Day 5: Out of the Winds followed by the Island Day

   The tent was so crowded last night that when I woke up early this morning to go to the bathroom, I knew it would be more comfortable to sleep on the ground than it would be to try and crawl back in that tent. Apparently, my co-guides and I had the same thought. At 8:00 a.m. we woke up to the breakfast bell from Basecamp and all three of the guides were sleeping outside.
   Using the bell as a good wake up call we took a slow start to the morning and began making tea and stir fry for breakfast. Sadly, it was still windy this morning.
   After breakfast we played on the beach until our genny raid and made our way back to Basecamp. After watching two groups before us go in, we knew it was going to be a difficult paddle. Sure enough, as we were pushing off the beach waves came over the fronts of our canoes, filling them with water.  After emptying canoes and trying again; and again, we were finally able to get a small enough break to push to Basecamp.
   Tonight we are still waiting on one group to make it back to Basecamp as we all head to bed.



   The final group made it last night. Pulling in after all the campers were tucked in bed they were able to make it back to Basecamp. Cheering loudly to wake everyone up, they were greeted at the dock by all of us dressed in our pajamas.
   Today, was our island day. Cabin cleaning contests; school presentations; games and of course, the closing campfire. Since it was a school group they had to give presentations on what they learned and experienced on trail to all the teachers. Following the presentations, the Teachers Assistants all handed our awards to everyone on their trip. My award this school session was “The Badass” award, due to my lifeguarding skills during the swamp.
   We ended the night with a closing campfire and hugs before campers leave tomorrow morning.

Day 4: The ATV Trail

   Again, when we woke up this morning the winds were going strong. Knowing that we would not be getting out on the water anytime soon we decided to make pita pizzas for breakfast. The rest of the morning was filled with naps until the wind died back down.
   Late afternoon we decided that we did not want to wait anymore. We grabbed our gear and portaged to the north side of the island where the water was a little calmer. We paddled on the north end of Birch Island until we got to the crossing before Oak.
With the wind coming from the southwest we battled the waves until we finally made it to the east side of Oak Island. Tired from the waves and worried about the possibility of another swamp we decided that it would be easier to go through Oak than around it.
   With the decision made, we paddled up to Sportsman’s Resort and asked if we could go through their property to get to the other side of the island. They kindly pointed us to an ATV trail that would take us to Sunset resort.
   Although the trail was clearly marked, the mud was deep and soft. It was a battle to make it to the other side. A final fork in the path lead my co-guide and I to scout opposite directions to see who would find Big Rock Beach first. With night approaching soon, we chose the shortest path to Sunset and had a night paddle to our final campsite.
   Arriving a little bit after 11:00 p.m. we set up one 6-man tent for all eleven of us to share and ended the night cramped and full on pancakes.

Day 3: The Illegal Site

   The morning started off slow as my two campers and I waited at Basecamp for storms to pass. We were excited to be back out on trail, but just as we loaded a new canoe on the Hewes a large bolt of lightning lit up the southern sky. We all sat on the deck of the lodge and watched as the storm went over us.
   When it finally passed we loaded up into the boat and Sue took us out to join our trip again. They had spent the night camped out on a little island just west of the one Sue picked us up at yesterday. It was a new site they created. Even though we were able to make it to our group again today, the winds were still too strong for us to paddle canoes in. We piled into our tents for some time sheltered from the wind. My co-guides and I sat and talked; recapping the events of yesterday and filling me in on what I missed on trail. Soon tent-time became nap-time.
   I woke up to one of my campers yelling for us. Informing us that the winds had died down. We quickly packed up all our gear and took advantage of the calm water.
   We didn’t make it far before the waves started up again. We tried to take shelter from the wind by paddling around an island and it was looking promising. That’s when a thunderstorm rolled over head. We pulled over on an island that was Indian Reservation land expecting to only be there to wait out the storm. The storm, however, continued until dark and we were forced to make camp on a no camping site. We set up the tents, pulled in the gear and started to make French toast for dinner.
   Following dinner, we enjoyed s’mores and scary stories before turning in for the night.

Day 2: When Things Don’t Go as Planned

   This morning my co-guides and I woke up early with one of our early rising campers and took our time to make tea and breakfast. While we were making our breakfast burritos Riley and Zara brought us their leftover sausage from breakfast burritos and their group headed out. While we ate we watched as their group struggled in the wind.
   After we finished breakfast and packed up we headed out in the same direction the previous group

Photo by Averi

before us had. The wind was not in our favor and we did not make it very far. After struggling with the wind for almost an hour we left it up to the campers if they wanted to continue on forward or if they wanted to turn around and just have a exploring/easy trip. They picked not battling the wind. So we turned around. With the wind behind us now, we pulled out the tarp and made a sail. We sailed past our campsite and into the biggest crossing of water in the south. The wind died down so we packed up the tarp again and returned to paddling.
   Halfway through the crossing, the wind picked up again and that’s when plans went south. Around 1:00 p.m. our all camper canoe was struggling to paddle in the waves and water was coming over the sides. Not being able to get to land to empty it, or to get to a safe location to hand off the sponge they fought hard to control the boat. Suddenly, I heard them all scream as I watched the canoe tip over and swamp in the middle of Little Traverse. Josie’s canoe, Cecilia’s canoe and mine paddled over to help. Since I had no duff in my canoe I paddled around and collected gear as Josie and Cecilia performed a T-rescue. At some point durning the T-rescue the waves took two of our campers far away from the rest of the group and I tried to paddle to them to help them out, but I was struggling to fight the waves.

