Week-Long Trip
(Continued from Pago B 2)
hints. Before the end of the day, I
felt better and 1 think my skill im
proved. Bruce, however, thought I
was deliberately meandering with
the canoe as a way to explore. By
the end of the week, I could keep
the canoe on a straight course.
Rain
In the midst of learning to pad
dle, getting adjusted to sitting in
the bottom of the canoe, and sort
ing out where we were going, it
started to rain. Some of us got our
rain gear out, but I became con
cerned about James. He was get
ting wet, but would not put on the
rain coat As a fashion-conscious
youngster, he considered it ugly.
The sometimes-on-sometimes
off sprinkles turned into a steady
drizzle. About lunch-time we
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came to a portage and Cheryl
strung up a tarp for some tempor
ary shelter while we had lunch.
We paddled about 10 miles that
first day in the rain. When Cheryl
pointed to a camp site, we were
ready to rest. As we unloaded, I
was very tired but pleased that the
waterproofing on my dumb hat
had kept my head dry. As the in
termittent rain continued while we
set up camp, drying out and warm
ing up became our first big task.
During that time, James began
shivering, and even admitted that
he was cold. That spurred me on
to gefthe fire going for him and
myself.
The underside of a slanting tree
yielded some semi-day splinters to
get a fire going. As some of the
damp wood began burning, we
Call for
were able to shake off the chills
and get some food. Before settling
in for some sleep, we clustered
around the fire, told stories, and
listened to the night sounds: far
off wolves and the closer loons.
As the morning sun burned
down on that first campsite, we
could hardly believe our despon
dency from the previous night.
The sun on the warm rocks by the
lake shore warmed and dried our
wet fabrics. We were ready to
move on again.
Protecting our food from wild
animals especially bear pre
sented our group with a unique
challenge each time we came
ashore to make camp. Our first
task at each campsite was to find a
limb or crossbar from a previous
camper and hoist the food bags out
of danger. Though on one level, it
i 7
ng and scheduling
$
WEABER'
The Food
£cu/mgA
SHAVINGS
ctor
might sound like fun to see some
wildlife, Cheryl assured us that
we’d rather not see a bear going
through our camp looking for
food. That was the kind of excite
ment any trip could do without.
We shared food preparation,
clean-up, and other camp duties.
The trick came in preparing just
the right amount of food. To keep
the campsite clean and discourage
marauding scavengers, we did not
discard any food. Some items, like
the gorp we snacked on each day
after an hour or two on the water,
could last for months if kept dry.
Other food supplies, when prepar
ed had to be eaten.
Some Observations
The trip at times became a test
of our physical endurance. The
word portage has new meaning af-
Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, July 9, 1994-B3
ter carrying a 60-pound canoe and
30-40 pound backpack through
the 179 rod portage from Insula to
Kiana Lake.
Our skill and endurance were
also tested as we came out of the
lee side of an island and faced a
fresh freeze and white caps on the
waves. Ahead, the other canoes
were looking small. Did we really
want to face this or wail until the
wind relaxed its persistent push?
Virgil, at the back of the canoe,
waved me on, and we started some
serious paddling. The wind push
ed so hard that if we stopped pad
dling together, we would have
gone backward. Slomc waves
splashed over the sides but we
paddled on. Twenty-five strokes
on the left then twenty-five on the
Her Loads
(Turn to Page B 4)
only.