We woke up on Glenn Lake to another beautiful day. We both slept poorly, each with one eye open, waiting to defend our food supply when Mr. Bear returned. But surprisingly he never came back.
We tried to start the campstove again, but no luck. We took out the bottle of purifying tablets we bought before we left. Upon reading their instructions, I learned that these tablets were actually only neutralizing tablets, to remove the iodine taste from our water AFTER it had been purified by other tablets. So, we did our best to ward off Beaver Fever by going out into the middle of the lake to scoop water.
After a "breakfast" of sunflower seeds, we headed out. The first portage was 275 metres, which with all our gear, along with little energy from food, we struggled! I carried the canoe for 1/3 of the way before giving up and sharing the task with Ashley. There was a storm moving in. Between the end of this portage and the start of the next one of the same length, there was a small stretch of creek. So even though we could see the next portage, we had to load up the canoe and paddle across. As soon as we climbed in, the rain and lightning came.
We walked the next portage while the rain poured hard. When we arrived at the end of this portage, on our last trip across, the rain pretty much stopped. We were soaked.
Now we were on Optic Lake, and lucky for us, my family has an outpost on the lake. It was empty this week, and my dad had given us the heads up that we could use it if need be. Well, "need be" was the case. We canoed across the lake to what we now considered "paradise". There was ice in the freezer, propane hooked up to the stove, and even warm water in the tank for a nice shower! As soon as we arrived, so did more rain and wind, so we hurried inside. We put on dry clothes and made ourselves hot coffee, cold sodas (left by the last party), and a spaghetti feast! Meanwhile, the storm raged outside.
The weather eventually lifted and the sun came out. We decided to stay put for the night instead of carrying on by canoe. All the luxury got to us I guess. My dad flew in and found us lounging on the dock, fishing and soaking up the sun. He said he was surprised that we even got this far, with all the gear we brought. He said he didn't have time to look at our broken campstove. He was only dropping in to bring us a cooler full of beer and ice, and he expected us to still be on Glenn Lake. Thanks for the confidence, Dad!
posted by Harriet
Great posts Harriet. Enid, I love that Hugh brought her beer, such a nice dad!
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