A 30+ Mile Day on Lake Champlain

June 14, 2024

Mile 146.2-174.4 (Campbell’s Bay Campground)

My alarm went off at 4 am and I could hear the winds still howling as soon as I opened my eyes. I woke up Henry and we decided to lay back down for an hour and see if they would die down. I fell back asleep easily but Henry stayed awake and had walked down to the beach to check on the waves. He woke me up before 5 to tell me they were much calmer and we should go for it.

We were on the water by 6 am, it was chilly and wading into the waves to load the boat and get in certainly woke me up.

The wind was blowing directly at us, which was good because we wanted south winds- they’ll help us when we get out into open water. The waves had picked up though and were 2-3 feet in the bay. I had been feeling nauseous since waking up and the rocking waves didn’t help.

We fought hard to stay facing the waves and took on a lot of water, we would rise on one wave, crash down the other side, and another wave would crash down in my lap before we could rise again. We kept our heads on our shoulders, I tried to bail as much as possible but most of the water moved to the back behind Henry since he’s heavier. Finally after what felt like forever we got to the end of the point and I was able to keep the canoe pointed into the waves while Henry bailed out over 10 gallons of water. I thought for sure he was going to say we needed to turn around but he didn’t and we pushed on.

We followed the ferry line for the 2 mile open water crossing to the other bank and the waves weren’t nearly as bad coming at our right side instead of straight ahead. Although the one time I paused to check Guthook a wave rose up and smacked me in the side of the face. We crossed with no difficulty, joking that Lake Champlain is the Mt Washington of the NFCT and we should moon the ferry to keep in tradition with mooning the cog railway. We followed the shoreline north and crossed into “the gut” which was nice and calm. I laid back for awhile and relaxed while Henry trolled along slowly, fishing.

Then we headed up the shoreline of North Hero Island before taking a break on tiny Hen Island. The banks were covered in clouds of little white gnats but they didn’t bite or bother us. The water was crystal clear, we swam naked, dried in the sun and then would dive in again. It felt so good to feel the sun on my shoulders even though I was sure they were burning.

I rinsed some clothes in the water and laid them out to dry, we ate some snacks and hydrated. After an hour or so we pushed off- by now the wind had changed direction, coming from the northwest and we had to fight hard as fuck against it to get closer to the shore to be protected. I paddled as hard as I could, we both had to paddle on the right to fight the waves so I couldn’t even give my poor arm a break. A few seconds rest would push us back and lose us minutes worth of effort, so neither of us rested. The tendons of my elbow were on fire but I kept my gaze straight ahead, cleared my mind and thought of nothing but every single hard as fuck stroke. We finally reached the shelter of the shore where the wind wasn’t as bad. We continued up the shoreline until we reached our last open water crossing- this one 1.5 miles. Life jackets back on, we sat rocking in the waves while waiting for jet skis and boats to fly past going what seemed like 100 mph. Once again fighting the waves but by this time we were used to them. I was growing more tired and this crossing really took the life out of me. Henry shouted over the wind asking if I needed a break as we neared the opposite shore where waves crashed over big boulders and I yelled back YES!!!

We eased the canoe into a calm cove and I crawled out on shore. I stretched out on my foam pad trying to ease the aching and burning in my shoulders and arms. I groaned and moaned and then pulled myself together, ate as much of my snacks as I could and mixed up some caffeine in my Nalgene. Only 5 or 6 miles to go, I was tired but I was determined.

Off into the waves once more following the shore. The fire returned in the tendons of both elbows and I ignored it completely, eventually it faded away. We rolled along, the waves about 2 feet but we just rolled over them as we cruised along.

We crossed under the bridge and headed towards Campbell’s Bay Campground. I couldn’t believe we made it, we stepped out onto shore and the first thing I saw was a little baby cow kicking its back legs up in the air in the golden hour sun.

I cried some from exhaustion, Henry and I hugged and we asked some fellow campers for directions to the camp office. We pulled the canoe down narrow roads, finding that the store had closed 20 minutes earlier. We sat and stared at the sign, our brains fried, trying to think of our next move when the owner walked over from his home next door and welcomed us inside. We paid for our site, a root beer and an ice cream sandwich and wandered away towards the campsite like sunburnt ghosts. We picked a campsite as far away from a loud family as we could and sat down at the picnic table. We gathered ourselves for a few minutes before unpacking everything, hanging out some wet gear to dry. It felt like my brain wasn’t working and I’m sure my blood sugar was low. I told Henry I wasn’t sure what to do next. He told me I should eat my ice cream and drink my root beer and then go take a hot shower.

So I did. Except it was a cold shower because the hot water burned my sunburn and made me screech. I slathered my body with aloe and came back to the site just in time to catch a beautiful sunset.

As the mosquitoes came out I could feel the exhaustion and irritation seeping in, where everything feels uncomfortable including my clothes and I want nothing more than to just be asleep. Henry told me to get in the tent, smoke some weed and he’d hand my dinner in to me. I was so grateful and felt much better being in my safe little bubble away from biting bugs.

I tried to eat dinner but really wasn’t hungry and nothing tasted good so I drank a protein shake, took a Benadryl and crashed hard wrapped under Henry’s arm.

We’re in Vermont. We fucking did it. I feel like a different person than I was this morning.