Crown Point

After talking about it for years and never quite finding the right combination of wind and weather, Lisa, Tom and I finally decided to paddle from our home of Charlotte, Vermont to our orchard in Crown Point, New York. We left from the boat launch in Converse Bay on a sweltering afternoon and headed south, around Thomspon's Point. I kept dipping my straw hat in the water and splashing myself to keep cool. The sunburn that I would later find on my neck was a reminder that ultraviolet rays do reflect upwards off of water....oops.

We stopped at Kingsland Bay State Park for a quick tuna sandwich on the shade of the porch. We watched children jumping off of the already submerged cement dock. I couldn't help jumping into the water myself!

Shoving off, we followed the Vermont shore past the mouth of Otter Creek and paddled steadily with the wind at our backs until we arrived at Button Bay State Park. We were able to get a campsite overlooking the lake. After jumping in the pool, we wandered the paths with Amy, who had brought her baby Ben to the park for the evening. Once the mosquitoes began to viciously swarm, we hid in our tents and snoozed.

By the time I had fully awoken the next morning, my sleeping pad, air mattress and bag had all been packed and I was laying on the floor of the tent! We munched on oatmeal and bananas and packed the boats, successfully shoving off before eight. We needed an early start to beat the heat and potential storms.

We paddled steadily through calm water with short breaks before arriving at Chimney Point, a stop that Jefferson and Madison had made while touring the lake. Sitting on the dock, we ate an early lunch and admired the new Champlain Bridge sitting above us. It seemed exponentially safer than the rusty girders that we were used to seeing.

We meandered to the orchard and after some acrobatics required to get the kayaks and all of our gear up the cliff, we poured water over our heads. Jumping into our car (that we left there two days prior), we headed to Port Henry for dinner at Gene's Michigan Stand, one of our favorite eateries in the Adirondacks! The muggy weather led us to walk through Mac's Market, just to enjoy the air conditioning. Before leaving, we made a stop in the Sherman Free Library where we saw Peggy Porter - local historian and resident friendly person!

The rest of the day was spent in the shade, looking out on the lake at the orchard. We spent the night sleeping in the bug tent (a necessity because of the aforementioned mosquitoes) before leaving the next morning. The trip was a highlight indeed and we got to see many of the most beautiful parts of the lake on one voyage!

Our total trip mileage was 24.5. We covered 11.3 miles on our first day (from Converse Bay to Button Bay) and 13.2 on our second day (from Button Bay to Crown Point).