Lake Groton, Vermont

I had the chance today of paddling with a relatively new paddling group. It's called 'Sea Kayak Vermont!' and is slowly gaining more members as it becomes more well known. It's a low key, highly enthusiastic group of paddling folks who like to get out and explore some of the bigger and smaller lakes in Vermont. Today we had a look at Lake Groton located in the State Forest of the same name. We put in at Boulder Beach on the eastern shore, but there's also public access on the west side of the lake as well.

While it's definitely cottage country for large parts of the shore, there are some wilder sections, especially at the south end. There's a long stretch of shoreline cordoned off to allow the local loons to nest in seclusion. As if in return, they can be found everywhere on the lake often letting paddlers come up quite close to them, which is a rare treat on most lakes.

Just west of the dam at the south end is a little boulder strewn creek leading into a boggy area built by some beavers. Their dam is only about 10 inches high at the moment, but it has allowed a whole new area of marsh to exist behind it. They graciously constructed a turn-around pond just below the dam for us to retreat back out onto the main lake without having to back all the way out.

I'm looking forward to exploring more of Vermont's lakes in the coming months!