After unexpectedly losing our Gryphon in June, continuing the blog seemed impossible. He was such a part of its origin and purpose, and the devastating pain was so great that attempts at writing a blog entry were futile. And the blog will actually remain on hiatus, but we thought it wise to make a few updates to our status.

1. We are forever grateful to the hundreds and hundreds of folks who knew Griff only through social media, who sent their heartfelt condolences to us. The grief remains, but the support of others has helped us move onward.

2. We welcomed Kanootti to the crew in July. Her name is Finnish for canoe, and it represents our love of winter and nordic activities, as well as the obvious canoeing connection. She began canoeing at 11 weeks, and canoed and camped right up until October, when the water became to cold for her (in case of a capsizing).

3. In December, our Facebook page Vermont Paddle Pups was hacked, renamed against our will, and unpublished and cancelled by Facebook ( apparently the hackers were posting unacceptable material in our name, though we never heard from any of our followers about such activity). Facebook has failed to respond to us, or correct our account, so we have given up. We now have a new Facebook Group, a private group, but followers will be accepted as members. It is “Adventures of the Vermont Paddle Pups”, so feel free to join us!

4. Our Instagram, Vermont Paddle Pups, has been unaffected, as has our Twitter @VTPaddlePups. We post no political or controversial material!

5. Here are two videos, one of which is a remembrance of Gryphon’s Legacy,and the other is documentation of Kanootti’s first 6 months with us. Enjoy, and thanks for hanging in with us.