Remote Camping at Knight Island State Park
One thing that fascinates me about myself, is my fascination with Islands.
I don't know why. I lived on Nantucket Island twice for a total of about 4 years. Though it was a memorable experience as a young man, it wasn't my favorite place to live. It was more of an escape from family disfunction than anything else.
As a country boy who enjoyed his freedom driving the backroads of Vermont, I felt a little confined on a 7 mile by 14 mile sand dune in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
In the early 2,000's I purchased a beat up aluminum canoe. It wasn't long before I would be remote camping on a small island on the Missisquoi River. My son and I camped there so often that we wanted to give it a name. Since we had no clue what to name it, that became it's name. No Clue Island remains one of my favorite spots for spontaneous get aways.
Knight Island in North Hero is the last of the three islands for me to camp over night on. When my friend and co-worker Luc offered to take us over in his homemade pontoon boat, it was only matter of making reservations.
I have a fondness for the Cedar Cove leanto site based on my winter experience there. The views are stunning and it is so peaceful. I took little else into consideration when making reservations.
Our plans for 6 nights in mid June were at the mercy of the weather and Luc's availability. Thursday night to Wednesday was our reservation plan, however, we knew we had to remain flexible. Flexible became a key word in our whole vacation plan. By the time we were done, our flexibility would have made Gumby jealous.
Our eyes remained constantly on the weather. Thursday afternoon and evening looked sketchy to our captain. After many texts and phone calls to Luc, and the State Parks. I was convinced by our captain that Wednesday was our best window of opportunity to shove off.
Convincing my loving wife on Wednesday afternoon with only 6 and half our to work with was going to be the deciding factor. I called Ann from work and gave her all the charm I could muster. My charm was so blatantly obvious that she was instantly suspicious. In mid sentence she interrupts me to ask what I had done wrong. Not expecting the conversation to quite go in that direction, I cut to the chase. My selling point was the weather for Wednesday, the glass like conditions of the lake, and that we would be catching a sunset to boot. My second selling point was that Captain Luc was willing, and capable to come back in the dark. The the latter is what convinced her the most.
Ann’s concern for others never gets in the way of her vacation plans, She will most always consider others before herself. I have to admit that I'm not always that considerate. This time, I had all my bases covered. It was going to challenge Ann’s preparation, as she had already a busy day planned, but the answer was yes!
Here we are
Our excitement to get away had us packing a day in advance. I was more prepared, but Ann still had a good jump on things. Bringing her whole wardrobe, planning and preparing the food is always a daunting task for her, especially when there is a time crunch. I'm grateful for how she is always able to pull it off
When I arrived home, I was not greeted with the familiar kiss and “how was your day”. Instead I was asked, “how much time do I have”. Luc and I already decided on 7:45 - 8 pm shove off time. That was a comfortable margin for Ann who was laser focused.
Luc arrived at our house, not long after I did. I was excited to see the clever creation that we were going to embark on, but loading our gear interfered with truly enjoying his cleverness.
Kill Kare State Park was the logical choice to embark from. Our vehicle would be under lock and key and the trip from Kill Kare would only be 15 minutes. The only problem is that their hours are from sunrise to sunset, which meant the gates would be closed by the time Luc returned.
A public boat launch near Kill Kare was our rally point. We finished loading the boat and met our captain at Kill Kare, with cooperation from Kill Kare’s ranger, who maintained the gate until we arrived.
A small dock had washed up on shore near the campsite, giving us a false idea of where to unload. Darkness was descending upon us quickly. A sense of urgency came over us. The only place we found to unload was over a crop of large boulders, only to scale a small cliff before landing on level ground. The leanto was another 100 + feet back in the woods. Ann started hyperventilating which added a new dimension to our plight.
Neither of us are in shape or as nimble as we used to be. This was going to require some calm determination and perseverance. I had two out of the three, and calm was the one I had to work on most.
Luc remained steady as a rock with his skills as a captain and a human being. We devised a plan to get Ann off safely and to keep her busy blowing up the air mattress. Meanwhile Luc and I would do the brunt of the work.
The calm waters kept Luc's vessel steady. My footing on the round wet boulders, not so much. Luc's experience as a hunting guide in Alaska was beneficial to us. I'm also old enough to be his father. His youth and experience made him part pack mule and part mountain goat, as he took on most of the load over rocky terrain. He probably regrets encouraging us to pack heavy!
Luc’s help brought Ann’s hyperventilating to manageable breaths. I'm pretty sure she still wanted to kill me, but she kept that under control as well. Thank God. I don't why, but I always seem to pick the hardest remote sites to get to. That is a fascination to explore for another time.
We saw Luc off, and “roughed in” our camping arrangements. It wasn't long after Luc left that the waves picked up momentum. Despite the onslaught of mosquitos, pesky flys, and spiders, we remained grateful for arriving when we did. Navigating the slippery boulders and steep cliffs under wavier conditions could have been fatal.
The mosquito condition was the worst we had experienced anywhere. My loving wife held her composure, which compelled me to find a solution, besides bathing in bug spray.
