Canton, NY, May 12, 2011 — This weekend, the village of Canton will be a haven for flatwater paddlers with the 50th anniversary of the Rushton canoe races.

There are also plans in the works to make better use of the Grasse River's whitewater. Planners are exploring construction of a "whitewater play park" at four sites on the Grasse in Canton. There's a public meeting on the subject tonight at 5:30 at the Grasse River Heritage building in the village.

David Sommerstein caught up with two of the organizers, Baylor Johnson and Dan McConnell.  Go to full article

Apr 20, 2009 — Saturday was cool and cloudy in the St. Regis Canoe Wilderness Area. But that didn't stop Jonathan Brown from his first paddle of the season. The brim of his hat kept his tape recorder dry so he could send this audio postcard.  Go to full article

Aug 24, 2007 — The end of August is a special chance to take full advantage of a birder's paradise just a few minutes from Canton. You name it: mergansers, black terns, bitterns, even loons and bald eagles, all make the Upper and Lower Lakes Wildlife Management Area their summer home. The area opens its off-limits refuge to the public for two weeks each summer, this year through August 31. Still, much of the area's 4,300 acres of wetlands is accessible throughout the summer. From a canoe, a labyrinth of shifting cattails leads to the open water of Indian Creek, which links the Grasse and Oswagatchie Rivers. David Sommerstein took a tour with a wildlife expert and sent this audio postcard.  Go to full article

May 04, 2007 — It's a big paddling weekend in Canton. Saturday and Sunday are the 46th Annual Rushton Memorial Canoe Races on the Grasse River. Among the racers in the college student category will be a team from St. Lawrence University who built their own canoe. David Sommerstein visited their workshop when the canoe was under construction for today's Heard Up North.  Go to full article

Sep 07, 2006 — This weekend, a couple dozen paddlers are in Ohio for the National Interpretive Freestyle Canoeing championships. Picture figure skating or synchronized swimming in a canoe, replete with dance-like flourishes and evocative music, sometimes even costumes. Defending his title is the youngest canoeist to win top honors in the sport's 20-year history - 10th grader Jonathan Hammond of Alexandria Bay. David Sommerstein has this profile.  Go to full article

May 11, 2004 — The high water season of spring gives paddlers an opportunity to run the North Country's best stretches of whitewater. Every year the Adirondack Mountain Club's Laurentian chapter sponsors a classic run on the Grasse River in southwestern St. Lawrence County. From the put-in at Lampson Falls to the town of Russell, the river roars down 9 cascades and miles of rapids. David Sommerstein hitched a ride in the trip leader's canoe and sends this audio postcard.  Go to full article

May 07, 2002 — Yesterday, we heard about canoe races - the Whitewater Derby in North Creek in particular. Today, we stay on the water, but on a canoe trip of a different sort. Brian Mann paddled up the headwaters of Lake Champlain in the late fall of 2000 - up South Bay, which will never see the traffic that the Saranac, or the Grasse or the Oswegatchie do. There's never a busy season, though the scenery is spectacular.  Go to full article

May 15, 2001 — One of the classic Adirondack canoe routes begins near Tupper Lake and winds through the Five Ponds Wilderness toward Cranberry Lake. That section of the north country offers some of the most remote forests and rivers in the East. Two of our reporters, Brian Mann and David Sommerstein, made the trip earlier this month. They sent back this audio journal.  Go to full article

May 01, 2001 — Martha Foley talks with a member of the Paul Smith's College Enviro-Trek team. Last summer, they paddled canoes all the way from Paul Smith's to New York City--much of the trip along the Hudson River. Becky Sutter was coordinator of educational programs for the trip.  Go to full article