Coming to grips with my current limitations, I have been enjoying revisiting favorite spots in the forests and mountains close to home that I once feared I would never see again. There are countless other places to walk in this part of Vermont that had fallen under my radar in the past, especially paths that weren’t long enough to sustain lengthy trail runs or full day hikes. One such location is the Derway Cove/Derway Island area in Burlington’s New North End area, the existence or which I only recently became aware of. This area is found at the northern end of North Avenue, and is bordered by the Bike Path, and a meander in the Winooski River, shortly before its entry into Lake Champlain. When I recently had some time to kill in Burlington between other responsibilities, I thought I would explore this heavily wooded area. The parking lot for this area is located on the first right turn on North Avenue, immediately after the sewage treatment plant (more on that later) and before crossing the bike path. The following sign indicates that you are at the right place!

Entering the heavily wooded park, I saw two paths – a straight-ahead path on what was once clearly a dirt road, and a narrower path to the right. I chose the former, and quickly found myself to the (according to the signage) of a former marina on the bank of the Winooski River. When the marina closed down a few years, ago, the city bought up the land for public access. I could see that the water level was extremely low by looking at the river banks. It was also probable that the lower land on either side of the road was much swampier during more normal water levels. Nonetheless, there was a pretty view towards the bike path bridge and Lake Champlain.

SInce this trail had run its course so quickly, I backtracked and turned onto the trail I had noticed in my entry into this area. This trail turned into a well worn path into a lovely, ancient forest, brushing up against the river.

There were few obvious signs of former uses of this land along the path. I noticed one rusted out oil drum, as well as one VERY rusted out motor vehicle of unknown vintage, which was curious, as the path I was on didn’t have the feel of an abandoned road, hinting that the car remnants had been here for a very long time.

I am also quite fond of a well-formed fungus, so I had to take a picture of this particular beauty! I have no idea what variety of fungus this is – I realized years ago that mycology, especially for the purpose of eating said mushrooms, was a very bad choice for colorblind hikers.

Eventually, I came to a point where the trail became fainter, so I decided it was a good point to retrace my steps. Subsequent maps did show, however, that the trail supposedly did continue a lot further, so there is probably plenty of trail for future exploration. On my return, I noticed a well-worn branch in the trail, which had been partially blocked off by a few deliberately placed sticks, so I easily stepped over these sticks and went a short way down the path, until I noticed the presence of a tent, guessing that it was a small homeless encampment, so I reversed my path to allow any campers at home their privacy. During my walk back to the car, I met a local woman out walking her dog on the path, and chatting with her, she told me that she had met the man living in the tent I had noticed, and had chatted with him. She related that he is a young man, probably in his early 20s, and that he worked several jobs in town, getting around by bicycle, but could not find a place to live that he could afford! A sad sign of the times…… She also pointed out something that I had missed in the first part of the day’s walk – a pond off to the side had a heron, and many resting turtles out of the water. So, I backtracked and found the critters she had referred to. The turtles were close enough for a decent picture, but since all I had with me was my cell phone, I couldn’t get a good enough picture of the heron to share.

As I returned to my car, I briefly considered looking around the area some more, but a shift in the breezes was bringing the rather unpleasant aroma of the sewage treatment plant my way, so I decided to call it quits with a just under two mile walk through some new and lovely parkland.