Why I Needed Laketrails

  For the past two summers I have spent my time working at Laketrails Base Camp; a canoeing camp for teenagers. It is a great camp in Northern Minnesota on Lake of the Woods that teaches teenagers life skills through five-day long canoeing trips. During their time at Laketrails, a camper signs up for a nine-day session. They hand over their phones the first day the make it to the island, and that is when the true magic starts. They plan and pack for their trips and then on the third day, guides lead trips of up to ten campers into the wilderness of Canada.
   Laketrails was a part of my childhood memories; visiting the island when I was around five years old. Even though I remember Base Camp well, I never got to experience what it was like to go to Laketrails as a camper. My first full experience of the "Laketrails Magic" came when I was 19. I got a call from my grandpa suggesting I should apply to be a guide, and that was the start of my journey into what Laketrails is and what it does.
   Having finished my second summer as a guide at Laketrails Base Camp, I look back on my time there and all that it had done for me. Both summers I have learned something new about myself and the world around me.
   To start, there is something calming and reflecting about being outdoors away from technology. Admittedly it was difficult this summer to be 'unplugged' with all the planning for my travels to South Korea. Last summer, however, it was a blessing. It can be difficult to put down your phone in this day and age, but when you are forced to spend time without it, it begins to feel like a blessing rather than a punishment.
   Additionally, I have been living in a city for the past two years and am about to move to an even larger city within the week. I like the noise and bustle of city life and I do enjoy the stimulation of a fast-paced world. As much as I also enjoy the outdoors, I did not expect to be entranced by it as much as I am. Returning to the lake and having the land around me be the same as it was last year was calming.
   What I most like about the landscape staying the same was that I didn't have to focus on it. Weird? To spend all summer outdoors and not want to focus on the beauty of nature around me? Not for me. I live in Oregon, with beautiful scenery and I spent my childhood growing up on that lake. While I can always see more of nature, explore more and find new beauties, I liked the familiarity. I felt that I was able to focus on those around me more and make new connections.
   When you are in the wilderness with a small group of people and no technology, the bonds and stories made are more captivating than the trees that surround you. After the hours spent in a canoe, I remember the stories and laughs I shared with campers more than I remember the number of bald eagles I saw. The look of success on a camper's face when the successfully light a fire for the first time is more memorable than that beaver I saw swimming by in that one place on the lake.
   With that, I am glad that I came to Laketrails as a guide. I often wonder what kind of camper I would have been, but knowing that is in the past and cannot be changed I reflect on our philosophy of "Be Here Now". Whatever I may have missed from being a camper lead me to be the guide that I am no.
   Not to say that I was a perfect guide either. I spent a lot of time learning, and if I go back again, I will learn more each time I guide. Sometimes I learn more about guiding, sometimes I learn more about life, and sometimes I simply learn more about myself.
   This summer the biggest trait I learned about myself is to go with the flow and to have patience. I still have not mastered either of these yet, but this summer I was able to show myself that I am capable of both these traits. I spend a lot of my time planning for what is next. This spring I was planning for Laketrails, while at Laketrails I was planning for South Korea; I also talked to my dad about my plans for grad school, for career option 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. My dad joked and made a comment about how I always have at least five plans for my future brewing in my head. And he is right. Even last year when I would plan for a trip, I would plan our route and at least two other back-up options. I was proud of myself for being able to plan my trip this summer and adjust as needed. I was able to have a more go with the flow attitude this summer.
   Walking away from this summer, what I am most grateful for is not all the hard skills I learned or even that proud moment of being able to live in the moment and not the future. What I am most grateful for is the connections Laketrails brings people. Every club, sports team or organization will tell you that they are like a family, but the 'Laketrails Family' is a unique one. This family spreads from all ages, all over the world. What I like most about the Laketrails family is not that my staff this summer is now my family, but any Laketrailer is my family. I now understand now that just the mention of Laketrails creates a bond between people that have never met before.
   I think this family comes from the stories that people are able to share. Some of the names of islands or lakes are different then they were years ago, but the trips are pretty much the same as when Laketrails started. The locations are the same, but I have a different story from each of the three times I have been to Mason and Reid. That same location holds a different story for everyone that has been there.
   I could spend days talking about my time at Laketrails and maybe be able to get you to understand the true magic of it, but what it holds for me is my own magic for me to cherish in my heart. I do not know when I will return to Laketrails again, I just know that I will.

