Trip Excerpt - Wilderness adventures and the story of Chippy the Chipmunk

Day 2

It seems every time I write in this little book before I’m in the tent, something happens which is worth adding to it. Last night at 9:15, a young and seemingly inexperienced couple paddled up in the dark. We’d just settled into our tent for the night, and they were complaining that they’d had a bear at their site. Britton noted that they must have booked it out of there, as they had their collapsed tent sitting in the middle of their boat. The couple wanted to know of other sites on the lake. I told them where I thought others were (it’s been a year since I’ve been here, and my current map has no marked sites) and they paddled off. At 10:30 they returned looking to take me up on my offer of the meager space we might have at our site. After pulling their boat up and carrying their tent out, the first thing I asked them about was their food. They had it in a garbage bag, probably not double bagged, I don’t know. I asked them if they wanted to do a bear hang, or a bear canoe, hoping I wouldn’t have to demand it, since something obviously attracted the bear to their site. As they set their tent up I got started on the hang. A proper hang should be over a branch around 20 feet up I believe, and 10 feet out, maybe more. They had about 20 feet of rope. Not even close. So having tied some of our rope to some of theirs, and throwing a stick over a half fallen tree, we did our best in the dead of the dark, dense wood. The garbage bag was put in a pack and hoisted up. After a quick swim, a peaceful sleep followed. Let’s hope Jonathan and Amy have a better night tonight.

· Our plan today is to head up through Red Pine Lake before the winds pick up again, and get in through the top of Nunakani. Time to get up, it’s 7:30.

· Wow, rough day (sarcasm). We paddled across beautiful Red Pine after an incredibly solid portage out of clear lake. We beat another camp to it effortlessly, and everyone did their part on the portage. These girls are impressive. We paddled Red Pine with ease and went for a swim and a lesson on current on the Kennisis river, laughs all around as we joyfully floated down the shady, lazy, narrow river before paddling into lake Nunakani where we reside now. We pulled into our nook at 1:30 and had lunch, and now we are keeping busy. The girls with cards and tent set up, and me with catching and relocating a pet chipmunk which is audaciously inspecting all our pack. No luck so far but I will try again later.

· 8:59 and we are settling into our tents. Stacy brought tattoos, smarties, and trip bracelets, and the girls homesickness dissolved immediately as the kids listened to their favourite book. As the lazy afternoon came to a close and the girls started to collect firewood, our friend “Chippy” the chipmunk returned. This time I was ready. I had been studying his habits. He would go to the wannigan and tear through the parmesan cheese bag every time he thought I wasn’t looking, and as I approached he would duck between the side of the wannigan and the lid which I had propped up against it. Given this, I had set up the barrel laying on its side with the mouth continuous with the tunnel formed between the wannigan and its lid. Chippy’s safe haven was a trap. A sprinkle of parmesan to accentuate the banana chips of an earlier failed attempt and the trap was set. Chippy went for the cheese bag in the wannigan shelf, and then ducked into his tunnel as he saw me approach. He smelled the bait, and I could hear him rummaging into the barrel, scraping around with his little rodent claws. I snuck around the outside. Swiftly setting the barrel upright to trap him at the bottom, I slammed the lid down and clamped the ring tight. Chippy’s cage had an airtight seal. 5 minutes later he was underway by the Grumman express to the east shore of Lake Nunakani, where he was released to learn to be free and independent of humans once more. Upon my return I was informed between giggles by the girls that Chippy’s friend had made an appearance in my absence. I’ll have to free him another day.

· Earlier this morning I surprised myself. Each morning I take off my rings to paddle. As I was doing so, drifting behind the group across Clear Lake, my titanium ring popped off while I was trying to pull it free of my finger. Slow motion kicked in as I watched it spin through the air and hit the water. I heard myself choke “noooo” in a defeated and panicked tone as I watched it sink. Then a curious thing happened. This being clear lake, I could see the ring in its descent even after it was 6 feet down and sinking fast. I could see it as clearly as if it had just hit the water. Here I heard myself say “Be right back girls!” as I felt myself stand up in the canoe and dive toward the ring, out of the boat. I felt like Frodo Baggins swimming frantically down with my eyes wide until a bright silver sphere of blurriness came into view. I even reached out twice to snatch at it with my hand before it could materialize into the shape of a ring, and was successful on the second try. I didn’t think I’d be close enough to grab it, but I was. This is when I realized that I had about 15 – 20 ft of water directly over my head. I swam hard for the surface for what seemed like minutes, and broke the surface, victorious. This is when I realized that I had to climb back into the boat. The prep junior girls continued to surprise me. Diligently leaning the opposite way as I clambered back in. It’s amazing what can happen on reflex.