By Leah Shoberg
Day 1- Starting out at six a.m. was as bright and happy as to be expected for a group of Mini-Schoolers. Packing our things, we prepared ourselves for a long van ride to the Boundary Waters.
Stopping for breakfast in Rush City, Aaron “Gil” Sapp, Carrie “Butch” Tiggas, Leah “Mom” Shoberg, Jeremy “Jerry” Latcham, Audrey “Aubry” Lopez, Andy “Stud” Black, B.J. “The Man” Foehringer, and our fearless leader Doug “Douggie” Berg, all hopped out of the van with great relief, and headed for the Grant House. The waitress couldn’t help but remember Doug from his last trip, thanks to Hondo, the one who ate all the bacon. The food was good, but unfortunately the pancakes were a little unsettling to some. The rest of the ride consisted of a pleasant mix of conversation, and Arlo Guthree.
Arriving at Sawbill around three in the afternoon, we unpacked the van and began our “lessons.” Doug spent about twenty five minutes explaining the “in and out” of the all mighty canoe. On dry land, of course.
So sharing an anxiety attack with my amateur buddy, Audrey, we packed our canoes and set off. Set off very crudely to be honest. With B.J. and Andy in one canoe, Aaron and Jerry in another, and Carrie, Audrey, and I (Leah) in another canoe. Making it to the first campsite safely, we were all very proud of ourselves.
Setting up for dinner, bow-tie spaghetti for the evening, that’s when we came upon it. That damn phone. Left for us, deep inside a pack from our great friend, Joe Juranitch, with a note attached that read: “Call me collect if the fishing’s good, Love Joe”. With grumbling noises, knowing we’d been had, we went to sleep with hopes for the day ahead.
Day 2- Our first day of actual work began when Doug had to show us how to properly pack up a tent. With a slow start, we headed out to Beaver country. And by the end of the day the group wasn’t sure if they should love the Beaver, or hate them. Running into a dam mid-day, Carrie suffered a fall in the mud, with a pack on her back, no less. Angry and dirty, and this only being our first day, we plugged on. Reaching our campsite at Frost Lake around five, we explored our space. And, as Doug said, there was a beautiful beach a little ways down the shoreline that we spent most of our free time at.
After eating dinner, we had “school” and then spent the rest of our night at the beach, and then on the rock face in the front of camp, gazing at the stars. Sitting together as a group, we decided that our day was very successful, and that we knew we would take care of each other and get along just fine.
Day 3- Thunder and lightning woke me up at 5:00 a.m. and I was forced to run outside of the tent barefoot to save whatever clothing was left by the group overnight to dry, suffering a tick on the bottom of my foot and a faint half asleep thanks from the group. I went back to sleep. When the lightning refused to subside by 10:00 a.m. we were forced to have a layover day. And only an hour after that decision was made the sky cleared up at 11:30 and the weather girl (that would be Leah) gave us a beautiful day off, which we spent lounging at the beach like a bunch of fat pigs in the mud. The beach was a little boring but the company made it better. After dinner the 7 of us trippers spent our time on the rock face in front of our campsite conversing and gazing at the stars.
Day 4- One of our hardest days began with Aaron reading the Questions & Answers on the oatmeal packages. Putting us in a lighter and determined mood, we headed out of Frost Lake to our next destination – Little Saganaga.
Traveling through “The Amazon”- being small channels through the marsh, was Doug in his solo canoe “Merlin”, B.J. and Andy in another, Aaron, Carrie and Leah in one and last but not least, Jeremy and Audrey in another canoe. We made good time and were moving quickly through our day, until the second to the last portage of the day. The portage before this one, we had forgotten 3 life jackets behind and so, Aaron, Carrie and Jerry volunteered to go rescue them. Slowing us down by about 45 min. our heroes returned with the life jackets, and we were off again. Finally reaching Little Sag. Doug brought us up to the top of a huge rock face which overlooked almost all of Little Sag. Definitely the most beautiful view of the whole trip.
Setting up camp and having dinner, we conversed about our day, and we all agreed that it was very successful. After clean-up and “school” we were all preparing for bed, as the oncoming storm approached. Audrey and B.J. were watching it come, and fussed as it started to sprinkle, they dashed into their separate tents. And that’s when it really hit. Straight line winds were hitting us at least fifty mph. If we weren’t in our tents, we would have blown away…. like one of our canoes. After the brunt of the storm passed, some of us went outside to survey the damages. We were lucky to be alive. If Doug’s tent was even just a foot closer to that tree, it would have squished him. The other tents had trees as close as three feet away fallen over. And when Butch was checking on everyone, she decided to inform Doug of our missing canoe. With disbelief, we all went out to see the empty space remaining. So, our fearless leader and B.J. went across the bay to rescue our canoe, which had turned over in the wind. And so, with the boys in the wet tent,(what gentlemen) and the girls in the dry tent, we did the best we could to sleep.
Day 5- Because of the terrible storm the night before, it had brought these really strong winds. So with great relief to everyone but Doug, the waves were too big to canoe on. Layover day number two had begun and our time was spent in our raingear, on the top of the rock face. Doug on the other hand spent his day searching for the leaches that had blown away the night before. In the morning, after we decided the winds were too strong, all seven of us curled up on top of each other in one tent and fell back asleep. About an hour later, Doug peeked in and said that we looked like a bunch of puppies. After that storm, and because of the scary weather, we had all been supporting each other. I think that this layover day gave us the opportunity to become more acquainted with each other. After that I think we became more like a family.
