The Vermont Paddlers Club

An eclectic group of boaters and outdoorspeople met up north for a Labor Day Weekend of hiking, biking, flatwater, and whitewater boating. In addition to the Magalloway class III participants listed above, we also enjoyed the company of Faith Knapp, Lucille and Dick Allen, Becki Bates, and Lynn McDermott, who opted in turn for novice whitewater stretches of the Androscoggin River around Errol, eagle and loon watching on Lake Umbagog, and a leisurely Upper Connecticut River trip en route back to Vermont on Monday.

For the first time the VPC maxed out the cabin capacity at the private and secluded Johnson Brook cabin. 10 of us enjoyed a roaring fire in the woodstove, a starry night, a filling meal, and some old fashioned northwoods revelry. Evening guests waxed eloquent on subjects like what can happen when you DON'T let your teenagers jump off of bridges, and what can happen when you DO let your parakeet fall into the mayonaise jar. Becki treated us to a heaping dose of corny humor ("Really...you saw a fox driving in? What was he driving???"). Dick brought along his copy of the Hoagland essay "Walking the Dead Diamond River", which embraces a conservation ethic for these private mixed-use woods. Those who slept on the screen porch and those in the Aziscoos Campground in Wilson Mills were greeted with near freezing temperatures Sunday Morning, though it warmed to near 70 each day and didn't rain. Some heard coyotes yipping in the night, but none observed any big game during the weekend. Still, signs of moose and deer were abundant.

Eric B. and Tony detoured on Friday through South Danville VT to dismember several deadfalls obstructing Joe's Brook with Eric's chainsaw, in anticipation of a Joe's run this fall if weather permits (or next spring for certain). The rest of the Friday group arrived after dark, and some were less than impressed with the patchwork of divergent College Grant logging roads, the printed Dartmouth Outing Club directions, and the accompanying map. Can you say "SUCK"???

By daylight, at least, everyone seemed to enjoy their elected outdoor activities: Saturday, Sunday, and even Monday. Bob and Marvie returned to paddle the Errol section of the Androscoggin, where they got their first whitewater instruction about 20 years ago. Eric B. rode west by bicycle on Sunday for 50 miles or so before his motor transport (a.k.a. Andy Meilleur) caught up to him. And Tony completed his 'Around Vermont in 30 Rivers' odyssey on a scratchy class I Connecticut River float from Colebrook to Bloomfield with Becki and Lynn.

Most assuredly there is something for everybody during the VPC Magalloway weekend. Hope you can fit it into your schedule in 2004!