Lake Rescue (Vermont)
Encyclopedia
Lake Rescue is located in Windsor county of south central Vermont
, in the northeastern United States
. It is the tenth deepest (at 95 feet) and 23rd largest lake (at 184 acres) in Vermont. Lake Rescue is located along VT Route 100 about three miles north of Ludlow
and Okemo Mountain
, and it is surrounded by the town of Ludlow. The lake is fed by the Black River
and is the third of four lakes extending from Plymouth, Vermont
through Ludlow, with Lake Amherst and Echo Lake to the north and Lake Pauline to the south. The northern section of the lake, connected to the main body via a shallow channel, is referred to as Round Pond.
, perch
, brown trout
, rainbow trout
, pickerel
, and sunfish
. A "horseshoe" dam separates Lake Rescue from Lake Pauline, over which passes the well-known and much photographed Red Bridge. Lake Rescue is north of Red Bridge and power boats (but not jet skis) are permitted on the lake. Pauline Lake is to the south of Red Bridge and only non-motorized propelled craft are allowed.
The water quality classification is B.
The lake type is NATURAL with ARTIFICIAL CONTROL.
Physical Information:
- The lake area is 184 acres.
- The watershed area is 22,859 acres.
- The maximum depth is 95 feet.
- The mean depth is 24 feet.
- The volume is 4416 acre.ft.
- Land Use Percentages in the Lake Watershed: Undeveloped 98%, 2% developed
Lay Monitoring Program - Water Chemistry Monitoring Data Summary:
- The average spring phosphorus concentration is 8 ug/l, based on 14 years of data.
- The average Secchi disk
measurement is 4 meters, based on 8 years of data.
- The average summer phosphorus concentration is 10 ug/l, based on 5 years of data.
- The average chlorophyll-a concentration is 4 ug/l, based on 5 years of data.
- The trophic state
is: Mesotrophic.
growing in the Round Pond section of the lake. Since then, there has been an ongoing effort to prevent the spread of this invasive water plant in Lake Rescue. Since 1999 the Lake Rescue Association (LRA) has hired scuba divers to look for and remove milfoil plants from Lake Rescue, Round Pond and Lake Pauline. In addition to thoroughly searching the entire lake for milfoil twice each year, the LRA has conducted a program of lake-user education/outreach, and public access education/inspection. With ongoing inspections, no further infestations have been found since 2003. The current concern is regarding the build-up of sediment in the lake due to both natural and man-made causes.
From an unreferenced, yellowed newspaper clipping found in the archives at the Black River Academy Museum
, titled “Lakes and Legends of Plymouth,” likely from the early 1900s:
“Lake Rescue was one of the last ones [note: the others being Lake Amherst and Echo Lake] to receive a name, being formerly called Plymouth Pond or the Reservoir. As long ago as the eighties people were suggesting euphonious titles for this body of water, which is much larger than the others in the valley. …
There are two traditions concerning this lake, either or both substantiating that Lake Rescue is appropriately named. In the western part of Cavendish
in the Revolutionary days there existed a famous tavern, known as Captain Coffin’s Tavern. This was located on the old Crown Point road and was a great resort.
One March day Capt. Coffin was returning from the settlements on Otter Creek by means of snowshoes. To shorten the distance he crossed Plymouth Pond. He accidentally stopped into an air hole that was covered in snow and plunged into the icy water. Although he was possessed of great strength he found it impossible to get out, encumbered as he was by his snowshoes, heavy coat and pack, without assistance which fortunately was furnished by his dog. The dog showed almost human intelligence in aiding him. Capt. Coffin frequently told the story of how his dog saved his life.
The other tradition and probably the one in mind when the lake was christened was of a child that strayed away from one of the Cavendish settler’s homes and became lost in the woods. Searching parties later found the child on the eastern shores of the lake on a rock and unalarmed by her experience of several days and nights in the forests. The child told of spending one night with a big black sheep and two lambs who kept her warm. The black sheep and lambs were thought to have been a friendly black bear and her cubs. The particulars are lacking as to the christening of the lake except that about 150 people met on the shore of the lake in August, 1881 and rechristened Plymouth Lake, Lake Rescue.”
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, in the northeastern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is the tenth deepest (at 95 feet) and 23rd largest lake (at 184 acres) in Vermont. Lake Rescue is located along VT Route 100 about three miles north of Ludlow
Ludlow, Vermont
Ludlow, Vermont may refer to:*Ludlow , Vermont*Ludlow , Vermont...
and Okemo Mountain
Okemo Mountain
Okemo Mountain Resort is a ski resort located in Ludlow, Vermont. Before becoming a popular ski resort destination, Ludlow was originally a mill town, and was the home of a General Electric plant until 1977. The resort experienced 600,000 skier visits in 2009...
, and it is surrounded by the town of Ludlow. The lake is fed by the Black River
Black River (Connecticut River)
The Black River is a river in the U.S. state of Vermont, and a tributary of the Connecticut River. The watershed, or drainage basin, consists of some in southeastern Vermont, almost all of which lies in Windsor County.-Course:...
and is the third of four lakes extending from Plymouth, Vermont
Plymouth, Vermont
Plymouth is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 555 at the 2000 census. Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States, was born in and is buried in Plymouth...
through Ludlow, with Lake Amherst and Echo Lake to the north and Lake Pauline to the south. The northern section of the lake, connected to the main body via a shallow channel, is referred to as Round Pond.
Popular recreation area
The lake is used year-round predominantly by the residents of the approximately 110 lakeside homes and camps who enjoy swimming, waterskiing, fishing, sailing in summer and ice-fishing, skating, and snowmobiling in winter. Although no public swimming beaches exist, the lake does have a state maintained public fishing access point where boats can be launched. Fish include bassBass (fish)
Bass is a name shared by many different species of popular gamefish. The term encompasses both freshwater and marine species. All belong to the large order Perciformes, or perch-like fishes, and in fact the word bass comes from Middle English bars, meaning "perch."-Types of basses:*The temperate...
