Kayaking Through History

Ticonderoga is a very historical area and the name means the land between two waters. The two ‘waters’ are Lake George and Lake Champlain. The La Chute River runs downhill from Lake George and over several different waterfalls before meandering its way to Lake Champlain. Our house (aptly named ‘Tween Waters) is on a road simply called The Portage, because throughout history boats had to be transported over land between the two lakes due to the waterfalls. These same waterfalls provided a great place for mills to be built in the 1800’s, but they are long gone now. Even the paper mill that was right in the village has moved to the shore of Lake Champlain.

At the base of the lower falls in the village is where we launch the kayaks. Our paddling includes wooded areas and marshes (I’ve never seen so many turtles and beaver lodges before), under bridges, and past Fort Ticonderoga.


Floating under the fort and listening to the fife and drum corps, ending with the firing of one of the cannons, is quite spectacular. During the spring, when the river has more current, we leave a vehicle at the launch ramp next to the Lake Champlain cable ferry landing, making this a one way trip. During the drier months it isn’t difficult to make it back up the river to where we began.

I have lots of other kayaking adventures and pictures to put on the blog later on, but want to stay diverse with my subjects. Stay tuned for totally different post next time!