PaddleWays Adventure Log

Yesterday, I received a call from a journalist at one of the “biggie” national magazines. She is working on an article about moving to Vermont for the June issue. She wanted to know about kayaking on Lake Champlain.

Hmmm. Yup, I can talk about that.

I took her on a “verbal” tour of my favorite section of the lake – putting in at the mouth of Otter Creek where one might see osprey, kingfishers, turtles, beaver, mink, fox, deer, and dragonflies among the wealth of species that make their home where river meets lake. I described the backdrop of the Adirondack and Green Mountain ranges that flank the lake, the 200 foot-high cliffs that rise from the water where paddlers may sight a rare peregrine falcon, a species that was almost eliminated in the days of DDT and Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring.”

I could hear the reporter yawning from her Manhattan office. “That sounds nice,” she said. “Are there any seals and sea lions?”

Seals and sea lions? On Lake Champlain?

It’s not the first time someone has asked if they might see marine mammals in our freshwater lake. I went on to explain that our lake is not connected with the ocean today, but that Lake Champlain was filled with saltwater for a period after the glaciers of the last ice age retreated 10,000 years ago. I told her the story of the Charlotte whale – bones of a beluga that were found by railroad workers digging a railway bed in the nineteenth century.

I could hear the yawning again.

My naturalist friends have a term for what the reporter was looking for. “Charismatic megafauna” – large animal species with widespread popular appeal. The polar bear. The Asian elephant. The giant panda. The blue whale. That’s what today’s ecotourist wants to see.

I mentioned the increasing number of bald eagle sightings, including the one that flew over the top of Gypsy Rose late last fall.

“That’s nice,” the reporter replied, but I knew that I hadn’t yet uncovered the big one for the story.

Despite our apparent lack of charismatic megafauna, the interview progressed. I moved on to the cultural highlights of the area. I spoke of the many shipwrecks on that section of lake, adding that the paddler can make a stop to learn more at the Maritime Museum along the route.

More yawns from Manhattan.

We’ll just have to wait and see what (if anything) shows up on those glossy perfumed pages when the article goes to print in a couple of months.

 I was still pondering the interview when an article in this morning’s New York Times caught my eye.

“TROPHY TRIPS”

“For today’s jet set it’s a braggart’s banquet.”

Here are a few excerpts:

“ . . . lately the idea of the trophy trip has reached a peak, as the travel industry keeps offering rarer and more meaningful ways to connect to the world.”

‘‘Most of our clients have ‘been there, done that,’ ’’ says Mollie Fitzgerald of the high-end outfitter Frontiers International Travel. ‘‘People are seeking richer experiences because the ‘flop and drop’ concept is passé.’’

“Trophy hunting comes at a price, of course, and as global wealth keeps expanding, there’s no shortage of punters. ‘For people at the very top, there are not many surprises left,’ says the Cornell professor Robert H. Frank, author of ‘Luxury Fever: Money and Happiness in an Era of Excess.’ Like modern-day Edmund Hillarys, the über-elite are going to the ends of the earth — and beyond — and they want to get there first.”

“Such is the power of bragging rights. As Ann Mack, who monitors trends for J. Walter Thompson in New York, puts it, ‘The more experiences you have — and the more obscure and upscale they are — the more interesting you are at cocktail parties, because you have done something that most people haven’t.’”

Okay, okay, now I get it. If only I could offer an exclusive opportunity to sight Lake Champlain’s legendary lake monster, Champ! Talk about charismatic megafauna! Talk about a Trophy Trip!

Wow! If I could have promised Champ, that upcoming article (and me) might even have had a chance at the front page!

Posted by Kevin Rose at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

For the past nine years PaddleWays has held its Maine Kayak Navigation class over the weekend following Labor Day. The class has always been one of our most popular offerings. For the 2006 season, a June 8th trip has been added.

