Get ready for Laura's longest entry
Hiyas!!!
It's good to be home. I just realized how ironic it is that the majority of my good friends were all in Minnesota at the same time... odd :)
Anywho! I missed you all and i can't wait to see everyone again!
Sorry Whit, i'm too lazy to bother with an LJ cut.
Boundary Waters was a good experience if not always fun. There were 14 of us total and the first 3 days were spent doing work around the camp. I don't think i've ever worked so hard in my life. We completely tore down a building, hauled gravel up and down hills, built steps, etc...it's hard to explain the extent of what we did, but it really gave you a good sense of accomplishment afterwards, and some good bruises.
The next few days were spent out on trail. There were 9 of us- the 6 campers, Isaac our guide (totally reminded me of Napolean Dynamite), my mom and another woman from our church, Julie. I don't know exactly how far we traveled, but all travelling was done by canoe. All our supplies we carried in 6 packs in our canoes.
The first day we canoed to Alpine lake. So to get there we did 2 portages. (That is, carrying all supplies and canoes over land)They were both pretty short. A 20 rod and a 65 rod. (a rod is the length of a canoe) I carried the canoe over the first portage which made me pretty proud afterwards. The canoe is hoisted upside down on your shoulders with your arms balancing it in front of you. And mind you, these portages aren't straight, flat roads. You were going up and down hills, over roots and rocks, under trees. It was karzy :)Those who weren't carrying canoes carried a pack on their back, and on their front. So needless to say, everyone had to work hard on a portage. After the portages we found a beautiful campsite right on a point with a beach :) We set up camp, did some swimming and made dinner. I have to say the trail food was awful. Except maybe the spaghetti. All the food was dehydrated (powdered) and let me tell you, powdered eggs are some of the worst things you'll ever taste. After that is, powdered bisquits and gravy and powdered milk.
Second day we took a different route and hit some rapids which we had to walk the canoes down. Luckily it was warm that day, so being waist deep in the water felt pretty good. It was windy crossing one of the big lakes, so we pulled all three canoes together, hitched up a tarp between them and sailed across the lake ^-^ That was fun. We found another awesome camp site that night on an island with tons of blueberries that we picked all afternoon. It was a realxing afternoon so you could go off and find your own spot to sit in the sun, listen to the waves and just....be.
We stayed at that site for two nights because we had to bring Greg and Shaq back to the main camp to attend Greg's sisters' wedding. It stormed pretty badly that night so a few times we had to wake up and assume the 'lightning stance' which was squatting in your tent so if the lightning struck, it wouldn't move through our bodies to our hearts. Yeah, kinda freaky.
The third day Isaac and Whitney brought Greg and Shaq back to camp for the wedding, but on the way back the wind was way to strong, so Whit and Isaac had to abandon the canoe and bushwack through the island to find our campsight. When the wind calmed a bit, my mom, isaac and i went back with another canoe and towed the lost canoe back. That day we just hung out and swam a bit.
The fourth day we paddled to a new site which was dubbed 'toilet in the sky' because you had to hike up a hill and climb two rock faces to reach the toilet. (a.k.a. a hole in the ground) We did a day trip of rock climbing which required us to do a portage there and back. The rock climbing was really fun, and both Greg and Shaq solo-lifted their canoes to do the portage. ( It may not sound very impressive, but it's really difficult to do) Shaq also joined P.U.C.C (aka Pee Under the Canoe Club) Members are required to relieve themselves while portaging with a canoe on their shoulders. After rock climbing we went and started hiking Japp portage. (aka Portage from Hell) We didn't make it through hiking it and some people actually carry a canoe through it. ( my mother included whoop whoop!) We were almost literally eaten by mosquitos and both mandas and lauren managed to injure themselves on that hike. We quickly paddled as far away from that portage as possible. Once we got back to camp it started pouring. A pretty miserable experience that put a few of the girls into hysterics. A happy ending to that day was doing Affirmations in the tent that night. Everyone went around and said something they admired or appreciated about everyone else. That put people into a better mood.
The next day we headed back to camp, cleaned up all our gear, and hopped in the sauna. That sauna is the most refreshing thing possible after a week on trails. You sweat everything out of you...and what some of us had hoped was a nice tan, turned out to be dirt which we sweated off.
So maybe not every part of the trip was enjoyable, but i believe it was a valuable experience. I learned more about myself, my friends, my faith...which is all that i expected from this trip.
And now i'm back, so CALL ME so we can hang out!
