to acquire at this hub of the Grand Trunk railroad.
Things
Learned:
+ Gotta take care of a body if you want it to do
extraordinary things.
Trail
Magic:
+ Saw a group from CRR being dropped off at the bridge 5
miles upriver from their place. We waved
hi.
+ Despite the navigational terror the Fens are wont to inspire, they're quite a lovely segment of the trail, rich with lots of wildlife and healthy water plants.
+ I met Bill and Pat who run the NFCT farmstand! Picked up a finger-licking-good homemade
maple ice cream sandwich and a pound of organic yellow string beans, which go
swimmingly with my peanut butter. We
chatted about the Fens, and Bill gave me some solid directional advice. Today’s the day of recurring connections: Saw
them again while paddling past their
B&B in the Fens, where they pointed me out of one of their B&B
guests. I didn’t get a good look at the
pair, but they appeared to be a father with a young daughter in a white summer
dress. They excitedly told her I was
paddling to Maine. I did my best to exude
some girl power through radiative forcing…and promptly took a wrong turn in
front of them.
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| NFCT organic farm stand, run by the friendly Bill and Pat |
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| Beans make great, moisture-laden boatsnacks |
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