A "Research" Cruise on Lake Champlain

Each spring, the International Association for Great Lakes Research holds its annual meeting. This year, the folks at the University of Vermont at Burlington hosted the meeting, claiming that Lake Champlain, if not a Great Lake, is at least a pretty great lake (lower case, “g”). We had our canoe along to put their claims to the test.

We managed to get the canoe on the water one evening after the technical sessions were over. The Burlington harbor is protected by an alongshore breakwater with little white lighthouses on each end. The Adirondacks loom over the western shore, providing a beautiful backdrop for paddling on this large lake.  The town of Burlington itself is relatively small, so we were hopeful that we could paddle to a more wild shore and back before dinnertime.

We paddled along the outside of the harbor toward the north end. Realizing that we still had plenty of evening light left, we decided to cross the bay to a point about a mile north of Burlington. It didn’t take long before we felt that we were paddling along a wild shore of one of the Great Lakes.

If only we had brought some takeout with us so that we could have a picnic on this rock!

We considered continuing north, on to the St. Lawrence, and then to who knows where. Instead, we drew ourselves around and headed back to Burlington for a delicious Vermont dinner on the balcony of the Ice House restaurant looking out over the harbor. Back in the day, ice blocks were stored in this building throughout the summer. Our preliminary research results indicate that Lake Champlain is, indeed, pretty great. Further research is needed, of course.