June 15th: My Summer Vacation

June 15^th, 2008; Day 8

Basler Lake on the Emile River
GPS Coordinates: 63 deg. 50 min. north; 116 deg. 3 min. west

Author: Beth

Well, today was day eight of my summer vacation. Hard to believe that I took an exam just 10 days ago. I had no idea how fast I would feel the changes of being on trail. Just looking at my hands tells me that I am no longer sitting in the library and studying all day. They are brown from the sun and rapidly getting rough and calloused from hard use and long days in the wind and on the water. It has been a difficult week, no doubt; we are traveling up river, which means a lot of paddling against the current and portaging. And of course, this is northern Canada, where the wind is almost always blowing in your face. Our bodies often are sore and tired.

My three trip mates and I also are adjusting to each other again. A lot has happened in all of our lives since our last trip together; we all feel older and, hopefully, we are a bit wiser. Besides that we are missing Karen - our fifth partner in crime - and it is not the same without her. While I have definitely had my moments of wondering what possessed me to leave the 95 degree weather in Columbus, Ohio for the wind, rain and bugs of the Northwest Territories, I have also had many reminders of what continues to draw me back up here. The other day we sat down to eat lunch by a rapid and watched a wolf catching fish from the other shore just by pulling it out of the fast moving water with its paws. The other night I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of rain on my tent and when I stuck my head out to close the rain fly, I saw the brightest, most vibrant rainbow I have ever seen. This is, of course, only possible because we are far enough north that it is light all night long. Our campsite tonight is on a beautiful beach; we look out of our tents at a lake with tall, rocky shores and it looks even more beautiful and inviting after a day of pounding our bodies over nasty portages. Those same portages make my dinner taste better and my sleeping bag more comfortable than I ever imagined. Not such a bad deal, really.

We are all doing well and laughing a lot and, after careful observation, I believe I have identified the exact muscle in my butt that is most worked by carrying 90-pound packs uphill, putting my knowledge of anatomy to good use.

Also, we wanted to say Happy Father's Day to all our dads, who are so very far away. We toasted you tonight! We will continue up the Emile River for another week to 10 days. Look for another update next week.