Day 4: Pee Island

   Yes, the title of this post is appropriately named. We spent our last night on trail sleeping on the last place to pee before Base Camp; appropriately named by Laketrailers as "Pee Island".
   This morning we got up and early to get a good start on the day. This time we made it through the portage with a breeze and paddled hard making it to South Twin Island early in the evening. We would have made it earlier, but the day was hot and we took lots of breaks to enjoy swimming at different islands. Also on our journey, we stopped for lunch and met an old Laketrailer on the lake. After filling our bellies and a quick chat with him about times in the past we were on our way.'
   At South Twin, we suffered through cactus and created a new pasta meal, since we forgot our spaghetti sauce. We improvised with salsa, beef crumbles, and day four shredded cheese. After dinner, we told riddles while we waited for the wind to die down.
   When the wind stopped, we began our sunset paddle to Pee Island. Quin leads the way, while my canoe and the camper canoe raced in a pirate battle. When the stars came out we shared stories of alien encounters and talked about our lives until we finally pulled up to Pee Island.
   We set up our tents in the dark and bugs, then rewarded our campers with cheese-its as a midnight snack.

Day 2 and 3: Reid

   Thanks to the winds we had a long day of paddling yesterday. There were several times that we had to find an island for shelter from the gusts of wind. Even with the stops, we were able to make it to our portage relatively early and the campers worked well as a team to get through it together. The reward of this hard day; well earned Pita Pizzas.

   Today was our layover day at Reid lake. It started with an early morning swim, followed by a struggle to reclaim a purposely swamped canoe. There was also some fishing and breakfast. 

   After breakfast, the boys asked me if this canoe trip was the Hunger Games and I had to break it to them... that it was training for the Hunger Games. I let loose the secret that Quin and I were past survivers of the games and that our job was not to take them on a canoeing trip but to train them for the games on day 8. From there the boys mostly did what we asked because they knew it was a part of their training. 

   They took the training into their own hands and started to whittle spears to fish and hunt with. One of my campers used rock, wood, and grass to make an ax to fight with and another collected birch bark and sap to create a torch; that we later let him light over the lake. 

   Their hard work earned them the reward of s'mores tonight. 

Day 1: Moon Rise Bay

   We left Basecamp as one of the last groups around 10:00 a.m. this morning. It was looking to be easy today since we were starting with a tailwind helping us. However, within the first hour of leaving, Quin remembered that he had forgotten to pack our tent. Luckily he remembered early on. We still had to find a spot to rest, while we called Sue and waited for her to bring us our tent. After a short wait, and getting our tent, we paddled on. Even with the help from the tailwinds, our paddling was slow.
   In the early afternoon, we left the option of continuing on to Mason and Reid up to the campers. They were tired and chose the easier option of staying the night at Moon Rise Bay, then going to Mason and Reid tomorrow.
   Making it to camp early we had plenty of time to enjoy fishing, swimming, and exploring. When the campers were done swimming, a few of them went off into the woods to collect sticks to build a sailboat but came back empty-handed.
   When they were hungry, Quin taught two of them to build and start a fire, while I explained how cooking on trail works to two others. The group of them worked together to cook our dinner of tacos. For the remainder of the night, the campers swam some more and just enjoyed hanging out and talking to each other without the distraction of real-world living.
   Although not a lot of distance was covered today, I can see that they are learning a lot of this trip already.

