Page: 1 2
tryingtowrite
Mini-NaNo Winner
Hero
Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 513
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
I won't be here much in a little while.
I'm going on a 20 day canoe trip with my brother soon. I'll be leaving in 14 days. Then in September I'm traveling around with my sisters for a month. So, yeah, I won't be around much. See ya guys when I get back! 
Last edited by tryingtowrite, 6/23/2008, 2:11 pm
---
I'm not just staring out the window...I'm working!
|
|
6/23/2008, 2:00 pm
|
Send Email to tryingtowrite
Send PM to tryingtowrite
|
Reythia
Squire
Hero
Registered: 11-2005
Posts: 546
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
Wow! Sounds like fun.
Take care!
---  -- YAR! |
|
6/23/2008, 5:07 pm
|
Send Email to Reythia
Send PM to Reythia
AIM
MSN
|
tryingtowrite
Mini-NaNo Winner
Hero
Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 513
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
Thanks, Reythia. The first few days will be intense since I haven't canoed in a while and we're going to be doing around 45kms a day. Crazy, I know.  But everyone is suppose to do something crazy when they're young, right? 
---
I'm not just staring out the window...I'm working!
|
|
6/23/2008, 8:00 pm
|
Send Email to tryingtowrite
Send PM to tryingtowrite
|
tryingtowrite
Mini-NaNo Winner
Hero
Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 513
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
Thanks, Firle! I'll miss you guys too! 
---
I'm not just staring out the window...I'm working!
|
|
6/24/2008, 3:51 pm
|
Send Email to tryingtowrite
Send PM to tryingtowrite
|
QS2
Shepherd
Hero
Registered: 03-2006
Posts: 650
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
Have fun, but be careful as well. You sound like you haven't practiced canoing in awhile, so I hope nothing goes wrong.
And don't forget to write here occasionally if you still can, I'm sure everyone would love to know how things are going.
|
|
6/25/2008, 7:16 am
|
|
tryingtowrite
Mini-NaNo Winner
Hero
Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 513
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
There are communities fairly near the whole way, so we should be good. Yeah, I haven't canoed in awhile, we'll probably take it slow the first couple of days then start going longer each day.
I'll be back for all of August so I'll check in then and give you guys the run down.
---
I'm not just staring out the window...I'm working!
|
|
6/25/2008, 1:50 pm
|
Send Email to tryingtowrite
Send PM to tryingtowrite
|
Selati
Initiate
Hero
Registered: 06-2008
Posts: 4
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
Wow, that sounds great! Good on you for having such a sense of adventure, I'm very jealous!
Have fun!
Last edited by Selati, 6/30/2008, 3:43 pm
|
|
6/30/2008, 3:43 pm
|
Send Email to Selati
Send PM to Selati
|
tryingtowrite
Mini-NaNo Winner
Hero
Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 513
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
Thanks, Selati. Both of them are probably once in a life time trips, so I'm taking 'em while I can.
---
I'm not just staring out the window...I'm working!
|
|
6/30/2008, 5:59 pm
|
Send Email to tryingtowrite
Send PM to tryingtowrite
|
tryingtowrite
Mini-NaNo Winner
Hero
Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 513
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
I bought a knife for the canoe trip and the warning on the packaging read: Sharp blade included, handle with care. Funny and sad all at the same time.
---
I'm not just staring out the window...I'm working!
|
|
7/4/2008, 11:04 pm
|
Send Email to tryingtowrite
Send PM to tryingtowrite
|
Reythia
Squire
Hero
Registered: 11-2005
Posts: 546
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
*sigh* That sort of warning just makes me cry.
--- -- YAR! |
|
7/5/2008, 2:54 pm
|
Send Email to Reythia
Send PM to Reythia
AIM
MSN
|
tryingtowrite
Mini-NaNo Winner
Hero
Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 513
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
Next thing you know they'll put this warning on cars: If operated correctly vehicle moves.
Anyways, I'm off in a couple of hours. Have fun while I'm gone, but not too much fun.
---
I'm not just staring out the window...I'm working!
|
|
7/6/2008, 12:41 pm
|
Send Email to tryingtowrite
Send PM to tryingtowrite
|
tryingtowrite
Mini-NaNo Winner
Hero
Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 513
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
Well, I'm back! I'll tell all the stories tomorrow or the next day since me and my brother drove through the night to get home in time to see Mom and Dad. Which means I've had one hour of sleep in around 36 hours or so. 
Last edited by tryingtowrite, 8/5/2008, 2:06 am
---
I'm not just staring out the window...I'm working!
|
|
8/5/2008, 12:37 am
|
Send Email to tryingtowrite
Send PM to tryingtowrite
|
QS2
Shepherd
Hero
Registered: 03-2006
Posts: 650
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
Welcome Back as well, once you are rested, you should tell us all about your adventures. 
|
|
8/5/2008, 8:03 am
|
|
Reythia
Squire
Hero
Registered: 11-2005
Posts: 546
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
Welcome back! The board's been (semi)-quiet without you! Hope you had a great time.
--- -- YAR! |
|
8/6/2008, 4:18 pm
|
Send Email to Reythia
Send PM to Reythia
AIM
MSN
|
tryingtowrite
Mini-NaNo Winner
Hero
Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 513
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
Thanks for the welcome back! I'll try to find time to tell you guys all the stories tomorrow, everything has been so busy since I got back. Do you want just the highlights or a day by day thing?
---
I'm not just staring out the window...I'm working!
|
|
8/7/2008, 2:08 am
|
Send Email to tryingtowrite
Send PM to tryingtowrite
|
tryingtowrite
Mini-NaNo Winner
Hero
Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 513
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
Day one to four:
Day One:
We left Fort Mac around noon and stopped near three. Did just about 19kms, not bad considering the trouble M & E were having figuring out steering and paddling the kayak. We also didn’t want to camp right in the oil plants, the banging is loud enough where we are. It was sunny all day until we got the tents and tarp up, now it’s sprinkling.
