Circumnavigation of Inner Malletts Bay

The last and largest island off this shore is Marble Island.

Marbel Island is 2.75 acres in size and approximately 160 feet high at its maximum elevation. The entire island is declared “Natural Area” managed by the Lake Champlain Land Trust. Back in the late 1800s the dolomite rock the island is made of was actually quarried.

One of the small islands to the east of Malletts Head is called Cave Island , for good reason

Niquette Bay State Park - It is amazing to be able to find this kind of beach on the Vermont side of the lake with no one on it. It would not have been deserted had the weather been better.

As we merrily paddled on commenting on the huge length of sand beach along the eastern shore, Margy suddenly said “Does that cloud look like it is getting bigger to you!”

One of the small islands to the east of Malletts Head is called Cave Island , for good reason. It has several small caves carved out of the rock by the waves and water. It would have been fun to stop and explore, but we knew at some point bad weather would catch up with us, so we were eager to keep moving. We were also not sure if Cave Island was accessible to the public or not.

The last and largest island off this shore is Marble Island. It lies only 150 feet from the shore of Malletts Head with cliffs rising sharply from the water. It is 2.75 acres in size and approximately 160 feet high at its maximum elevation. The entire island is declared “Natural Area” managed by the Lake Champlain Land Trust.

Back in the late 1800s the dolomite rock the island is made of was actually quarried. Evidence of that quarrying activity still exists on the rocks on the south side of the island. Mainly the island is covered by dense woods and extremely shallow soils. There are five rare plant species on the island. Kayakers and canoeists are welcome to stop on “Picnic Rock” on the north end of the island but because of the rare species, steep cliffs and shallow soil, are prohibited from the rest of the island. We were sorry we could not stop there for lunch or even just to enjoy the incredible view east and west but weather and time discouraged us. As it turned out there were three wonderful places to have a picnic lunch this day, had the weather cooperated. We think the only way to resolve such choice conflicts in the future will be to bring multiple lunches along with us so as not to miss a picnic opportunity!! (Have we told you yet that we love to eat and that paddling only enhances this natural instinct!)

By now we were far enough from the south shore of the bay that the waves were propelling us forward. Leaving Malletts Head behind us, we crossed the narrow half mile opening to the outer bay in no time and turned east at Red Rock Point and wound our way along the convoluted northern shore with the south wind and waves now hitting us broadside. We passed yet another island, appropriately named Beer Can Island , to the right. This island also has been conserved by the Lake Champlain Land Trust. It was the second great place to picnic. Unfortunately today was not the day to do so. It was fun rolling with the waves, and having them splash over the bow and side of our boats but it was clearly time to attach our spray skirts if we did not want to take on too much water. So we scooted behind a small house boat tied to a private dock to get out of the wind enough to attach our skirts, and then moved on, turning our heads frequently to note the progress of the dark clouds which were slowly working their way east.

The north shore of the inner bay is dramatic. The shoreline is wooded and rocky with an incredible number of little convoluted bays where the shore alternates between steep rocky banks and low lying rock and pebble beaches. The houses, which sit HIGH on the cliffs are not fully visible from the water, and there is plenty of land between them. Each bay brought a new view.

About noon Margy shouted over the wind to me that she needed a back rest. Looking at the rocky exposed shore we were passing, I yelled back “No”. I think she was surprised because I had never failed to agree to stop before. She then yelled back “What about lunch!” Again I responded “No”. It is not that I was not hungry or that my back was not tired also but I was pretty sure we were just one bay away from Niquette Bay State Park , and its friendly sheltered shore. I was the only one with a map this day, Margy having mistakenly left hers at home. In this situation in heavy water where it is difficult to hear, and getting too close in kayaks is not a good idea, trust becomes a factor. When one of us shouts an idea and the other responds with what sounds like a non negotiable response, we have to trust that there is a reason which we would both agree on if we had the same information. Meanwhile our attempts to communicate over the wind reminded us that we needed to develop some hand signals for such moments.

We rounded the last point of land on the north side of the bay well off shore to avoid chop from the backlash of waves and then paddled north toward the pristine sand beach of Niquette Bay State Park. It is amazing to be able to find this kind of beach on the Vermont side of the lake with no one on it. It would not have been deserted had the weather been better. Established as a small and little used state park in the 1970s, it grew by an additional 290 acres in 2000 when the Lake Champlain Land Trust conserved the additional land and gave it to the state. There is an extensive network of hiking trails and in the springtime the wild flowers are exceptional. On this day we, and one fishing boat cruising offshore, were the only people present. Because of a little point of land to the west, the beach was somewhat sheltered from the south wind. We landed, got out of our kayaks and took both a well deserved “back break” and lunch stop! Unfortunately the dark cloud that had been following us all morning was finally catching up with us. It now looked very dark and very close. So once again, we did not dally. On a clear day, with no threat of storms, and we do have such days on Lake Champlain , we would have taken a long and relaxing lunch break. Not so this day.

