You Won't See That at Winnie

In an attempt to beat the heat and find a stand-in for our beloved Lake W*nnibigoshish, we headed to southern V*rmont on Monday to fish on H*rriman Reservoir.  On the plus side, the drive was shorter (1 1/2 hours) and more scenic.  On the minus side, we didn't catch any fish, and we did catch a glimpse of a half-naked (not the conventional half, mind you) man.

 

It was a beautiful day, and we all enjoyed being in the boat again.  Sarah fished for about five minutes, and I didn't even buy a license, so Don was the only one who gave it a good try.  Alas, not even a bite....  He had read online that there was a clothing-optional area along the shore (I'll bet you clicked on the link, didn't you?), and we were careful to give it a wide berth.

 

After motoring around the whole reservoir (in about an hour -- it's 1/25th the size of Winnie), we headed back to a tiny island to have lunch.  As we pulled ashore, I thought I heard a kayak landing on the other side but figured the person would also hear us and stay over there out of respect. 

 

Don and Sarah started unpacking the cooler, and I sat down on a rock a few feet away.  At the sound of footsteps behind us, we all turned to see a man wearing only a life jacket and sandals.  He seemed surprised to see us and began apologizing profusely.  While we looked away, he went on and on about how he had gotten up the courage to paddle all the way over from the nude beach and everyone had assured him that there would be no one here.  At this point, we wished we weren't, believe me.  He finally retreated, and we proceeded with our picnic. 

 

After lunch, Sarah built a sand castle, and she and Don waded in the water before we headed back to the car.  We saw a loon and a bald eagle on the way, sights we're more used to seeing while out fishing.