Paddling away from North Twin we were now on the journey to find and create a new campsite location. As we paddled around an island that goes by many names — Pelican, Enterprise, Bird — we found a beach that appeared promising; until we got into the trees and it was only bushes, no clear spaces at all. As we pulled away from the beach a beaver came to great us; or rather warn us away from its lodge.
We continued around the shoreline of the island and saw lots of open spaces; on rock faces. Just as my co-guide and I were about to call it a day, two of our campers came shouting out of the woods. “We found it! A campsite!” Of course, Christina and I were skeptical.
“Does it have space for three tents?” — “Yes”
“Does it have a place for a campfire?” — “Yes”
“Does it have space to pull up four canoes?” — “Yes”
“Does it have places to go to the bathroom away from the tents?” — “Yes!”
Both my co-guide and I looked at each other and decided to give it a look. There was a small place to unload canoes and a trail leading back into the woods to an open spot. A large rock face provided a place to make a fire ring and near by, long grass that can be laid down to set tents on comfortably. This was a good place to make a campsite; and bonus, the guide tent can be hidden away from the camper tents making guide tent talk perfectly distant.
After putting up tents, unpacking gear and pulling up canoes, everyone got in for a quick swim and attempted crayfish catching. We followed our fun with dinner. The meal of choice tonight was noodles with the option of spaghetti sauce or Gato Gato sauce.
Gato Gato is ‘Trail Thai”. The recipe is a jar of peanut butter, soy sauce, and mixed vegetables (chicken optional).
During dinner, our campsite name was born; Hidden Gato.
