#nfct20: Unexpected meetings

We’ve done only short sections of the NFCT in Vermont, Maine and the Adirondacks — if we were younger and had lighter boats, we might do more!

We love the Clyde River section, from Pensioner Pond in Vermont. The first time we paddled there, our two experienced paddling pups were both startled, a bit scared and confused by the huge tortoise on the bank of the river. Now, they look forward to finding the tortoise, and greet it like an old friend.

(Editor’s note: On a small, vegetated island, in the middle of this swampy section of the Clyde, paddlers will find a huge fiberglass tortoise that was situated so as to “people-watch” as paddlers made their way down the river.)

Another delight was seeing Peter Macfarlane’s presentation at the Green Mountain Club on his backwards paddle … then meeting him a few days later on the Catamount Trail doing some backcountry skiing. Then, around the same time last year, we actually met Laurie Chandler. I had read her book and was suitably impressed. I told the folks at the New England Paddlesports Show (where we present each year) that they should get her as a speaker. Laurie worked it out with the paddle show folks, and we were fortunate enough to meet this charming, delightful, courageous, and friendly woman at the show. I will treasure her inscription in my copy of her book for all my paddling days!

Thank you for all you do to preserve and protect this amazing resource.

Sheila Goss runs Vermont Paddle Pups, a blog dedicated to paddling with dogs. Learn more: vermontpaddlepups.com

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