, perch
Perch
Perch is a common name for fish of the genus Perca, freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which there are three species in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Perciformes, from the Greek perke meaning spotted, and the...
, brown trout
Brown trout
The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....
, rainbow trout
Rainbow trout
The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....
, pickerel
Pickerel
Pickerel may refer to:*Esox, the genus of fish commonly known as the pickerels which includes pike and muskellunge as well as other pickerel*American pickerel*Chain pickerel*Walleye, or Yellow Pickerel * Pickerel Frog...
, and sunfish
Sunfish
-Saltwater fishes:*Molidae, family of Ocean Sunfishes*Opah, family Lampridae; two species-Freshwater fishes:* Pygmy sunfish, six members of the genus Elassoma* Centrarchidae, a perciform family of about 27 species...
. A "horseshoe" dam separates Lake Rescue from Lake Pauline, over which passes the well-known and much photographed Red Bridge. Lake Rescue is north of Red Bridge and power boats (but not jet skis) are permitted on the lake. Pauline Lake is to the south of Red Bridge and only non-motorized propelled craft are allowed.
Lake Characteristics
The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources posts a report on the water quality of Vermont lakes, summarized as follows:The water quality classification is B.
The lake type is NATURAL with ARTIFICIAL CONTROL.
Physical Information:
- The lake area is 184 acres.
- The watershed area is 22,859 acres.
- The maximum depth is 95 feet.
- The mean depth is 24 feet.
- The volume is 4416 acre.ft.
- Land Use Percentages in the Lake Watershed: Undeveloped 98%, 2% developed
Lay Monitoring Program - Water Chemistry Monitoring Data Summary:
- The average spring phosphorus concentration is 8 ug/l, based on 14 years of data.
- The average Secchi disk
Secchi disk
The Secchi disk, created in 1865 by Pietro Angelo Secchi SJ, is a circular disk used to measure water transparency in oceans and lakes. The disc is mounted on a pole or line, and lowered slowly down in the water. The depth at which the pattern on the disk is no longer visible is taken as a measure...
measurement is 4 meters, based on 8 years of data.
- The average summer phosphorus concentration is 10 ug/l, based on 5 years of data.
- The average chlorophyll-a concentration is 4 ug/l, based on 5 years of data.
- The trophic state
Trophic state index
The quantities of nitrogen, phosphorus, and other biologically useful nutrients are theprimary determinants of a body of water's trophic state index...
is: Mesotrophic.
Environmental issues
In 1998 the Department of Natural Resources, State of Vermont, found 70 plants of Eurasian milfoilMyriophyllum
Myriophyllum is a genus of about 69 species of freshwater aquatic plants, with a cosmopolitan distribution. The center of diversity for Myriophyllum is Australia with 43 recognized species...
growing in the Round Pond section of the lake. Since then, there has been an ongoing effort to prevent the spread of this invasive water plant in Lake Rescue. Since 1999 the Lake Rescue Association (LRA) has hired scuba divers to look for and remove milfoil plants from Lake Rescue, Round Pond and Lake Pauline. In addition to thoroughly searching the entire lake for milfoil twice each year, the LRA has conducted a program of lake-user education/outreach, and public access education/inspection. With ongoing inspections, no further infestations have been found since 2003. The current concern is regarding the build-up of sediment in the lake due to both natural and man-made causes.
History of the lake and its name
In 1835 a dam was built at the southern end of the lake to generate water power, which increased the size of the existing lake. The lake became an active summer resort by the early 1900s.From an unreferenced, yellowed newspaper clipping found in the archives at the Black River Academy Museum
Black River Academy
Black River Academy is a historic academy on High Street in the village of Ludlow in Vermont.Black River Academy was chartered in Ludlow in 1835 and operated as a school, serving as the Town of Ludlow's public high school until 1938, when a new school was built...
, titled “Lakes and Legends of Plymouth,” likely from the early 1900s:
“Lake Rescue was one of the last ones [note: the others being Lake Amherst and Echo Lake] to receive a name, being formerly called Plymouth Pond or the Reservoir. As long ago as the eighties people were suggesting euphonious titles for this body of water, which is much larger than the others in the valley. …
There are two traditions concerning this lake, either or both substantiating that Lake Rescue is appropriately named. In the western part of Cavendish
Cavendish, Vermont
Cavendish is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The town was named after William Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire. The population was 1,470 at the 2000 census...
in the Revolutionary days there existed a famous tavern, known as Captain Coffin’s Tavern. This was located on the old Crown Point road and was a great resort.
One March day Capt. Coffin was returning from the settlements on Otter Creek by means of snowshoes. To shorten the distance he crossed Plymouth Pond. He accidentally stopped into an air hole that was covered in snow and plunged into the icy water. Although he was possessed of great strength he found it impossible to get out, encumbered as he was by his snowshoes, heavy coat and pack, without assistance which fortunately was furnished by his dog. The dog showed almost human intelligence in aiding him. Capt. Coffin frequently told the story of how his dog saved his life.
The other tradition and probably the one in mind when the lake was christened was of a child that strayed away from one of the Cavendish settler’s homes and became lost in the woods. Searching parties later found the child on the eastern shores of the lake on a rock and unalarmed by her experience of several days and nights in the forests. The child told of spending one night with a big black sheep and two lambs who kept her warm. The black sheep and lambs were thought to have been a friendly black bear and her cubs. The particulars are lacking as to the christening of the lake except that about 150 people met on the shore of the lake in August, 1881 and rechristened Plymouth Lake, Lake Rescue.”