Session 6: The Final Session

   Between sessions, I went down to Alexandria, MN to visit family and partake in our Stone Family Reunion. I missed Staff Appreciation on the Island because of it, but it worked out very nicely since I was able to ride the bus down and back up to Laketrails; with a nice break in between.

   When I made it back up to the Northwest Angle Quin told me that I would be guiding with him this session. At first, I was surprised, because we were supposed to guide together during the second session, but he got sick. I thought that meant that we wouldn't be able to guide at all together this summer. Nonetheless, I was very happy to hear that he was my co-guide for the last session of the summer. 

   Our plan is to provide an easier option since the other trips are planning more difficult trips this session. This plan proved to be useful as there are a few campers this session that has never done anything like this before and Quin and I are providing a great entry and teaching trip for many of these campers.

   I am also excited for this group of campers because two of the campers coming on my trip are two students that my grandpa told me about. He mentioned during the family reunion that he is sponsoring two campers to go to Laketrails, and what are the odds that they would end up on my trip.
   Already I can tell this will be a great trip. This group of campers has never done anything like this before and are all eager to learn. Most importantly, I can tell that this will be a great trip for this group to experience my favorite "wilderness commandment"; be a kid.

Middle School Session: The Story

For our campfire skit, we wrote a scary story to end our spooky trip. We wrote the story of our fearless soldiers; named Zara's Army.

Zara's Army

   Not long ago, on a trip much like this one, with campers very similar to this group, there was a gathering of ghost hunters. They spent five days traveling the lake in search of spirits and paranormals, lead by two guides and their fearless leader, Zara. The first night the group paddled until they reached camp. They were greeted with rain as they set up tents. When the rain stopped and they were able to get dry the filled their stomachs with popcorn and headed back into the tents to sleep. Little sleep was given that night, however. Just as darkness took the last light from the sky, the group of campers saw a dark figure circling their tent. They told themselves it was just a bear, but when they looked outside they saw a ghostly white man retreating into the woods.
   The next morning the army packed up camp and headed to the next site. On the way, they stopped to investigate some abandoned cars, but their monitors showed no sign of paranormal activity so they continued on.
   The second night the group had planned to spend the night at a site that has no background of being a spooky site. They walked into camp with the courage of having no spooky sitings. That was until one soldier ventured into the woods to gather more firewood. As he bent down to pick up a stick he soon found himself eye to eye with a coyote. The brave soldier held his ground and one the staredown with the coyote. The group ended their night with popcorn and scary stories around the campfire.
   To this day, the group still will not talk about day three.
   A true horror appeared on day four. While Nate was taking down the tent he stepped in bear poop. Shortly thereafter, our fearless leader took a wrong step, landing in poop... human poop.
   After the incident, the guides mysteriously went missing and Addie was put in charge. She lead the soldiers bravely, trained them well and fed them popcorn. However, no amount of training could prepare the soldiers for what was about to happen next.
   As the paddled to their final campsite a dark hooded figure emerged from the woods. The spirit cursed the group to sleep on rock and cacti. In the morning the spirit stole all their words, leaving them to communicate using only "Yo". They made it through the struggles and ventured on.
   Finishing with one last meal of popcorn the troop assembled and made it back to Basecamp. At Basecamp they were reunited with their leaders; only to inform them that they lost one of their members.

   Now we stand here, in remembrance of our fallen soldier; Woahgan, Your beauty line made the spirits too attracted to you. May this flattened soup spoon forever hold your memory.

Day 5: Campers are on Their Own

   After having a session full of sleeping in, today we actually woke up early. We had early morning swimming and popcorn marshmallow balls. After breakfast, we packed up and headed out. We took the long way back to hide Bridget from other groups. 

    Going around Oak Island to approach Basecamp we made a quick stop. The campers dropped Nate, Zara and I off at the back of Basecamp. Then Bridget changed back into the outfit she wore last night and lead our group from her kayak into Basecamp. After we heard that our group made it, Nate, Zara and I waited about twenty minutes, before we ran to the campers, wearing white sheets over us.

