June 12th, 2019
Sturgeon-Weir
Paul awoke to the sound of his alarm at 4:00 AM this morning. He made his way over to the kitchen, ignited the burner, and prepared oatmeal for the group. At 4:30 AM he called the trip to breakfast. Many crows called our campsite home and delighted our group with their cawing.
Our first river stretch consisted of a long western stretch with very few rocks to be pulled over. The first stretch totaled 2 hours. We made another stretch, attaining a rapid set and treated ourselves to a longer-than-normal nut break. The pemmican batch was delectable. After another stretch, we found ourselves up a long, fast-flowing rapid set. We pulled up the right side, captured some drone footage and eventually found ourselves in a tricky predicament. A snapped, overhanging tree obstructed our way forward. Bram and Paul were the first boat, and they gingerly maneuvered the boat around the tree. However, after seeing their struggle, Quinn, Axel, James and I rerouted and ferried across the rapids into the left eddy. Examining all the ways to pull up river is a fun activity.
We continued up to the mouth of Amisk Lake and pulled over at a campground. There was a wooden pavilion and picnic table and a scrupulously maintained crapper. Although we arrived at this site at noon, we decided to camp and knockout trip upkeep – tuning boats, charging A/V equipment and drying out gear.
Axel invited me to try his portable shower. It was a wonderful experience until a car rolled onto the site. Since I was nude, I hid behind a tree while Axel chatted with some curious locals. Unfortunately, I was devastated by mosquitos until the conversation ended 15 minutes later.
The talk of the town tonight is the classic olive oil/hand sanitizer mix-up. Quinn had prepared dinner tonight, and in his effort to lubricate our meal with olive oil, he grabbed the hand sanitizer and squeezed it into the cooked spaghetti. James realized the error, but too late. The problem is in the identical containers – powerade bottle, cherry flavor.
Sunny day-Fun day.
-Zach