On Shelburne Pond

The H. Laurence Achilles Natural Area at Shelburne Pond is a biologically rich area located in the town of Shelburne. Lying in the heart of one of Vermont’s most developed areas, it encompasses over 1300 acres of freshwater wetlands, forested uplands, and current-use agricultural lands. Because of the confluence of wetlands, wildlife corridors, rare communities, and endangered species associated with Shelburne Pond, the State of Vermont recognizes it as a site of extremely high biological and ecological significance.

Over the past several decades, the Nature Conservancy and the University of Vermont purchased over 1100 acres at Shelburne Pond, including 3.5 miles of shoreline. Much of this property is preserved for its ecological, recreational, and educational value, although some is still actively farmed under terms outlined in conservation easements.

As a consequence, the pond is surrounded by essentially undeveloped land.  This makes it an ideal area to explore by kayak.  So, with today's beautiful, warm, sunny weather, we decided to head out on the water.

The pond is surrounded in part - and especially on the north and south shores - by cattail swamps:

The very first thing we noticed as we began our paddle was the racket being made by frogs in the cattail swamp at the south end of the lake.  This video will give you an idea how noisy those little critters were.  And here's a photo of one of the little guys that were making so much noise:

The diversity of life on the pond hit us immediately.  We saw numerous mated pairs of geese.  Some of them, who obviously had nested, honked indignantly as we approached.  Some that had not were a little more tolerant of our approach.  Here is one of the more tolerant geese:

Rocky shores and limestone cliffs ring 432-acre Shelburne Pond, the largest undeveloped body of water in the Lake Champlain Valley. Calcium-rich soil provides habitat for a diversity of wildflowers, including vast expanses of red and white trillium, as well as bloodroot, hepatica, wild ginger, and blue cohosh.

The pond was formed by glacial action along a limestone rift.  This is clear along the lakeshore, where the eastern shore has sharp, tall limestone cliffs, and the west has more moderately sloped shores.  On the eastern shore, Kathy discovered a limestone cave:

The Shelburne area has been occupied by humans for 8000 years.  Historic artifacts of the Abenaki Tribe have been discovered around the pond, including a dugout canoe.  European settlement began around 1725 in Chittenden County.  Clear-cutting of forests began about 1810 to facilitate farming.  Corn and hay have been grown around Shelburne Pond for over 200 years.  Sheep farming reached its peak around 1900, and was replaced by widespread dairy farming around 1923.  Several farms have grandfathered rights along the shore of the lake, and we passed the farms as we paddled around the 5 miles of shoreline:

We were fascinated by the spooky shapes of some of the dead trees along the banks of the lake:

Reeds and cattails popped up regularly along the shore as we paddled by:

With the spring, a thornbush painted in fiery red cropped up, adding color to the scene:

We paused halfway around the lake to stretch our legs and appreciate the landscape:

Evidence of human activity appeared occasionally, including this iron wheel from some farming equipment:

Shelburne Pond boasts an unnamed island not shown on the maps we consulted before we set out on our paddle, and it was a magical discovery for us.  The rocky island jutted up and beckoned us to come and spend a night camping on it to fully enjoy the pond's beauty:

While the rocky parts of the shore appeared to be uniformly made of limestone, the shapes varied from place to place along the shore.  This outcropping seemed unusually smooth and rounded:

Here we found the remains of an old duck blind - or perhaps the frame of an ice fishing shack lost on the shore some winter years ago:

In the cattails at the north end of the lake, Kathy spotted what looked like the body of a dead duck.  In fact, it was a duck decoy.  She rescued it from the reeds and displayed it proudly on the top of her kayak:

Not to be outdone, David soon spotted another lost decoy.  He rescued it and gave it a place of honor on the bow of his kayak:

Paddling back along the western shore toward our beginning point at the boat ramp, we encountered some fisherman, sitting on the rocky bank, trying their luck on this early spring day:

We thought we had seen all the pond had to offer, when, suddenly, David spotted this muskrat clambering down a rock.  The animal spotted David and headed into its hidey-hole behind a bush and under some moss, quickly becoming invisible to anyone who hadn't see it moving.  David wasn't quite quick enough to get a perfect photo of the muskrat, but did get this view of the little critter as it scrambled into its burrow:

What a glorious paddling day!  We proudly offloaded our decoy prizes, placed them on one of the rocks at the boat ramp, and photographed them for our souvenir.  Those decoys, themselves, continue to sit proudly on that rock, waiting for someone to come along and give them a good home --

-- or perhaps redeploy them in a duck hunting venture this coming season.