I drove up to the NH/Canadian border with my friend Dot. From there we hiked the 3/4 mile hike up (yes, up) to the source of the Connecticut River. This mighty river, the longest in New England, begins as a puddle and then a small stream. Beavers have built a masterwork of engineering at one end of this stream, forming what is known as the Fourth Connecticut Lake.

Dot and I walked around the Fourth Lake before heading back to our cars. The weather was iffy with on and off thunder storms which came with hail. Not wanting to be on the water when lightening was flashing around, we rode out the storms by making camp.

A break in the weather came later in the afternoon so we put our boats in and paddled Third Connecticut Lake. At 231 acres, this is the third largest of the CT lakes, and the second deepest. It was windy with more storms threatening so we did not tarry long. The put in was in the middle and we paddled to each end of the lake. As a result we paddled it twice from end to end! We made sure to reach both the inlet and outlet, neither of which are paddleable.

We were impressed by the 27 inch trout a man caught from shore. We encountered moose and loons in this rich northeastern forest. I was especially glad to see moose because so many have been dying as a result of the increase in numbers of winter tick as the climate warms. In Maine, close to 90% of the moose calves tracked by biologist last year did not make it through their first winter because of this tick.

Just as the rain and hail was starting again we pulled our boats from the water and went back to camp for the night. I had hoped to accomplish more miles on this first day of paddling. But as I went with the flow of the day, not fighting the weather, I was reminded that this trip is not just about making miles.

This paddle, like all of my adventures, is about the journey itself, both the internal and external journeys. It is about embracing nature and all of the experiences I have along the way. By forcing me to remember that, the storms, which caused me to not make many miles, were transformed into a gift in disguise.