Page 12 — SUSQUEHANNA BULLETIN
Drawing by J. L. Biesecker

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by J. L. Biesecker
As the rain came pelting
down, we crowded aboard
the old yellow bus, and
headed 700 miles north to
adventure in the Canadian
wilderness. There were 28
of us participating in the
Wilderness Canoe trip of the
Donegal Presbytery Sum-
mer Camping Program. Our
destination was the Base
Camp of Adventure Unlim-
ited (AU), located at Lac
Landron in the central part
of the Province of Quebec.
Six of the 28 were from the
Donegal Presbyterian
Church. These were Ellen
Graham, Bonnie Bates,
campers, and Rev. Robert
Murphy, Ann Condrack,

Campers drink
Nov

. 3%
Nancy Biesecker and John
Biesecker, camp counselors
for the trip. The remainder
of the group came from
other Lancaster and York
County Presbyterian
Churches.
Several hours of sightsee-
ing in the beautiful city of
Ottawa and a night of
camping along the log filled
Gatineau River were enjoy-
ed and should have been
welcome respites from the.
trip, but our anxiety to get
into the wilderness made
them only tolerable. Songs
and innumerable bags of
candy helped wile away the
hours as we jostled along on
the bus. Finally we left the
smatl black-top road and
bounced 35 miles back into
the bush on a dirt logging

oN
FREEZER SALE
trail.
Suddenly the waiting was
over and we were there, Lac
Landron. As 22 eager
adolescent campers and 6
frazzeled adults poured out
of the bus, we were met by
Ridge, a veritable giant of a
dog, and by Mr. Homer
Hicks, owner of AU. In the
next ten days we were to
find out that Homer was
even more of a giant than
his dog.
We soon met Kris Lind,
our guide. He, in turn,
introduced us to our canoes
and out GI Tropical Ham-
mocks that were used in
place of tents. We soon
found that the hammocks
were obviously designed by
a devious mind. The little
roof kept off the rain and the

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netting kept out the hords of
bugs, but these treacherous
hammocks had the unique
ability to spit a soundly
sleeping body unceremoni-
ously out on the ground at
3a.m. However, we came to
love them as a cowboy loves
a cantankerous, almost un-
ridable mustang.
After a day of training in
canoe handling and a swim
test, we set off into the
myriad of lakes and rivers
that fill the Canadian Bush.
Two to a canoe, with all of
our food and gear, we
paddled 2S miles per day.
Up the Ottawa River across
beautiful lakes stopping to
portage around some rapids
and shooting others. Nights
were spent camping on the
sandy beaches where the
lakes met the birch and
white cedar forests that
endlessly covered the land-
scape.
Trail-food dinners were
supplemented by succulent
Walleyed and Northern Pike
that we caught each after-
noon. Most astounding a-
bout these lakes and rivers
is the fact that they are safe
to drink anywhere. Just dip
in your cup and drink,
deeply, safely, with wonder.
Many ducks were seen,
ducks such as Canvas Back,
Black ducks, Buffleheads,
Merganser and others.
Many more tracks were
sighted on beaches, but only
EXTENDED TROUT
SEASON
Trout fishermen are being
reminded by the Pennsyl-
vania Fish Commission that
this year, for the first time,
they can look forward to an
extended season on all
approved trout waters start-
ing September 2 and run-
ning to midnight, October
31. In recent years, fishing
trout was legal during this
period in some, but not all,
of the lakes and streams
stocked by the Commission.
The Fish Commission
spokesmen emphasize that
the extended season applies
only to those waters approv-
ed for stocking, as listed in
the summary booklet issued
with each fishing license
starting on page 26. It does
apply to tributary
streams or headwaters, in-
cluding streams which con-
tain native trout populations |
but which are not stocked.
DID YOU HEAR
Robert Glattacker, 126 W.
High St., Maytown, was
twenty-four years old, Mon-
2 Ade, Clie

wilderness waters ‘deeply, safely, and with wonder’
one moose was actually
seen. (A moose is not one of
God’s more graceful crea-
tures.) A large Lynx visited
Base Camp one night while
we were on the trail. Bird
life was abundant. An
Osprey spent part of one
morning watching us move
through his territory and
each evening a chorus of
birds heralded the approach
of dusk. The Red-Eyed
Vireo dominated this eve-
ning concert with their
beautiful song.
All of this may sound
idealistic, and it was, but it
is in danger. Canada is
making the same mistakes
that the United States made.
Big business and people are
thoughtlessly squeezing
dollars from the wilderness
and, in the process, de-
stroying its fragile beauty.
Roads are being cut into
the bush and along with
roads come powerboats,
cars, civilization and pollu-
tion. Indiscriminate moose
seasons in which bull, cow
and calf are fair game
decimate the number and
quality of the moose herd.
Greedy overfishing has ser-
iously hurt fishing in many
areas.
Homer Hicks has devoted
each summer since 1947 to

August 6, 1975
making available the oppor-
tunity to experience the
wilderness. He has main-
tained the Wilderness Base
Camp of Adventure Unli-
mited, enabling countless
groups of young people to
experience the opportunity
to be alone together in the
wilderness. We found his
work to be a labor of love,
not a money-making ven-
ture. This man, who loves
and respects the wilderness,
uses it, but dosen’t exploit
it. Instead, Homer shares it
with others, hoping that his
wilderness will survive, but
seeing it attacked each year.
As 1 paddled my ‘canoe
each day, watching the
wilderness slide by, many
thoughts ‘and questions
crowded in. Was my native
Susquehanna Valley once
actually this wild, open and
unpolluted? Will Canada
learn from our mistakes, or
is it too late for all of this?
Rising at dawn one morning
I heard the distant cry of a
wolf. In the plaintive cry
that met the beauty of the
rising sun, I heard the sigh
that foretold the sad truth.
All of this will eventually be
lost and Homer's wilderness
will live only in the
memories of those he
carefully shared it with.
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A very convenient device to be used as a
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Free delivery to areas receiving the Susquehanna Bulletin
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clamping screw and outer wall of tub for

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