Last winter us YG girls decided we needed to take a trip together. Pretty soon the destination was set to Ely, MN which is on the US/Canada Border. Right now I will recommend one of my family's very favorite youtube videos called the Canadian Border Patrol by jeremyrowley. Caution: it is stupid humor and for best results watch late at night. Anyway, it turned out to be a group of 8 girls. We hopped in the big white bus (ok, just the family van) and headed north!!!
First we stopped in Belvidere for church. Then we made it to our first hotel and found some supper at the Orange Moose. The statue outside looked like a playground for high-energy people who had been sitting too long!
While waiting for our food we played the slap game (don't worry, there were very few people in the restaurant and we weren't too loud :D)
Alisia and Kim in mid action!
And then came the fun part!
As you can see it was a little challenge to get up on this moose. He was rather large.Since there weren't many people around to take a pic for us, our leader took this one.
Top L-R: Me, Kayla, Katie. Bottom L-R: Kim, Ruth, Leah, Mindy
Back at our hotel we were still a little full of energy and had some fun pretending we were dangerous. L-R: Mindy, Leah, Kim, Me
Alisia our fearless leader and Ruth.
Kayla and Katie.
Even though Alisia had given us very thorough packing lists, we still checked all our supplies at the hotel and made a list of things to buy at Wal-mart. Yes, those are my clothes for four days and three nights in Ziploc bags! Goodbye blow-dryer and towel!
The next day at Wal-mart we split into teams to make our shopping go faster. Leah and I were 'canobies' aka canoe buddies so we went in search of some draw string backpacks and apparently got a little distracted. No, we didn't buy these hats but they probably would've come in handy....
Finally we arrived to Ely and went to the outfitters to sign in, pick out paddles, and watch a video on how to 'Leave no Trace' in the wilderness. For our nighttime accommodations we were settled into a bunk house. It was fun to hang out together in a woodsy setting and get pumped up for our big adventure!
The next day we got to hit the water! We were briefly instructed on how to tie our packs into the canoes and get in with some coordination and grace. Then, we were off!
From now on the pictures will have an odd coloring. That's because they were taken on a waterproof film camera. Yah, old fashioned film. We had a waterproof digital camera that slipped out of my pocket and into the water on the second day. I felt absolutely awful, but the other girls were very kind about it and we still have hopes that it will be reeled in someday by a fisherman!
Here's a typical view from the front of the canoe.
The first day we were all ready to conquer the world! We had been preparing ourselves mentally (and not so much physically ;D) for this for months! Our spirits were high and we were feeling great. For lunch we decided to stay on the water and just pass food back and forth between the canoes. We feasted on frozen ham, American cheese, white bread, and PBjs. Oh, and we got a candy bar for dessert! This is one of the huge differences between Boundary Waters and Europe hehe. But we had food and it kept us going!
It started raining after lunch so we set up camp a little early. IN THE RAIN!!! I think the men who got us ready were in their warm clothes at the Outfitters just laughing their heads off at our misfortune! Okay, maybe not. At least we all were really trying to stay positive.
For supper we couldn't get a fire started (damp wood doesn't like to burn) so we pulled a tarp between several trees and piled under it to watch our steaks grill on a gas skillet. Every so often one of us would bounce the tarp to drain the pool of water gathering on top. Let's just say that it wasn't exactly what I would call a formal dinner. But we had food and it kept us going!
That evening the sky cleared up and we found a trail to some flat-ish rocks by the water where we were given a beautiful view of water, trees, and clouds. God's amazing handiwork in display!
The first day left a pretty big impression in my mind since it rained and all, but from there on out I kinda forget what happened on what day. So here are some of the memories that stuck...
The wind picked up one dayand the water was white-capping. I personally enjoyed this because it made it a little more exciting. However, it was exhausting. Especially when we decided to take a detour and visit some falls. Finally we arrived to a port only to realize we needed to go further! (This kinda happened a lot :D) Then we really arrived to where we could get out and take a little hike. I'm not going to lie: the falls weren't anything spectacular. The water looked like root beer and only fell several feet. However, it was fun to see something different and stretch our legs!
Me, Kim, and Leah. We got a group pic on the camera but unfortunately we didn't take any on the disposables.
Once we got back on course we found a little island. Kim (the pink dot in the canoe) decided to ditch Mindy :).
While I enjoyed being out in God's creation, sometimes it was hard to stare for hours at water, trees, and sky. 20 questions to the rescue! Leah and I played countless games and came up with random subjects from Harriet Tubman to bubbles. Often we didn't even count questions cause it didn't matter.
Sometimes our four canoes were close to one another while other times we were spread over the water.