Love!
It's good to be home. I just realized how ironic it is that the majority of my good friends were all in Minnesota at the same time... odd :)
Anywho! I missed you all and i can't wait to see everyone again!
Sorry Whit, i'm too lazy to bother with an LJ cut.
Boundary Waters was a good experience if not always fun. There were 14 of us total and the first 3 days were spent doing work around the camp. I don't think i've ever worked so hard in my life. We completely tore down a building, hauled gravel up and down hills, built steps, etc...it's hard to explain the extent of what we did, but it really gave you a good sense of accomplishment afterwards, and some good bruises.
The next few days were spent out on trail. There were 9 of us- the 6 campers, Isaac our guide (totally reminded me of Napolean Dynamite), my mom and another woman from our church, Julie. I don't know exactly how far we traveled, but all travelling was done by canoe. All our supplies we carried in 6 packs in our canoes.
The first day we canoed to Alpine lake. So to get there we did 2 portages. (That is, carrying all supplies and canoes over land)They were both pretty short. A 20 rod and a 65 rod. (a rod is the length of a canoe) I carried the canoe over the first portage which made me pretty proud afterwards. The canoe is hoisted upside down on your shoulders with your arms balancing it in front of you. And mind you, these portages aren't straight, flat roads. You were going up and down hills, over roots and rocks, under trees. It was karzy :)Those who weren't carrying canoes carried a pack on their back, and on their front. So needless to say, everyone had to work hard on a portage. After the portages we found a beautiful campsite right on a point with a beach :) We set up camp, did some swimming and made dinner. I have to say the trail food was awful. Except maybe the spaghetti. All the food was dehydrated (powdered) and let me tell you, powdered eggs are some of the worst things you'll ever taste. After that is, powdered bisquits and gravy and powdered milk.
Second day we took a different route and hit some rapids which we had to walk the canoes down. Luckily it was warm that day, so being waist deep in the water felt pretty good. It was windy crossing one of the big lakes, so we pulled all three canoes together, hitched up a tarp between them and sailed across the lake ^-^ That was fun. We found another awesome camp site that night on an island with tons of blueberries that we picked all afternoon. It was a realxing afternoon so you could go off and find your own spot to sit in the sun, listen to the waves and just....be.
We stayed at that site for two nights because we had to bring Greg and Shaq back to the main camp to attend Greg's sisters' wedding. It stormed pretty badly that night so a few times we had to wake up and assume the 'lightning stance' which was squatting in your tent so if the lightning struck, it wouldn't move through our bodies to our hearts. Yeah, kinda freaky.
The third day Isaac and Whitney brought Greg and Shaq back to camp for the wedding, but on the way back the wind was way to strong, so Whit and Isaac had to abandon the canoe and bushwack through the island to find our campsight. When the wind calmed a bit, my mom, isaac and i went back with another canoe and towed the lost canoe back. That day we just hung out and swam a bit.
The fourth day we paddled to a new site which was dubbed 'toilet in the sky' because you had to hike up a hill and climb two rock faces to reach the toilet. (a.k.a. a hole in the ground) We did a day trip of rock climbing which required us to do a portage there and back. The rock climbing was really fun, and both Greg and Shaq solo-lifted their canoes to do the portage. ( It may not sound very impressive, but it's really difficult to do) Shaq also joined P.U.C.C (aka Pee Under the Canoe Club) Members are required to relieve themselves while portaging with a canoe on their shoulders. After rock climbing we went and started hiking Japp portage. (aka Portage from Hell) We didn't make it through hiking it and some people actually carry a canoe through it. ( my mother included whoop whoop!) We were almost literally eaten by mosquitos and both mandas and lauren managed to injure themselves on that hike. We quickly paddled as far away from that portage as possible. Once we got back to camp it started pouring. A pretty miserable experience that put a few of the girls into hysterics. A happy ending to that day was doing Affirmations in the tent that night. Everyone went around and said something they admired or appreciated about everyone else. That put people into a better mood.
The next day we headed back to camp, cleaned up all our gear, and hopped in the sauna. That sauna is the most refreshing thing possible after a week on trails. You sweat everything out of you...and what some of us had hoped was a nice tan, turned out to be dirt which we sweated off.
So maybe not every part of the trip was enjoyable, but i believe it was a valuable experience. I learned more about myself, my friends, my faith...which is all that i expected from this trip.
And now i'm back, so CALL ME so we can hang out!
Love!