Last Days Before the Second Flood

July 22-July 29, 2024                                           Most Recent Posts:
Moose River Campground                               First Days After the First Flood
Site 15                                                                    July Before the First Flood
St Johnsbury, Vermont

Things had pretty much gotten back to normal after the flood and during the last week of July I was able to be busy nearly every day.

On Monday I went to May pond for kayaking.  May is about 40 minutes from Moose River.  It’s a small pond, only 116 acres but like every pond I have kayaked on in Vermont, it has a family of loons.

The family of 3 was out but none of my pictures of all of them was good enough to use.  Still I love this one of the adult and chick.

One of the highlights of this morning was meeting Cindy and Gay who are from Chicago but have a summer home on Shadow Lake which is the closest lake to my campground.  They had just gotten paddle boards and were taking them out for a maiden fishing trip when I ran into them as I was launching   We also discovered that they have a winter condo in Estero Florida which is the town in which Koreshan State Park is located and that state park is one of my favorites.  We exchanged information and have been in touch ever since.

For the next two days it rained but on Thursday I was able to go to Neal Pond for more kayaking.   Neal is slightly larger than May at 182 acres and slightly closer at 32 minutes away.

It was an overcast morning and perhaps the loons were busy for I didn’t see them.

I did see this Great Blue Heron

There were some lovely wild areas at one end of the pond.  The other shores were filled with cabins.

This is my favorite sort of exploring among the reeds and rushes.

Pickerel Weed is a Native North American aquatic plant along the edges of ponds, lakes and streams.  It is a hardy, non-aggressive plant that helps stabilize soil and supports many types of wildlife like the pollinators that were abundant on this morning.. Its seeds, young stalks, and leaves are edible, and it's a good filtration plant for nitrate

And lovely as well.

After my usual trip around the edges of the pond, the winds picked up and I got quite a work out paddling back and forth across the middle.

Here is my favorite house on the shore of Neal Pond. 

I wonder what rooms have those little dormers at the very top.

Back in a secluded spot these guys had claimed this rock for sunning and my floating by didn’t disturb them.  Really lovely setting.

The weather in Vermont seems always on the verge of rain so it’s hard to plan when I can go kayaking or hiking.  At this point in the morning I decided it was time to go.

Now for getting the kayak back on the car.

On Friday there was supposedly no chance of rain so I planned a foray south to Woodstock Vermont to visit Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Historic Park.  I had been there last year and taken tours of the house but had not had time to hike the trails which was what I wanted to do today.

Here is a link to my previous post about the park which is an extremely interesting historical location with a terrific introductory film.

Today my goal was to hike up to the Pogue and the South Point overlook above the town of Woodstock.

I started my hike at the Visitor Center and took the carriage roads up Mount Tom.
Theses 10 miles of roads were built between 1880 and 1895 during the ownership of Frederick Billings The roads were built to provide access to the property's pastures and young woodlots, and were popular for scenic carriage rides in the 19th century.  

These roads predate those built in Acadia National park by John D Rockefeller and his family between 1913 and 1940.

There are road signs of various types along the way.   I had a 6.5 mile  hike planned for today and wish it could have included this trail.   Next time……

Other signs were stone.

At the top of the carriage road it circles the Pogue.  During George Perkins Marsh's time owning this land, the Pogue was spring fed wetlands. Frederick Billings dredged and dammed it in the 1880s to provide water for his estate. The Pogue provides a diversity of habitats for wildlife, including fish, turtles, frogs, ducks, herons.   It is a lovely spot and must have been wonderful to drive around in a carriage.

After walking around the Pogue, I headed back to the South Point trail

This trail might have been accessible by carriage but it was not as well groomed as the road up to and around the Pogue.  It did go by several of the farm’s fields where haying was in progress.

The estate was a managed woodland from the time of Marsh and there are some very large trees.

The views were along the way as well as at the top.

Arriving at South Point, I was able to see the mountains in the distance in one direction as well as the town of Woodstock in the other.

Saturday was the day of the annual Chili Cook Off at the campground.  I wasn’t up to making chili this year although I had last time.   There were 10 entrants and the judging was difficult.

In addition to chili, there was cornbread and dessert.

There were a dozen entrants and everyone had 12 numbered cups and was asked to rank their first 3 chili’s.   This was an impossible taste job.

Not sure what happened to my pictures of the winners, all 3 of whom were men this year.  First prize went to Tim on the right who got a basket of all sorts of Maple products from Maple Grove Farms of Vermont.

On the day before the 2nd flood of the summer with not even a hint that it was coming,  I hiked up Observatory Hill,  one of my favorite nearby hikes.

The trail starts at an suspecting farm gate right off the road across from the cemetery.  There is no sign and no parking so unless you know where it is, you won’t find it.

The trail is a pretty steep climb up a sometimes mowed field.  This picture makes it look dryer than it was on this day.

Taking a break during the climb straight up, it is worthwhile to turn around and see the views behind you.

At the top, a bench awaits and the view from here looks out over the mountains.

But before I sit down on the bench to take in the view, I follow the trail back into the woods.

The trail into the woods goes down and onto private property that the wonderfully generous Mr. Brown has opened to his neighbors and others who would like to do a loop hike and return to the bench.

At the bottom of the trail before it starts back up again is Mr. Brown’s house.

After crossing his property the trail goes back up, looping around through the woods.

It was wonderful to see these Indian Pipe.  Also called Ghost Plant the entire plant is a translucent ghostly white.   Each stem bears a single flower.

Back at the bench, I took this video of the panorama view.  First it goes too slow, then too fast and it zooms in at the end on the grave  yard across the road from the trail head.   A cameraman I am not.

I closed out my day with a wonderful concert by the St Johnsbury Band and free ice cream.   Little did I know that it would be days before I could go anywhere after the early morning flooding.

The businesses in town each take a turn in sponsoring the ice cream which is free to all comers as many times as they want.   The concerts happen every  Monday night unless they are rained out which sadly isn’t uncommon.  But not today.

If you have never heard a municipal band concert in an outdoor setting, you’ve really missed out.   As I said before, my videos leave a lot to be desired and this one is too jerky but it will give you at least an idea of how what fun it was.

Please let me know your thoughts and be sure to check and see if you are “anonymous”.