Out There

The mosquitoes were vicious, the deer flies were ferocious, the horse flies and dragonflies had a plan. The horse flies buzzed about you while the dragonflies smacked against you on a suicide attack if you enter their water. Thank god nature had already extinguished the black fly army. I have never been bitten as much as I was on this camping trip. I bear the warrior scars of having battled and lost to an unvanquishable, bloodsucking enemy out in the wilds. I can't tell if I am swollen from bites, muscle ache, or sunburn.

Still, it's hard to come back to the city.

On our first day out, three of us met in the parking lot of our access point to Killarney like we happened to be shopping and bumped into each other. It as almost 3 pm before we put the canoe in the water. The paddling across Bell Lake was easy. Even the first portage of 745 m after an hour of paddling didn't faze us.

I decided to carry the 17-foot Kevlar canoe by myself. It weighed only 39 lbs, a far cry from the 80-lb aluminum or 65-lb fibreglass canoes of yore. Still, at 5' 3.5", balancing 17 feet of boat on my shoulders was a trick, especially with my arms anchored for balance and mosquitoes saw me weaponless without swatting hands. I think they are mutant biting bugs this year; they like DEET and citronella. Despite losing the battle to the bugs this weekend, this was my personal triumph, that I could portage the canoe on my own. I feel stronger, more balanced, and more fit than when I was young. In fact, it's a powerful feeling.

After two portages, we got onto David Lake. All the camp sites we passed were occupied. The sun was getting ready to set and still we were homeless. Finally, we got to the end of the lake and saw a large rock jutting into the water. There was no one on this piece of land. Let this be a campsite, let this be a campsite, I prayed. And there it was, the coveted orange and black triangle nailed to a tree to indicate this was a designated camp site.

It was a beautiful spot. Two large rock masses dipped into the water. I designated one our luncheon rock, the other our dining rock. There were soft tent pads on several spot so we each pitched our own tent on private real estate. There was shade in between the trees and sun out on the rock. One side of the site opened to a small marsh where animals could come to feed. The other side opened to the large lake where the canoe route was far away. Perfection. I would have chosen this exact site if I had the choice of many. It was like a gift waiting for us at the end of our day. Even when it rained at night, I thought, this is good, this is all a gift from above.