Lake Champlain Paddling

[daxs]

I had the opportunity to do a 2 day paddle on Lake Champlain last weekend. I used a VT Fish and Wildlife boat ramp on Mallets Bays north of Burlington to launch. I paddled around Mallets Head and camped on Hazelett Beach. There is road leading down to the beach and houses up above so its not very private but there was minimal people traffic and I was able to build a fire on the beach at night. The beach is private property but the owners have given the Lake Champlain Paddlers permission to use the beach for camping. There was also a nice porta potty to use. Based on the amount of dry wood on the beach, I do not beleive that anyone else has actually camped there this summer. I spent the time paddling around mallets bay. You get good views of the ADK's and I spent time trying to identify the peaks. Since I was paddling on a Monday and Tuesday, there was little boat traffic. There was a persistant south wind and the lake can get very choppy. There is a nice sandy beach, Thayer, were you can stop to rest. it made a great place to take a swim too. I imagine it gets very croweded there in the summer. Monday was a glorious day; warm and sunny. It rained overnight though and was still raining in the am. The winds had picked up over night and the paddle back was a bit challenging. Luckily, the lake water and air temp was still warm. Pictures here

http://community.webshots.com/user/crennin:

 

[darren]

Looks like a fun time. I only paddled on Champlain once. I'd like to do it again, lots of great views.

BTW, your link is broken. I got rid of the ":" at the end and it worked.

Aloha

- darren

 

[IndianChris]

Wow Daxs, sounds like a cool trip. Used a kayak, right? Did you go solo? Would really like to paddle there some time in the future.
Ever done any paddling on the Great Lakes?

 

[daxs]

was not alone but I feel comfortable enough to go alone on trips now. No great lakes paddling. Hopefully next year. I;ve been doind research already on palces to canoe and kayak. I paddle an Impex Force 3. next time on champlain I hope to paddle a little further north on the lake. Had time constraints on this trip that prohibited going further north, The drive home from Burlington Vt to cape may NJ is really long