Day 6- Waking up to clear skies, and calm winds, still didn’t prepare us for tick country. Shoving off, we stuffed our pants into our socks to ward against them. And this was also the day of the route change. Because of the weather, (no thanks to me, the weather girl.) we had to shorten our route to make it home on time. And in order to do that, we had to discover the “secret portage turn-off.” And if we didn’t find it, we would have to go to Fraser Lake instead of Boulder lake.
Starting out, Butch once again became “one” with the mud. Too frustrated to yell, she just sat there and laughed, with the pack on her back. Helping her out, we started the portage, and if Doug wasn’t looking really hard, we would have missed it. By about halfway through, B.J.s tick count was up to forty, and Doug wasn’t far behind. There’s no doubt though, Aubrey was in the lead. Every time we heard her make an obscene comment, we know that she found another one. Finishing the portage, that had to be, at least, three hundred rods, (320 rods=1 mile) every other portage seemed like a piece of cake. Which they were for the rest of the trip.
Making it to camp, we were so glad to get there, that we were all yelling and hollering in joy. Doug made us have total quiet time for an hour. So, in silence we laid out all of our wet clothes on the rock face in the front of the campsite,(almost every campsite had one) and helped rip ticks off each other.
Setting up camp and eating dinner, we had another night of school and free time. Because all of our clothes looked so disgusting out on the rock face, Audrey and I strung up a clothesline for the group. Exhausted from the days work, we congratulated each other on a job well done and went to bed early that night, so we could get up and have pancakes in the morning.
Day 7- Waking up to a pancake breakfast was something certainly out of the ordinary from our usual oatmeal and coffee. So, taking our sweet time with our delicacies, we didn’t shove off until about nine thirty, which is really late, for us at least.
For some reason the portages became more and more difficult for us. Breaking out in quarrels all day became usual for some reason. We made it to camp and worked out our differences, by around three thirty. Sitting out on the rock face, which most of our campsites had, we enjoyed some quiet time while Doug, B.J., and Andy went fishing.
Before dinner, our entertainment was Aaron and Jerry, who bobbed in their life jackets in the lake. Then the guys returned with three medium fish which we carnivores ate with glee. As for the remains of the fish, we placed them out on an island, only to witness a great huge eagle swoop down and protect them from some seagulls. He sat there, without moving for almost a half an hour until some of us lost interest.
After dinner, the group sat around the fire and spoke about how tomorrow night would be our last night sleeping in a tent. Pretty exciting. Before actually falling asleep, Carrie dashed into the tent, certain she was being followed by a bear. That helped us sleep so much better.
Day 8- Knowing we couldn’t eat lunch until we got to camp, we stuffed ourselves with as much oatmeal as possible, being entertained by Aaron and more of the Q’s and A’s off of the oatmeal packages. All of which he already knew.
Leaving camp as early as possible, we pushed ourselves to get to camp by noon. Being an hour late by the time we got to camp, left us a little exhausted. But not Doug, he was out and fishing within a half an hour of our arrival. B.J. and Andy were not too far behind. So, having the rest of the day off, we lounged around after setting up camp. We conversed about things, and caught up with our journals to pass the time. But mostly we spoke about how much we were going to miss this place. Doug returned with a bundle of fish, and we had the best meal of the entire trip. After dinner we met for the last “school” which was a very sad time, for all of us I’m sure. We spoke of the trip and of our accomplishments, and found that not only was this a major growth period for all of us, but we realized that we had become a family, and when the trip was over, that we were going to miss each other very much. Getting up in the morning to canoe had become routine, and we weren’t sure how we were going to get used to being home again. So, with hugs and even a few tears, we went to sleep for our last night in a tent.
Day 9- “Wake up, time to go home.” were the first words of the morning. They sounded disappointed that the trip was coming to a close. I didn’t want to leave either. Not having the motivation to leave my sleeping bag, I stuck my head out of the foot hole in the bottom and zipped the bag down around my body. Not being able to function properly in it, it gave everyone a good laugh. Finally parting with my sleeping bag, I reluctantly started to pack up camp with the group.
The day was just as hard as any other, Sawbill wasn’t just around the corner. Becoming frustrated with the other groups coming in, we had to stop and remember that we looked that same way nine days ago. But now, we were Boundary Waters experts, well, almost.
As we approached our last portage B.J. was so excited, he threw his canoe on his shoulders and ran the last thirty rods. Almost falling and killing himself, we still made it to Sawbill lake with no fatalities. Whooping and hollering, we made it to our starting point and completed the circle. Quiet and solemn, we unloaded our canoes and put our things away, not quite ready to leave yet. By the time we hit the showers, our spirits had lifted. Showering now, after not being able to for nine days, was quite a relief. After our showers we were all clean and fresh and ready for dinner at Pizza Hut. The van ride was quiet, but the time we spent at Pizza Hut was deafening. I’m surprised that the people didn’t kick us out for being so loud. I guess civilization and food prepared for us had an interesting effect. With pizza in hand, we had the waitress take our group picture. The only one of the entire trip. Seeing it was like having a Breakfast Club flashback. It’s a wonder we all got along, or even that we had become a sort of family. But we all knew, as we separated in the Perkins parking lot, that we weren’t actually separating, and we’d always have this experience in our memories.