OutDoors
by Elizabeth Bassett

June Menu

A friend recently asked how she could learn where to harvest fiddleheads.
“You’d probably need to go with your grandfather or great-aunt to a secret patch they’ve guarded for decades,” I replied.
“I guess I’ll keep buying them,” she said.
Fortunately, the same is not true of our local beautiful places. Instead it’s a matter of spreading the word, of knowing where to look for information. Here’s a list of great ways to get outdoors in the coming weeks and months. More important, I’ve included web addresses of many sites where you can go for information. (Remember, there is free access to the Internet at the Charlotte Library.) I dare you to sit on the couch with this menu.
Hiking or Walking
Mounts Ellen, Hunger and Mansfield; Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge; the Long Trail; Adirondack Waterfalls. Green Mountain Club (GMC) volunteers will conduct hikes and walks on June 19, 20, 21, 27 and 28 and several times each week throughout the season. These June outings include two dog-friendly events, a flat walk at Missisquoi, sections of the Long Trail, a trip across the lake to explore waterfalls, and a very difficult summit of Mt. Mansfield. Something for everyone. Consider supporting and volunteering for the GMC. Individual membership ($40 per year and senior/student/limited income at $22) entitles members to newsletters and discounts on workshops and courses. greenmountainclub.org.
Local Motion has grown from a tiny advocacy organization promoting safe bike routes to a major force in the outdoor arena. The Local Motion Trail Finder is the most inclusive source of recreation venues in the region. Local Motion is expanding its Trail Finder to include Rutland, Washington, Orange and Windsor counties. If you want to walk, bike (on or off-road), hike, ski or snowshoe, go to localmotion.org/trails/. Local Motion also compiles an impressive calendar, which includes mountain and road biking events and races, running races, clinics of various types including a Women With Wrenches Workshop, and volunteer opportunities. In response to a request from the Town of Richmond, Local Motion applied for and received a grant to transport pedestrians and bikers across the Winooski River during repairs to the road bridge. In its first ten days of service the ferry floated more than 350 passengers per day across the river. Local Motion also operates a ferry across the cut on weekends in August, connecting bikers from Colchester, Burlington and beyond to the Champlain Islands.
Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition, vtbikeped.org/, advocates for bike and pedestrian safety and is another resource for activities. Foodies, mark your calendars now for a coalition favorite, the Tour de Farms, on Sunday, September 20. Bike rides of ten, 25 and 30 miles stop for samples of local farm products in Addison County. June events include the Tour de Book in Windham County. July features the Prouty, a walk or bike to benefit the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth Hitchcock, the Mt. Ascutney Bicycle Hill Climb (When was the last time you thought of Mt. Ascutney as a “hill?”), and the 6th Annual Onion River Century to benefit the Kellogg-Hibbard Library. At its website the coalition also lists weekly rides and runs.
Water
Lake Champlain is slowly warming, but some of the best early season kayaking and canoeing is on rivers, especially while they are still high from spring run-off and rains. From the boat access on Long Point, it’s possible to paddle upstream on Lewis Creek to beyond the railroad bridge or downstream to the mouth and then into Little Otter Creek. The broad expanse of Little Otter can be tricky in a strong south wind, but the broad, marshy expanse offers lots of opportunities to see birds and waterfowl. We’ve seen eagles and osprey there.
The Winooski River meanders ten miles from its last obstruction, the Winooski One Hydropower dam, to its mouth between Colchester and the north end of Burlington. Along this aquatic playground, the Winooski Valley Park District, wvpd.org, manages six access points for canoes and kayaks. It’s hard to imagine, but the river wanders seven miles from the Ethan Allen Homestead, off of the Northern Connector, to its mouth. From the Heineburg Road/Rte. 127 bridge to the mouth of the river is 3.5 miles, plenty of distance for an outing. The Winooski is broad, and its sandy banks are verdant. Only the distant rush of traffic on the Northern Connector reminds us of the urban setting.
The LaPlatte River is a paddler’s delight, either from the boat access on Shelburne Bay (Bay Road) or from Route 7, just north of Shelburne village. A major blow down blocks the upstream route about 20 minutes from Route 7, yet the redstone cliffs towering over the river on that section are worth the visit. It’s not hard to imagine a thriving bobcat population. Between Route 7 and the bay the LaPlatte flows through a swamp of red and silver maples and a hybrid of the two. If you have not paddled this section, you will be surprised by its length and tranquility. Remarkably, the trees muffle the Route 7 traffic.
Farther north the next major Lake Champlain tributary is the Lamoille River. From a boat access where Route 2 (enroute to the islands) crosses the Lamoille, it’s possible to paddle upstream to a dam in Milton and downstream toward Sandbar and the lake.

Recreation Trails
The Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail, mvrailtrail.com, opens a window to the expansive countryside of the Upper Champlain Valley. On the roadbed of a former railroad this bucolic route stretches 26 miles from St. Albans to Richford on the Canadian border. In addition to the out-and-back trail that loosely follows the traces of the Missisquoi River, five circular loops wind past farms and fields. Because locomotives could not climb big hills, this is a relatively flat route, away from car traffic, and thus a safe and easy place for peddling.
State Parks
Don’t forget our state parks, vtstateparks.com. Some of the most extensive public access to Lake Champlain belongs to all of us at Burton Island, North Hero, Knight Point, Grand Isle, Alburg Dunes, Niquette Bay, and Kingsland and Button Bay State Parks. Buy a ten-visit punch card for $20.