Niquette Bay is almost at the most northeastern end of Malletts Bay and from here we would be paddling south/ southwest into the wind for about 3 miles to get back to the busy and developed south end of the bay. We passed some camps stretched along a sand beach just before we turned south. The dark clouds now filled the entire western sky, and South Hero and the outer bay had disappeared into what was obviously a heavy rain storm but we saw no lightning and heard no thunder. We paddled by the entrance to Malletts Creek the sole body of water feeding into Inner Malletts Bay . This exceptional wetland, the first 70 acres of which were conserved by the Lake Champlain Land Trust in 2003, has an extensive wild rice marsh, which makes it attractive to wading birds including the American Bittern, Least Bittern, and Black- Crowned Night Heron. It is also a spawning ground for many fish species including Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, and Yellow Perch. This wild area is crossed at this point by I-89, Vermont 's major superhighway, and a major line carrying electricity from Quebec to Vermont . What a juxtaposition! We have so often driven over it traveling between the islands and Burlington , and now we were seeing it from the water's edge. From both vantage points, we could see several osprey nests on the platforms built for them by the power company atop the huge power poles. We desperately wanted to paddle up the creek a ways but the approaching clouds and the threat of deer flies in the protected waters deterred us. We mentally added Mallets Creek to our rapidly growing list of places we will paddle at another time.

Instead we hugged the eastern shore. Paddling hard against the wind, we continually looked back and forth between the approaching clouds and possible take out places along the shore. Short of seeing lightning or hearing thunder, we figured we did not need to get out, if at all, until Malletts Head disappeared in the rain. We finally pulled into a small pebbly beach that was protected from the south wind by a small point of land. We did not get out of our boats, but rather turned them toward the oncoming clouds and rain and waited to see what would happen. If the clouds were bringing only rain there was no need to stop. We were already wet. But we were worried about a sudden wind burst and shift. We waited there as the rain approached until it became obvious that a wind burst was not going to materialize. We then set off again toward the busy and populated part of the bay. The clouds were spectacular, as was the view. From where we were we could see east as far as the Green Mountains dominated by a partially visible Mount Mansfield, and west to South Hero, which was now out of the rain cloud, and then New York State . The degree of visibility came and went with the rain clouds, and as the storm we had been watching all morning eventually passed over us and to the northeast we were beginning to feel more relaxed and anticipated a spectacular rainbow ( in the Frank family this phenomena is more commonly called a “rainboat” having been identified as such by our 3 year old daughter to her 1 year old sister many years ago. “Tink. Look, look at the rainboat!”)

There was a very dark cloud to the south and east which we assumed had passed us, the last storm having traveled a common storm track from southwest to northeast. As we merrily paddled on commenting on the huge length of sand beach along the eastern shore, Margy suddenly said “Does that cloud look like it is getting bigger to you!” In fact it was clearly getting bigger and darker and had dark little fingers stretching part way down toward the horizon. And it was moving from southeast to northwest, exactly opposite of what the previous storm had just done! ( How can this be? Where is Mark Breen when we need him!) So once again on alert and eagle eyed, we paddled a little faster by a large marina and boat anchorage, around the south end of the bay and then north along the east shore of Coates Island. The cloud continued to grow and just as we rounded Coates Island , opening our view to the west and to the south where the boat access was, the rain torrents began. The entire bay was being hit by this rainstorm. Fortunately for us there was still no thunder or lightning; so we pressed on, knowing we were almost finished. This time the wind did pick up, but it was manageable. As we got close to our take out, Margy pointed out a very wet but beautiful great blue heron that was standing on a rock not more than 10 yards from us. Normally a heron would fly away to another spot along the shore before we got that close, but this heron was either conditioned by the large amount of regular boat traffic at this spot or just did not want to fly off in the downpour. He was beautiful and I was sorry my camera was confined to my waterproof pouch because of the rain. The rain stopped as soon as we got to shore, and by the time we had the boats back on the car, two other larger boats had been launched, the sun was out and our clothes were almost dry. Our trip around Inner Mallets Bay had totally exceeded our expectations. The clouds added a mystic sort of quality as we discovered that not all of Mallets Bay is congested and busy. In fact most of it is spectacularly beautiful. Once again we were reminded that the view from a low riding, slow moving kayak, is very special and not easily replicated in a power or sailboat. We do realize, however, that our attitude might have been somewhat different had the day been clear and all those many boats been in action.