Into The Wild

Here we go, into the wilds of Killarney for 5 days.

My wilderness camping buddies are a particular group of women. I really think half of the things we pack are food related. That's because we want only fresh, gourmet food during the whole five days out. No freeze dried stuff for us.

I usually provide the first dinner. It is usually a soup or stew type dish, prepared the week before camping and frozen. It travels in a collapsible cooler, with salad, vegetables, and real cake for dessert. After that, lots of fresh fruit, vegetables, dips, pita, pasta, rice (not minute rice), and legumes (not canned beans). Which means large pots and frying pan, lots of fuel for the two stoves, chopping board, kitchen towels, and napkins. And camping isn't camping without fresh brewed coffee and herbal tea. So all the equipment for that go into the "kitchen" pack. It's just a matter of time before we pack table and chairs for our canoe trip, we are wild and crazy like that.

We want our own space to keep our snoring and thrashing to ourselves, so we each bring our own tent. That's one person per tent. People only share if they are newbies to our trip. We sleep on Thermarests, with sleeping bag, blanket, and pillow. I won't budge on this. I can't sleep without a pillow.

But these women are also environmentalists. They are careful not to produce waste. I don't call myself an environmentalist, but I don't like to add my mess to nature and try to leave a camp site cleaner than when I found it. We are very careful to leave no footprint.

Our route usually takes us over two short portages to get to a site. We try to get a site on an island. Then we set up tent for the whole of our stay, though we've certainly moved sites on a whim too.

I love the mornings and evenings best. In the early morning, we can usually spot moose drinking not far from us. The air is blue and mysterious. You feel like you don't know what the day will bring, yet you know exactly that everything will still be there the next day. I mean, no matter what happens to us, what we do and where we go for the day, you know that the blue, hazy morning will come again the next day and clear with the sunrise, the water and tree lines that obstruct the sunset will still be all around, the wind will swirl the trees to make that whooshing sound with the leaves, the birds and animals will still call out and splash the water, then night will descend again.

At night, I like lying on a rock, stare up at the sky, and listen to the water and frogs. When a loons calls or when a wolf howls, we freeze, as if the slightest movement on our part will send these animals away, even though we suspect they are quite far from us.

I always try to decipher which are the clouds and which The Milky Way. Sometimes, I try to find the constellations. The Big Dipper is always there and easy to spot. I often see Draco. But the others, I don't know what they are. That's the moment I say to myself, I should have brought my book of constellations. I say that every year. If I am lucky, I see a shooting star. I have yet to see the Aurora Borealis in action, though the sky is often pink and green late at night.

During the day, we go for short paddles and hikes, and we eat.

I have no idea what our route is each year. I let the others plan it out on the pretext I don't have a map of the park. I really don't care where we go, as long as I see no cars and concrete buildings, and I can smell the earth, stoke the fire, taste the air, and swim naked in the lake.