   The rest of the day was spent cleaning up. After dinner, Nate, Zara, myself and a few other guides tried the blueberry wine we attempted to make on trail. It did not really work, and just tasted like sweet blueberry juice. 

   Day 8 was filled with games to occupy the campers. I mostly was hidden away with Zara painting our Wilderness Award for our camper Addie. When we got to the closing campfire, we wrote a story for our skit and then presented our WA for Addie. On her paddle, we painted a ghost surrounded by popcorn with the quote "Addie is in Charge". Tomorrow, I will be riding the bus down with the campers. 

Night 4: The Hooded Figure

   Today was our latest day. We woke up and had breakfast at 11:00 a.m. Looking at the winds again, we knew that we would not be able to leave camp for a while so we decided today was a good day to make trip donuts. 

   The majority of the day was spent playing games. We did several rounds of Mafia as well as Zoomie Zoomie. 

   It wasn't until after dinner that the winds finally calmed and we were able to leave. We packed up camp at 8:00 p.m. and made our way to South Twin; our final destination.

   On the paddle over, my campers Keith and Isaac* told me that on our first night, the mysterious man and dark figure were actually them trying to scare the other campers.

   As the sunset, South Twin was in our sight. We paddled around the corner and waiting for us was Bridget. She had brought a wig and robe so when we approached South Twin this dark, hooded figure came out of the woods. The campers in the first canoe saw her and started to paddle backward; he was not having it.

   The campers realized it was a prank and we set up camp in bug-thirty. After camp was set up, the guides sat in our tent until the bugs were gone and then we ended the night with star-gazing.

*Names changed for privacy

Night 3: Wind Bound

   Again this morning when we woke up, the campers were all already up; and again, they had made more popcorn. For breakfast, was my favorite food to have on trail; toasted bagels. After breakfast, my co-guides and I decided that we should go to North Twin instead of Lily so that we can have an easy day tomorrow. With that decision made, we packed up camp and headed out.

   As we passed Lily, we told the story of the island and told our campers that we would not be staying there. As we passed Lily and turned around Falcon, the winds hit us. We struggled to make it to Porcupine and decided to sit there and wait out the winds.

   As we were waiting for the winds to die down we heard a clap of thunder, and again had to change our plans. Instead of going to North Twin tonight, we decided to stay at Porcupine. When we decided to start dinner, it began to rain and we were not able to cook dinner. We all went into our tents and ate Bay Bread. The guides read more Grimm's fairytales and the campers apparently were playing a game called Worm Wrestling. 

   Eventually, the rain stopped, close to sunset, and we were able to cook dinner just before bed. 

Night 2: Coyote Stare Down

   When we woke up this morning the campers had already been up for a while before the guides. They had made a snack of popcorn and our camper worker was starting to make breakfast. As we walked closer to the fire ring the campers bombarded us with stories about last night. Apparently, they had seen a dark figure around their tent in the middle of the night. They also saw a white man in the woods. They told us about what they saw as we ate chocolate chip pancakes. When we finished breakfast we headed out to the next campsite.
   On the paddle over, we passed the three abandoned cars in the Tug Channel. The story we tell campers about the car, true or not, is that there was a robbery in the town of Warroad in the middle of winter. The robbers stole money from the bank and started to drive to Canada. The island where the cars are now is where the robbers ran out of gas. They were forced to leave the money and the cars and run. The money is buried somewhere on that island and no one has been able to find it. The campers did not believe that story so we moved on.
   We got to our campsite in a short time so we decided to prank the campers and paddle past it. A move stolen from John. When the campers realized it was their campsite they told us they were never going to trust us again.
   We had them start to set up camp and collect firewood. When our camper Isaac* came out of the woods and told us he just stared down a coyote. Then, the coyotes howled at us and we all went into the woods to try and see them. I did not see any coyotes, but they did sound very close and they would howl back at us.
   With all our free time we spent the day swimming, catching crayfish and riding in the canoe-a-coaster. Created by Zara, the canoe-a-coaster involves someone sitting in a canoe as others roll the canoe underwater.
   When we caught enough crayfish we boiled them as a nice appetizer before dinner. After dinner, we sat around the fire telling scary stories and eating s'mores.