Photo by Averi

 I heard them choking on water as waves rolled over them and I knew I had to react quickly. I took off all my clothes so I was just in my swim suit and dove in after them. When I got to them I pulled them back to the group and gave them my life jacket and another guides life jackets to help them float even more. We were struggling to get them back in the canoes and others were struggling to fight the waves so we sent as many campers as we could to the nearest island to get shelter from the water.
   Thinking too quickly we accidentally sent a canoe of campers with the med-kit. This also meant that they had the spot device used to send a help call to Sue. Josie, Cecelia and the rest of the campers went to the island with the first group to help call Sue while I stayed in the water with our last canoe and our two campers. I angled the canoe so that my back was to the waves and the canoe was blocking the waves from hitting our other two campers.
   While we were floating there, waiting there in the water we tried to flag down a fishemen’s ship, but it was too far away. Luckily, Josie had run into some fisherman and brought them over to help us. They took the two campers in their boat back to Laketrails and I hopped in the last canoe and paddled to the rest of our group.
   When Sue finally arrived, she brought us all towels, and took me back to Base Camp with the canoe that swamped. Finally, being 6:00 p.m. I was back at Base Camp, drinking warm water and warming back up with my two campers. Tomorrow she will take us back out to our group with a new canoe.

Day 1: Skiff

   It was a slow day of paddling today and unfortunately we did not make it to our original night one destination. I am not upset about it though because the campers got to have fun jumping in and out of the canoes. We also played a game of truth or dare while paddling. There were mostly truths being chosen, but every now and then someone would be brave enough to pick dare and we got creative with our dares. For example, paddling with the paddle upside-down, holding a spider as long as possible and Josie even dared me to put three drops of iodine on my tongue. It makes your tongue go numb and it tastes terrible.
   I have a camper this session who has decided that he does not want to call me Sammy and only refers to me as Miss Schmitz. Every time he would ask me a question he would start with “Miss Schmitz”. I felt a bit like a teacher.
   Knowing we were not going to be able to make it to our original campsite, we decided to head for the campsite on Skiff. On the way we passed a little island with benches on it. We stopped to check it our and although it had benches and a nice fire ring. There was nowhere to put any tents. So we named the island Fisherland and continued on.

 When we finally made it to Skiff Riley and Zara’s group were also there due to not being able to make it to their campsite. It was too late for us to continue on to the next campsite and there is two fire rings at Skiff so we shared the island. We had a group guide meeting with them and mapped out our game plans. We both wanted to go to Painted Rock and see the pictographs from the Native Americans but we did not want to be running into each other the whole trip. Tomorrow, my group will go to Painted Rock and they will go to Fadden’s island; and then the next night we will switch.

Session 4: Apple Valley

   I haven’t written anything for session three because I took last session off. I stayed on the island while others went out on trail due to there being a low number of campers. I mostly did jobs around the island and did not have any exciting adventures. 

   However, there was one night where John, Christina and I went out on the dock after midnight and laid down and stared up at the stars. There was no moon so we could see everything. Including a mysterious, bright, white, traveling light. It was too bright to be a satellite and too slow to be a shooting star. It also did not flash like a plane would. The most peculiar part about this white light was that it wobbled across the sky. 

   Overall, the time spent on the island was a well enjoyed break to renew for this session.

   Today my favorite session came on the island. This week we have the Apple Valley school group up here. I remember them being a small group last year and was very happy to see that they have grown enough to have their own session. Apple Valley has brought up some of the most interesting and nicest campers I think Laketrails has to host. They all are open to being friends with each other and there never appears to be any clicks within this group. I remember a few of the campers from last year and it is fun to see them again. 

   Additionally, I am very excited for this session because my co-guide, Josie and I, are planning to go to the southern part of the lake. The south is a bit of a gamble due to big water crossings and not very many islands to hide behind during wind; but I remember it being so beautiful when I went last year that I am excited to see it again. 

   After campers got all settled into the island we gathered for dinner and we created a new skit to teach campers our big four rules on the island. We came up with the idea of Brothers Nature. Four fraternity type boys that live in the wilderness. They came to dinner and taught our campers the “Bro Code” 1) Don’t leave the island without a guide. 2) Don’t litter or leave fishing hooks on your line—if you do, someone can call “Ships Ahoy” and you owe them a one-dollar item from the camp store. 3) If you kill it you eat it. And lastly, 4) Unplug yourself. 

   I also heard that the Brothers Nature made an appearance at the campfire, but I had to miss the campfire to figure out my housing in South Korea. 

   Tomorrow is getting ready for trips and also continuing to figure out my housing plans in South Korea.