The Lake Champlain Land Trust is proud to have long hosted “A Paddler’s Journal” exclusively on our website. Cathy Frank and Margy Holden, long-time advocates and friends of Lake Champlain, wrote THE kayaker’s guide for Lake Champlain.
A Personal Introduction from Cathy
“It all started when Margy Holden and I set out to paddle around South Hero Island in Lake Champlain, also known as Grand Isle. After one island, we were hooked. We were so taken by what we saw from the water looking toward shore, that we decided to paddle around all of the “Champlain Islands”, the three large islands in the northern part of the lake. By the end of the summer we had not only paddled all of the Champlain Islands but committed ourselves to paddling around the entire lake shore, a journey that would eventually take us over 750 miles.
The Paddler’s Journal records most of those trips but not all. Our complete journey and what we learned about Lake Champlain, can be found in the recently revised “A Kayaker’s Guide to Lake Champlain. Exploring the New York, Vermont and Quebec Shores” (Black Dome Press, 2020).”
– Cathy Frank (Co-author and former Trustee of the Lake Champlain Land Trust)
The Next Chapter
After completing the first edition of their Kayaker’s Guide, Margy and Cathy kept exploring, this time leaving the Lake proper and exploring its many scenic tributaries and lakeshore natural areas. In 2015, they published another must-have book for those looking to explore the Lake — “A Paddler’s Guide to the Champlain Valley: Exploring the Rivers, Creeks, Wetlands and Ponds” (Black Dome Press, 2015).
Click here to view entries of the original Paddler’s Journal.