*Names changed for privacy

Night One: The Dark Figure and the White Man

   Today starts the spooky trip. We woke up this morning at Basecamp ready to go; however, the winds had a different idea. After breakfast, the winds were coming straight from the south, which would give us a headwind all day and leave us in wide-open water. Zara and I both had rough experiences with the wind in the south the last session and do not want to have another situation. Nate has also decided to join us on trail and agrees that going south is not a fun idea. We decided to go to Little Triscuit for our first night.
   The day was spent paddling up the tug and we arrived at our destination in the early afternoon. Just as we pulled up and finished setting up the tents a rainstorm hit hard. We took shelter in our tents, the guides read fairytales and the campers played games. When the storm passed we had beautiful weather to cook dinner.
   Our dinner tonight was supposed to be Mac & Cheese, but we realized that we forgot to pack the boxes of Mac & Cheese. We did, however, pack extra pasta noodles for another meal, crumbled beef by accident, cheese powder for popcorn, and couscous for our emergency meal. With those ingredients and a can of mixed vegetables, our camper worker was able to make a type of Mac & Cheese. We named the new meal Yellow One Pot or Cheeseburger pasta. 
   After dinner, we three guides collected blueberries in an attempt to make blueberry wine. We finished the evening with a snack of popcorn and headed to bed. In the tents, we read a few stories, including Grimm's fairytales and a story of The W.

Middle School Session: A Spooky Trip

   This week we have middle school session coming up. My co-guide this week is Zara, and we decided that if we ever guided together we would do a spooky-themed trip. Now we finally get to do it. Our plan for the trip consists of the following locations;
   Night One: Massacre Island. This island is the supposed location of a great massacre of voyageurs by the Dakota tribe. On the island, there is a giant cross marking the site of the massacre. The site of the cross is our campsite.
   Night Two: Little Triscuit. This site has had numerous reported sitings of a white figure in the woods. The last two sightings have both been by newer guides that do not know of the story.
   Night Three: Lily Island. Lily island does not have a set-in-stone sighting. However, guides will occasionally tell a story about a camper drowning there. The story we made followed this plot.
   In 1968, an all-female trip went around the lake. Going to islands with no names and exploring and naming them. On their last night, they stopped at the island that is now called Lily. After they finished cooking dinner they decided to go for a swim to wash off. While swimming their camper named Lily, quietly slipped under the water, none of the girls saw her go under and they assumed that she had just decided to go to bed early. The girls finished swimming and dried off. When they went into the tent Lily's sleeping bag had her clothes inside. This made it look like someone was in the sleeping bag and the group went to sleep with no knowledge of what happened. They woke up in the middle of the night to their sleeping bags all soaking wet; everyone except Lily's. Now to this day, guides and campers have seen a girl underneath the water as the pull up to the island. In the middle of the night, the spirit of Lily will crawl into girls sleeping bags in an attempt to get warm.
   Night Four: South Twin. This is the scariest location we have planned. South Twin has been the hotspot for W sightings. We won't tell the campers this during trail or possibly even after, but both Zara and I know why it is included in the spooky list. There are also two groups staying nearby and we have plans for them to come and scare our campers this night.
   Lastly, we have scary stories planned to tell and we will be bringing lots of popcorn to eat during story telling.

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. 

Paddle Whisperers

   This passage is from the book Paddle Whispers; written by Douglas Wood. I wanted to share it on here because it is a beautifully written way to describe the canoeing adventures we take up at Laketrails.

The Forecast:

   There is a 95% chance today’s weather will be either too hot, too cold, too sunny, too rainy, or too windy. -From a desktop sign, Quetico Park Visitor Center.

