A campfire is such an amazing place to be, almost spiritual with the immense scope of the world just beyond the circle of light of the flames and the same flames dancing in the eyes of the children sitting around the fire.  Truly a remarkable place to tell stories about yourself to let your friends know a bit more about you.  Truly an ideal setting for the children to build memories, some that will last a life time.  That sparkle in the eyes of the kids’ just may be the reflection of something quite worthwhile from within!

This campfire was with a group of 22 people, four of which we know very well and two others that I had met once before, and was one I’ll never forget!  More than a fair share of strangers had banded together to enjoy a trip to Wolf Lake and can you imagine their surprise when they came to find the lake had another name.  Yes, being the eldest on this journey I came to know the lake by another name.  As the story of Chicken Lake  was told, I summoned a great deal of help from the kids and a good number of the adults and so with being on the lands of the Ancients, beneath the towering pines, while the great winds blew…..I laid an egg!  No, I mean an egg….!  Some of the eyes from the younger set were absolutely priceless and I successfully proved to myself, there isn’t a great deal of age difference from four to sixty-three!  I also hope they appreciate how carefully you have to walk for an hour and a half with a hard boiled egg in the cuff of your boot top in order to tell a campfire story.

It was around this same campfire that several of us expressed concerns with the winds and the return trip coming up the following morning. For two days the winds had kept a strong pace and Saturday the wind speed grew to the point where I had to change position twice while paddling our Swift Algonquin 16 to get the nose down in the water and weather vane the tail.  She was not a day to take lightly.

Sunday, the dawn broke and Karin whispered, “Can you hear that?”  I listened for a moment and replied, “Can I hear what?”  That’s when the sound became deafening!  The sound of the relentless wind not being there.  Time for a quick breakfast and get outta Dodge because there’s only one way for the weather to go……!

It’s funny to look at the different viewpoints offered from those that participated in this trip.  We truly had everything from soup to nuts, and it really had all the ingredients for a disaster except for one thing…. every body had a real desire to paddle in.  We had the catalyst by way of the crew from Paddle In, who put a whole new meaning to “jumping in” to help, plus some great people who were there to participate, enjoy, and help others to make this trip a huge success……..and so it was!

I going to fix an egg salad sandwich but not before saying thanks to……

@Paddle_In @Some_Eventful @luv2campingmom @Swift_Canoe @OutdoorsShawn @Man_Camping @OntarioParks #wegetoutside #canoeing #backcountry #tripping