This three and a half day hands-on experience will give you the necessary skills to plan your trips and navigate your kayak adventures with confidence and safety. The program focuses on time-honored, traditional navigation skills. (I've often thought about subtitling the class, "What to do when the batteries die.") You'll learn how to arrive at your destination by observing the world around you, aided by a chart and compass on the deck of your boat.

Our "classroom" offers the very best of Downeast Maine. Beginning with a stay at a cozy bed and breakfast in Stonington, we paddle for three days through the island-studded, wildlife-rich waters between Deer Isle and Isle Au Haut. We spend two nights at island campsites, dining on hearty meals that include fresh mussels and lobster (of course!), before returning to Stonington on Sunday afternoon.

To learn more, click here, or send me an email, or give me a call at 802.238.0674.

Kevin Rose

Posted by Kevin Rose at 03:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How often have we heard the phrase, "Where did the years go?" It wasn't until I set up this web log to begin writing about PaddleWays adventures that I suddenly realized that it's been ten years since the business was founded. What a decade it's been!

A BRIEF HISTORY OF PADDLEWAYS
PaddleWays has its origins in a lifelong love affair with water. My interest in boats developed out of practical considerations. I needed a means for exploration.

I grew up near the Connecticut River, in Bradford, Vermont. As a young teen, I often spent the early spring days playing in floodwaters that had crested the riverbanks. Our first "boat" was born when a friend and I lashed a plank to a pair of 50-gallon drums and floated out onto the swollen river. An idea was born. That idea eventually took the form of a raft, a wooden platform supported by six steel drums, sixteen feet long and seven feet wide. Think of it as a dock that is not attached to shore - set adrift on the river with two wide-eyed teens aboard.

"Foxy Lady," as we named our raft, was fitted with a homemade charcoal stove at the bow, supply boxes for food and clothing, and a tent that was pitched on deck for sleeping at night. Each spring for three years, my friend and I took our raft on a week-long trek down the Connecticut River. We would haul the craft to a location just downstream of the Rygate, Vermont dam, leaving it for a day with all of our supplies. We'd then continue on to Littleton, New Hampshire and the Ammonoosuc River where we'd launch our canoe (also named for a Hendrix tune, "Wild Thing"). After twenty miles of whitewater paddling, we'd reach the confluence with the Connecticut River and rejoin the raft. From there, we'd shove off for a week of drifting downstream through the rural farming communities along the Vermont, New Hampshire border.

Years later, I moved to the "big city" of Burlington, on the shores of Lake Champlain. There, in the backyard, were hundreds of miles of new shoreline to explore. While my first forays onto the broad lake were in my trusty canoe, I soon learned that the open waters of Lake Champlain requred a vessel better adapted to wind and waves. It was then that I discovered the sea kayak.

The kayak met all of my criteria for lake exploration. Easy to transport, light, suitable for solo travel, secure storage for gear, and aesthetically pleasing. I was ready to paddle the miles, but I also knew that open water paddling has its inherent dangers. I set out to find other paddlers who had discovered the sea kayak. That quest led to the formation of the Champlain Kayak Club in 1991.

The Champlain Kayak Club grew steadily from three initial members to an affiliation of hundreds of area paddlers. In those early years, I spent much of the time that I was not on the water writing and editing articles for the club's quarterly newsletter, Blazing Paddles. Our weekly Wednesday night paddles were well attended and we also organized several weekend and overnight paddles throughout the year. It was great fun and I made many lifelong friends in the process.

By 1996 virtually all of my non-working hours were devoted to the Champlain Kayak Club. It was a natural progression to begin entertaining the idea, "Wouldn't it be great to make my living by doing something that I love?" I answered yes to that question and PaddleWays was born.

Ten years have passed. I have had the great pleasure of paddling with thousands of PaddleWays guests. We've shared many miles, many laughs, and many challenges along the way. With those memories and experiences to guide me, I'm looking forward to the next ten years of adventure and I hope to see you along the way.

Kevin Rose, Founder/Owner
PaddleWays, Inc.

Posted by Kevin Rose at 06:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)