CT Canoe Trip, Part 9

Just to recap: dog capsized canoe, snow warning in the mountains, we decided to end the trip because our clothing was still wet, and there was frost on the ground in the morning when we woke up.

We pulled the canoe out in Newbury, VT, which is 5 miles as the crow flies from our starting point.

“Looks like we’re about 5 miles from the car, how are we going to get to there?” Todd asked.

“Well, I am the jogger of the family, I can walk there. It should take me about an hour to get there.”

“Sounds good,” said Todd. I made myself a sandwich, packed a water bottle, and Todd handed me a knife in case somebody tried to pick me up and get fresh with me.

I was about to leave when a man came walking up the boat ramp, “That your canoe?” We said it was.

“Well, then you’re gonna have to move it, because I need to get my boat up the ramp.” We went back down the ramp, and moved the canoe aside. The man backed his truck down the ramp, and we had recognized the truck. This was the man who was trying to get his boat up the bank, unsuccessfully.

“Hey, we know you! You were back there trying to get your boat up the bank,” Todd said.

“Oh, were you guys in the canoe? Yeah, thanks for stopping to see if I needed any help,” the man barked back.

“Sorry, we didn’t realize you needed help. You had 2 other people with you, it looked like you had it under control,” I protested.

“Those two people were elderly, they weren’t any help to me at all,” the man grumbled.

Todd and I walked back up the ramp, and I said to him “So, now I guess asking him for a ride to the car would be a bad idea, huh?”