One part that is quite unforgettable were the portages. We had to unload our packs and carry our canoes on a sometimes rocky and hilly path to the 'other side of the mountain'. I guess it wasn't a mountain. But with a canoe on your shoulders it kind of felt that way!
Leah sacrificing moments of heaviness on the shoulders and stinging mosquitos humming in her ears for a picture. Somebody is coming behind her on the trail with one of those big green packs!
Kim and Kayla. I'm thinking this photo was taken at the very end of our trip. But it's hard to tell when we wore the same outfits every day! Anyway, when we portaged half the people would carry packs and half would carry canoes. Since we had 8 packs and they could be bulky, awkward, and heavy we would have a few people take two trips. Yes, I'm sure that all men could put us to shame and be so macho and carry two packs and a canoe, but we were not that strong so we did what worked best!
Camping was probably my favorite part. While we were blessed with sunshine the rest of our time and being on the water was pleasant (there were no mosquitos on the water), I thought it could get a bit monotonous. We would round a bend to see more trees and water, trees and water. And while experiencing God's creation from the water was different than normal, I enjoyed the times when we could get out of the canoes and explore the islands.
A few of us girls were hoping to see the Northern lights so one night Kayla and I whacked our way through trees, thorns, and brush to find the northern edge of our island in hopes we would have a good view of the sky. When we came upon a latrine in the middle of the woods we realized we had stumbled upon another camp on the island and decided we better head back to our camp. Even though we didn't find a good look-out spot, I had so much fun climbing over trees and feeling truly adventurous!
That same night us four youngest took the canoes out onto the water in hopes to get a better view of where the Northern lights might be. While we didn't see any, the stars were so bright and beautiful that for once I wanted to sleep on the water where I could have a clear view of the sky. But we headed back into camp and crawled into our snuggly sleeping bags.
This spot was especially pretty since there was some rock showing. It was pretty neat to canoe up next to it.
This is the beloved latrine. All I will add is that it inspired Leah and I to write a somewhat disgusting song. Hehe, if you go on an adventure like this sometime you will completely understand :)
Bleh, moving on! The last night we camped something unexpected happened! Alisia and I were swimming and noticed a turtle in the water. Later in the evening it was walking around our camp. This was kind of fun and different. But it really got interesting when it started digging. It dug a little then moved to a different spot. Then it dug and dug and dug. Very very slowly. It would put it's leg in the little hole and drag a speck of dirt to the surface. Then stick it's other leg in the little hole and repeat until it had a pretty deep hole. I think it took about an hour and a half to dig it's hole! We were trying to think of why a turtle might dig. Maybe if we had correctly guessed that this turtle was a female we would've known why. It was when 'he' laid an egg we realized this turtle was a SHE! We watched her lay 12 eggs then slowly and carefully press the dirt on her hole til we could hardly recognize where she had dug! The kettle on the right between Katie and Mindy is our campfire popcorn. While some people were watching National Geographic or Discovery Channel with microwave popcorn in the living room, God gave us a live show of His amazing design in the great outdoors!
The evening went pretty fast. The last night I slept on a rock under the stars. I couldn't really enjoy the stars though cause I had to pull my sleeping bag almost completely over my head to keep the sound of the mosquitos out of my ears! I could see their black little bodies fly over the stars and hear their blood-thirsty hummmmmm. Only two of us ended up staying out all night and I think I'm the only one that slept more than a wink!
The bags under our eyes might clue you into the fact that this next photo was taken near the end of the trip. We are stuffing our faces with dry granola for breakfast (only a few people could brave the 'milk' that was supposed to help this stuff go down). Like every other food we were served there was an abundance...an over abundance! Seriously, we had to force ourselves to eat and eat and eat. To this day we still joke that the last thing we want to eat is hash browns. We had our lifetime fill of those :D We had food and it kept us going!
While the adventure was fun and full of great memories, it was good to feel my canoe hit the rocks for the last time and step onto land! A man came and picked us up and took us back to the bunkhouse so we could shower and freshen up.
They seem a bit excited to be in the van!
The trip didn't end there. We still had our long drive home. But that was more like normal life than anything I had experienced those four days on the water!
It was wonderful to experience this with a group of great Christian girls. We all tried to stay positive and think of the best when things were a bit challenging. Each night we had a devotion and our topic was 'Attributes of God'. Then we would share highs and lows and each of us had secret prayer partners so we would share prayer requests. It was those times in the tents with flashlights, journals and Bibles that made this trip extra special!
As for our outfitters: Cliff Wold's did a great job and we felt very well equipped for our journey! They were recommended to us and I would recommend them to others.
Will I be going again....hmmmm....not in the near future! But never say never :)
