Day 3: Blowing in the Wind

Today was a killer, figuratively in most ways, and also nearly literally. More on that later.

While we are generally up and moving just after the sun rises, I’m surprised at how well I’ve been sleeping. Probably the combination of comfortable night temperatures, and physically tired bodies. Even crammed four people in a four man tent (which usually means three people comfortably), I’ve managed to sleep better than I expected. Not so sure about AJ. He’s the odd man out when it comes to sleeping lightly, surrounded by others who sleep a little noisily (not me, I’m sure).

The day started out bright and sunny, with light winds. (Isn’t it amazing how much of our attention is focused on the weather when we are so dependant on it?) Looked like a great day for paddling. Had I looked more closely at our route I might have realized it was also going to be a great day for portaging. True to expectations, the paddling was fairly easy and relaxing.

The portages.....not so much.

I think by the end of the day we'd done nine portages. At least three of them were simply painful. One of the early portages was a steep hill made of many small, (uneven, loose, slippery) rocks. Great fun. Unfortunately, so were two other portages. Its pretty easy to see why one of the biggest injury risks out here are twisted or sprained ankles, or injuries from catching yourself as you stumble. I am quite amazed at the way Cam, Charlie, AJ, and Zach managed to carry the canoes through this treacherous terrain. These kids are in terrific shape. Even though the canoes are considerably lighter than the gear, food, or equipment packs, they are awkward and uncomfortable. Add in the condition of the trails, and its a pretty impressive task getting from lake to lake.

So what's trickier than rocky cobblestones? Try floating bogs.

We hit several portages, both getting off the water and back on the water, that involved negotiating our way across 'land' that was nothing more than about six inches of intertwined roots floating on a couple feet of water. Its the first time I've seen the 'land' ripple in waves as we walked on it. Mostly we managed to only sink through a couple inches, but Drew and AJ discovered how much fun it is to sink up past your knees in 'moose muck', which lies at the bottom of the water under the bogs. A person could easily sink up to their chest in the muck that is the bottom of the ponds in these spots.

Once through, it was easier to look back and appreciate the accomplishment of navigating our way across both types of challenges. Each boat crew worked together to figure out a way to get the job done. It was great to see the teamwork develop. At "Thorns and Roses" I shared what actually was my appreciation for these difficult portages. I was reminded of a quote from Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture". He said, "Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want something badly enough. They are there to keep out the other people". I think the same is true if you think about our portages as those brick walls. They are there to show how much we want to get to the next lake.

Despite all this, our three day total is about 40 miles. Pretty amazing.

We finally arrived at the island for camp. Another picture postcard scene: granite boulders, pristine lake views, wild blueberries. Our tiny island had everything we wanted....except it was too small for taking care of 'business'. Since this little chunk of granite wasn't named on the map, the crew creatively designated it "TNP Island" (Tiny No-Poop Island). This is when wilderness living does start to lose a little bit of its charm.

Later that afternoon, we loaded up a boat to take a trip to the mainland (you can fill in the blanks here yourself). Since we were without the camping gear, Drew suggested we could take 5 people in the canoe. Yeah, right. People just aren't as stable as strapping in our gear. After nearly swamping in a foot of water, we kicked out a couple passengers and Mike, AJ, and I set out to cross the couple hundred yards of water between the island and the shore.

Trouble struck as we were leaving the mainland to head back to the island.

Just as we shoved off, the wind kicked up something fierce. Obviously I'm guessing, but it felt about thiry miles an hour and it was a sustained wind not a short gust. We weren't all paddling together yet, and got caught broadside to the wind in the now white-capped waves. Without much warning, we flipped over. AJ and I came up on the open side of the canoe, but Mike was nowhere to be seen. Even with AJ and I both holding tight, the canoe continued to roll in the wind, flipping over three more times. Finally we heard Mike calling from the far side of the canoe, upwind of us, so at least we knew everyone was above the water. As Mike made it to shore, AJ and I held the canoe and swam with waves, angling towards the shoreline. We drifted a hundred yards down the shore before we could settle in against the rocks and touch down.

Ten minutes later, the wind was gone.

Although we lost our water bucket and shovel, we managed to hang on to all the paddles, and most importantly, our canoe. We learned later that Mike's chin strap on his hat caught on a thwart, holding him under for what seemed like a long time. Given that the canoe was flipping, it couldn't have been more than 20 seconds, but that is plenty long enough when you aren't able to get free. Perhaps at that point the wind was helping by flipping us those extra turns.

The rest of our crew was helplessly watching from the island. There was nothing they could do, and until we reached shore, they couldn't see AJ or I to even know if we were ok. I'm sure that was as difficult for them, as it was for us. Cam and I talked about it later. He was clearly shaken, mostly due to the helpless feeling of watching it all unfold with no chance to help. I can understand. My worst nightmare is a lot like that....seeing your family in a serious situation but not being able to do anything about it.....that alone would nearly kill me.

We all learned some lessons today, and thankfully we are no worse for the wear. The reality that we are on a rugged trek and not a disneyland vacation was made crystal clear. We talked as a crew about what happened, how it happened, and what we learned. We're not disheartened by it, but I think we're all more prepared. What would be a minor issue in many other places could very quickly become a serious situation when help is 4o miles away with no good way to call for it.

Probably because of all the events of the day, I also realized just how much I miss talking with Sue each day. Not that this is a trip most women would completely enjoy, but it doesn't feel right not being able to simply tell her about my day. I love this experience with AJ and Cam, but I really miss sharing the moments with her. Today had many lessons, but if I carry anything forward from this, I hope it is the realization of the importance of those seemingly small, simple daily routines shared with someone you love. Those are truly gifts.