LOCALadk Magazine

34 Fall 2015 LOCALadk Magazine LOCALadk miles of Class I and II rapids interspersed with still wa- ters as the Saranac river drops out of the mountains into the farmlands of the valley and heads toward Lake Champlain. Most paddlers on the NFCT wheel around most of the whitewater sections of the Saranac, but the combination of moderately high water levels and good whitewater paddling skills allowed us to tackle it successfully. But our day didn't end there. We still had to paddle across Cumberland Bay, in the fading light, still in our heavier, slower boats, to a cheap mo- tel room. When we finally arrived, our 42-mile day was capped off with Mexican food as it was Cinco de Mayo. With our original touring canoes back and restocked with supplies, we headed out across Lake Champlain the next morning. Winds out of the south made the second part of our crossing easy, but when we started out seas from the Broad Lake were piling up in Cum- berland Bay, bailers required. Once across the lake, we opted for an overland route to Swanton Dam and the start of the uphill. The Missisquoi River, let the upstream begin, sixty five miles of mixed upstream travel. As I worked my way up this river, I tried to imagine what it looked like when the Indians traveled here. Crystal clear water, fertile valley bottoms with healthy trees, mature upland forests, with big trees and an open understory. Today its agriculture, feed corn and dairy, so the water quality is not what it was four hundred years ago. It's the kind of thing that you would not pick as your favorite recreation, upstream travel requires good water reading- route finding, and perseverance. Get- ting in and out of the boat often and wading on slip- pery, slimy boulders or at times paddling as hard as you can, so as not to be swept backward in the cur- rent, well let's just say it great, when it's over. This was to be our first exposure to the upstream, and there is an art to it, we were learning, when to paddle, wade with the boat, line it around, pull it over, push off the bottom, or just get out of the river and go around. It was always a question of how much time and energy it would take, because even adventurers have schedules and commitments. Campsites in this section are… interesting. The river runs on private land, interspersed with civilization. The NFCT has partnered with landowners and in some towns, like Enosburg Falls, paddlers can actually camp in town. It feels odd camping in plain view in the mid- dle of town-- it takes a while to stop looking over your shoulder to see if somebody is coming over to kick you out! We looked like a little parade as we wheeled our boats up the main streets of these small towns. Four

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