Bed time came early as we were emotionally and physically drained. We set up 2 fans and put them on high. The cool breeze was not only soothing to our weary bodies but it seemed to keep the insects away. My solution not only worked, but it made made me a Hero.
We woke up the next morning to a plethora of birds singing their morning praise. Their sweet music was especially amplified to me. It was as if the assortment of birds were delivering a special melodic message to us. Even a Loon swam by to let us marvel at her beauty. A gaggle of geese proceeded her as well. Loons are not that common on the open lake of Champlain, making this especially precious to us.
Our sense of humor remained in tact as we debriefed one another from the evening before. Camping for us seems to bring out the deep intimate conversations you can only have with your best friend. The morning sky from the cliff we climbed the night before was ominous, but it cleared up for us to enjoy a hike with Tucker, who was just as anxious to explore as we were.
Tucker, anxious to get going
Our original reservations were for Thursday and check in for the park's is 2 pm. By 2:45 we received a downpour. That's about the time we would have arrived. The decision to buy another day and leave early proved to be a good one. Sitting in our leanto and watching the rain come down seemed to confirm again our decision. Our Wink from above seemed to say we were in the right place. We felt joyful and secure in the hands of our Maker.
Chillin' until the rain. passesEach day had a weather concern of some sort or another. We were prepared for it all. While it rained we set up our chairs in the leanto and laughed at it. When the sun came out we hiked the island and basked in the peace the island holds. If it was too hot we basked in the shade by the water and wondered what the working folks were doing.
With the hot weather we were able to sleep with just a sheet over us. Tucker sleeps at the foot of the bed and at Ann's feet. I woke up just in enough time to realize I had no sheets over me. Ann woke up facing me. Her eyes opened with an inquisitive look. I answered her inquisitive look, stating “you know why, don't you? With Ann Huddled in blankets and me in my skivies, the answer was pretty clear. We broke out laughing.
Friday was our first full day without rain so we explored the island at our leisure. Sometimes we explored by land and others by canoe. It had been a while since I had paddled a canoe, so I paddled down the south eastern side of the island to check out the other campsites and to see if we had company. One family was just arriving as I left their site. I puffed up with satisfaction knowing that we had the whole island to ourselves for at least a couple of days. I’m sure the wonkie weather deterred other campers from coming on time. This made my head swell even further, knowing we persevered when others chickened out. This, I believe is some of my island lure
North Beach by foot
Saturday morning was a real blessing. We woke up early, made some coffee and watched the sunrise from our overlook, high above the water. The morning temps were cool enough for a blanket, but the air was still. The water was smooth enough to reflect the upcoming sun. A peacefulness echoed across the island. Every creature seemed to take notice and bore reverence to it's silence. From our vantage point the sun came up and was framed in by 2 mountains. It was the perfect sunrise
The moment finally arrived when all the conditions were right to take Tucker for his first canoe ride. In my exploration of our site I discovered a short trail that leads to the water, and a small beach. We considered this a huge blessing! Now we have a safer place to load our gear from when Luc arrives. For now it was the perfect place to embark on adventures with a canoe. The whole purpose for Luc bringing us over was so that we could take Tucker, and train him to ride in a canoe that we borrowed. The things we do for our pets!
On Sunday morning we received a storm of epic proportions. We awoke to crashing waves on the rocky coast, followed by a torrential downpour. The high winds had us concerned for our home on the mainland. Powerless, we hunkered down in our island "bungalow" as if we were watching a movie on the big screen.. The crashing waves and pelting rain were deafening. Watching the trees bend with the high gusts of wind from our large "window" made us appreciate the forces of nature, and our leantoo shelter
Sunday morning storm
When the sun came out we explored the island, read books on the overlook, or at our private little beach below. Tucker was enjoying the freedom to roam without a leash. He was happy to join us, either in our laps or on a blanket that was between us. Tucker and I seem to appreciate many of the same freedoms
Washed on shore was a short dock. The same one that misguided us on our arrival. During my trip to the Aspen site I could see where someone had rolled all the boulders aside to make for nice boat launch and beach. I had all day to play in the water. I could not have our site be outdone, especially with the resources we had been gifted with. I had already started moving boulders to the side to make room for our captain, now he had a dock to moore to. It was fun rolling rocks in the water and building something purposeful for ourselves and future campers. It was reminiscent of something my dear ole dad would have done. I felt close to him in those very moments.
The weather wasn't much cooler on Tuesday, so we did much of the same thing. A forecast for stormy seas later in the day had us concerned for our captain, and our departure. Luc's assurance that he would be there, put me to ease. So much so, that I was sleeping. I woke up when I heard him motoring straight for me. Ann was "upstairs" when I hollered that he was here. Still in a daze, I felt like the cast from Gilligan's Island was about to be rescued. All of our gear was by the dock waiting to be picked up. I scurried around for final things to pack like a drunken sailor.
We laughed at ourselves that we would work so hard for a vacation, and that we would go a relatively short distance to do it. In the long run it was all worth it. Experiencing all that we did made it hard to go back to the real world
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