“Does Lake Champlain harbor a monster?

Port Henry sure thinks so. They celebrate his existence with their Annual Champ Day celebration, the first Saturday in August.

Our resident monster, affectionately known as “Champ” or the nickname “Champy,” has been sighted for as long as people have been in this part of the Adirondacks. Old stories of the Native American tribes that lived near Lake Champlain confirm that they believed a “horned serpent” lived in the lake. A possible theory regarding these beliefs centers around Split Rock, in Essex, New York, which features natural rock structures that resemble petrified snakes…” (Continue reading Search for Champ | Lake Champlain Region.)

I’ve grown up hearing tales about our local lake monster for as long as I can remember. When I was in Girl Scouts, probably around 10 years old, the troop was taking a field trip somewhere and we had to take the Essex ferry to Vermont. I saw a shadow moving alongside the ferry as it crossed the lake and I went around telling everyone that there was a baby Champ swimming next to the boat. I remember actually thinking that was true at the time, but I was probably only seeing reflections and shadows from the ferry in the water.

My grandmother told me once how she was swimming in the lake and something brushed up against her. She turned in the water and saw something very long, and she swam as fast as she could back to the dock to get out of the lake. She told me she thought it was Champ at the time, but in her years of reflection she humorously told me it was probably just a big sturgeon. Real or not, Champ hasn’t hurt anyone, and he does make for some good stories.

Related articles

• Video: Local Legend: Champ, the Lake Champlain monster (cbsnews.com)