Herrick's Cove

Last night, I decided to take my kayak over to the river. The Connecticut River is basically in my back yard, so I drove over to Herrick's Cove from the Vermont side. I put my kayak in and poked around for about an hour. It was already 7:00, so it would be getting dusky in an hour. There appeared to be some weather to the north. I wasn't worried about it, because weather here usually goes west to east. The most amazing thing I saw was a small group of four Mute Swans flying over! I have never seen them flying before. HUGE! When I got home I looked them up in my bird book. They aren't even really known to be this far inland, or in NH. Mostly on the coast, from Mass. southward.

The next thing was kinda creepy. I like to paddle near the shore to look for treasures. I got more than a bargained for when I found bones! The photo is of a spine. No, not human. I beached my boat and walked around in the mud. The silty mud was really oozy and black. I could see ribs and vertebrae scattered downstream. I looked for the head but couldn't find one. Then....I found a black garbage bag. YUCK! The rest of the animal someone had tossed into the river. I stuck my hand into the water, without being able to see because it was all stirred up. I felt around for what might be a skull. I found hooves! I picked one up and recognized it as a deer. I pawed around the other bones, all brown from the water. I found a couple that appeared to have been sawed. The only reason someone would throw a deer carcass in a plastic bag, and then into the river, would be bceause they poached it.

The unfortunate part of all of this discovery? The smell. My hands stunk. I must have washed my hands a million times before I lost that nasty smell.

Herrick's Cove is a great spot to picnic, or launch a canoe/kayak. The current this time of year isn't hard to deal with either.
You can get to this place via Rte 5, north of Bellows Falls, VT. A truly peaceful, and painterly place loaded with rich wildlife to watch.