   In many ways a canoe trip is an endlessly repeated exercise in various modes of misery, each one a contrast — therefore, a relief, albeit temporary — to the misery preceding it. So there is always the illusion of looking forward to something that will most likely be... another misery.

   A canoe trip could in fact be described as paddling — paddling until arms ache, back hurts, skin is burned, legs are cramped, and butt falls asleep. Finally, a portage and a chance to stop paddling, stretch legs, and get out of the sun. Also a chance to deal with black flies, deer flies, and various other versions of evil incarnate; a chance to climb up and down hills with loads that would crush a burro, that strain neck, back, and hamstrings and threaten to drive shoulder blades through hips; a chance to wade through mud, muck, and other corruption, to climb over and under dead falls and trip over stuff and to figure that death will probably arrive — mercifully — before this infernal trail reaches a sight of blue, open, sunlit water. Where, of course, the cycle begins again.

   The great goal and end of this particular cycle is the evening camp, that blessed spot of rock and tree kissed by evening breezes and the last slanted rays of the sun. Having found the camp, at whatever stage of exhaustion seems appropriate to the lateness of the hour and rigors of the day, it is time to set up the tent, gather wood, gather water, start a fire, get out the food, cook the food, and... ahhh... eat. And drink. In a warm and happy trance of pure bliss and satisfaction. This lasts... some moments. With the arrival of the evening watch of mosquitoes, the cooking gear is up-gathered and washed, the food repacked; the pack hoisted and hung safe from bears, mini-bears (chipmunks), and micro-bears (mice); personal hygiene is attended to; the tent entered; tent-invading mosquitoes dispatched (except for three which are never found); the sleeping bag snuggled into and finally sleep. The sweet, dark, wonderful nothingness of... Rock. Root. Pinecone. These are nemeses that will be there, along with three renegade mosquitoes, all through the night. They will become intimate with back, sides, and stomach, with muscles, bones, and insides — and loom ever larger and sharper and more offensive in the imagination and the anatomy, until dawn cannot come too soon.

   And with the arrival of dawn — the pack is lowered (mini-bears found it anyways), breakfast cooked, dishes cleared, tent taken down, the canoe loaded, and — back to paddling once more.

The Backcast:

   So why... why go through it? Why even be here?

   The second answer is easy. Because “here” is where the beauty is. Here is where the sunsets are. Here is where the campsites and campfires are, and the clear, deep waters, and the loons, and the pines, and the islands. And yes, the storms and the big winds and the rapids. Here is where the journey is. 

   But why go through it? Why do I... Why do I go through it? I think because no one else can go through it for me. And because the modern city-world system uses people to get work done. Important work, supposedly. That’s the whole idea. That’s why we get paid. But here — here I’m using the work... to get myself done. What better work is there than that?

   Or maybe... maybe it’s enough to say that I am here, as another voyageur once put it, “to iron out the wrinkles in my soul.”

   And maybe it is only on the trail to nowhere-in-particular that you find the most important thing of all.

   Yourself.

   

Session 2: Camper Edition

   Our favorite parts of the trip were feeding that frog to the snapping turtle. “I started to cry though I was so upset.” Also the fishing was really good on that lake! Or when we went swimming off the canoe and flipped it. We had so much fun on this trip and sang so many random songs.
   Some fun moments for me was when we made the little Christmas tree or trying to catch crayfish. I didn’t really like all the food we had but it was fun to at least experiment with food in ways I never would at home.
   I thought it was really cool that when it was really 10 p.m. it looked like it was 4 p.m.; maybe that’s a bit of a stretch but it stayed bright our really long! Oh yeah! The water and the sunsets where so nice.

   A list of quotes from the campers:
- Must be nice to know more than just the chorus of a song.
- There was something funny that someone said once.
- You can’t take a picture with it unless you caught it.
- I caught a rock!