This morning we bordered the ferry at Burlington, VT with our bikes to go across Lake Champlain to Port Kent, NY. Our plan was to hike on the Ausable Chasam trails - WOW how special !!!! Crazy beautiful ... The pictures don't really do justice to the rim hike followed by a tube ride down the River.
We also saw the Undeground Railroad Museum.
Then attempted the 40 mile bike loop with 3 ferry rides :)
To end the day we went to the Vermont Brewers Festival!
Looper tip: This was a wonderful one day side trip for boaters, there is a free shuttle bus from the Port Kent Ferry to Ausable Chasam for those with out a bike.
Lake Champlain was named after the French explorer Samuel de Champain who encountered the Lake in 1609. It's a large natural Fresh Water Lake although smaller than the other Great Lakes ( Ontario, Erie, Huron, Superior and Michigan). Lake Champlain became a Great Lake very briefly (20 days) in 1998 under then Prisident Clinton. When traveling North, Vermont is on the right (starboard) side and New York is on the left (port) side ... There are no political innuendos here! Once you reach the far north part of Lake Champlain you are in the Provence of Quebec, Canada.
Lake Champlain is 125 miles in length and 14 miles at its maximum width. The Lake averages 64 feet in depth and is 400 feet at its maximum depth. The shore line is a breathtaking 587 miles.
Champ is the Lake Champlain "Monster" first sighted by Samuel de Champlain in 1609. Champ was also seen by Native Americans and still to this day receives a considerable amount of attention.
On the Ferry with our bikes from Burlington, VT to Port Kent, NY It's about an hour ride a cross the Lake.
Ausable Chasm is a two mile long sandstone gorge in New York State - fed by Rainbow Falls. One of the oldest natural attractions in the United States it opened in 1870 and has held thousands of visitors in awe, with the 500 million year old rocks.
Looking down the Ausable River on our rim hike.
The hike :)
Water fall with wild flowers.
Elephant Head rock formation from just after the last ice age (Pleistocene).
After the hike we "tubed" down the River.....very fun, but Reenie wiped out on the rapids.
(maybe class 3..... OK maybe NOT but it felt like it... Ha Ha, probably class 1) and has lots of scrapes and bruises :(
XO :)
The Underground Rail Road Museum at Ausable Chasam.
We planned on finishing the 40 mile bike Ferry Loop, but Reenie got a flat tire that we were unable to repair near Plattsberg..... A really kind person with a bike rack gave us a ride back to the Port Kent Ferry and we made it safely back to Burlington :)
To end a wonderful day ...We purchased scalper stickers ( face value $30) to the the famous Burlington Brewers Festival !!!! Cheers...what a day :)
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