Not really sore today, but I actually didn’t do too much paddling cause M & E couldn’t keep up. Kind of funny since the canoe has at least 400lbs of gear in it and they are paddling an almost empty kayak.
Only saw birds today, some geese with a ton of goslings. We’re camped in a clearing at the base of a bluff and there’s oil-slicked water trickling down the bluff. The rocks look like compacted tar, black and crumbly. Earlier there was tar dripping down a small cliff and into the water. Yum. We have a good water filter though, so we should be okay.
It suppertime and after that we’re going to play Risk. (I hate Risk!)
Day Two:
Passed the plants today and boy did it stink! Gave me a splitting headache but the wind was blowing upriver so once we were past them it got better. The plants have these huge pole things, they look like giant candles, and they burn off gas day and night. The noise is incredible, just a loud constant roar.
We’re camping on an island with a lot of dry, fallen trees, or they were dry till it started pouring rain. Again, it waited until we had the tents up and everything, but this time it seems to be coming from every direction so we aren’t even staying dry under the tarp. I’m going to bed. Oh, we did around 41kms today.
Day Three:
Missed.
Day Four:
Did around 42kms yesterday. We only did 32kms today- because the wind was blowing so strong that it felt like we were canoeing up rapids. We took on water and everything. Had to stop at an island where as soon as you stepped out you sank calf-deep in the mud, plus the bush was so thick that we had to hack out a place to pitch the tents.
Didn’t sleep well yesterday night because we couldn’t find a place to hang the hammock tent, so I had to sleep in B’s tent and I hadn’t brought my sleeping mat. I felt every rock. Plus the tent was on a bit of a slope, by the end of the night I was crunched up at the bottom.
M & E pulled a dumb stunt today. The waves were just starting to get bad and they were behind us. I was keeping an eye on them then I looked back and they had disappeared! We would have seen them in the water so we paddled to the end of an island and waited for them to come round the point. Nothing, nothing. Then we realized what we thought was the riverbank was just a bigger island. So we waited at the end of it and lucky for us I happened to look to the left and saw them, they were just about out of sight and still going. Now that they’ve figured out the paddling they are fast, so it took B & me quite a while to catch up to them. They seemed to think it was a big joke, but on this kind of trip you just can’t do stuff like that!
Tried paddling on the right yesterday and the cyst in my left wrist made it feel like the bones were grinding together, but I had to do it anyways- to give the other side a break. Today I wrapped it in duct tape and it didn’t even hurt. I love duct tape.
---
I'm not just staring out the window...I'm working!
|
|
8/7/2008, 5:35 pm
|
Send Email to tryingtowrite
Send PM to tryingtowrite
|
QS2
Shepherd
Hero
Registered: 03-2006
Posts: 650
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
Sounds like quite the boating adventure and really those are quite large distances, were you exhausted by the end of the trip? How did you get back home? Via Car?
|
|
8/7/2008, 8:47 pm
|
|
tryingtowrite
Mini-NaNo Winner
Hero
Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 513
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
quote:
Sounds like quite the boating adventure and really those are quite large distances, were you exhausted by the end of the trip?
Nope, not really.
quote:
How did you get back home? Via Car?
The answer coming soon! 
---
I'm not just staring out the window...I'm working!
|
|
8/7/2008, 8:58 pm
|
Send Email to tryingtowrite
Send PM to tryingtowrite
|
tryingtowrite
Mini-NaNo Winner
Hero
Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 513
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
Since I forgot to do this in the first post:
B = My brother
M = My brother's co-worker
E = M's sister
Kaz = M's dog
Me = Me 
Day five to nine:
Day Five:
Did over 45kms today, I feel good, it’s a little tight behind my shoulders but not too bad. Had a good visit with B today, something we hadn’t been doing, for some reason. A little rain today, but mostly fluffy, grey clouds and sun.
I thought Jungle Island was bad for mosquitoes, but this place..! I’m calling it Skitter Bluff. The ‘kitchen’ is down on a beach, which hugs the side of a sandy bluff- our tents are on top of the bluff. If I stopped for a second while putting up my tent mosquitoes swarmed me. I think I’ll take it down as soon as I get up so I don’t have to come up here again.
We all took ‘baths’ today- the water was chilly but not too bad once you got use to it. B managed to get a picture of the event for blackmail purposes- he’d better watch his back!
Oh brother! The mosquitoes are biting me through the tent!
Day Six:
Missed.
Day Seven:
I missed yesterday because we canoed nearly 74kms. Yes, that is right, 74kms. Nine and a half hours of canoeing, though towards the end we were almost drifting while looking for some dry ground to camp on. On the GPS and in a straight line we would have only gone 30kms. Shows you how much the river twists and turns.
One of the reasons we went so long- we wanted to camp at the head of the delta where the river splits so we could get through the delta in one day because it’s all quicksand, or mud to be correct. Unfortunately, every clear, dry space had a house on it. (We’ve seen at least one house every day so far, so much for the wilderness.) Finally, we just crawled up some logs, pulled the boats up onto semi-firm mud and set up camp in a half clearing.
Being out in the sun so long gave me a really bad sunburn on the tops of my thighs- I couldn’t straighten my legs it hurt so bad and it swelled a little. After I set up my tent, I crawled inside and put apple cider vinegar on the burn. I could feel the difference instantly, the pain felt less, I don’t know, desperate? Or something. I spent the rest of the night shivering because I was sleeping on top of my sleeping bag and boiling because of the sunburn. Didn’t get any supper either.
I put more vinegar on in the middle of the night, again when I woke up, and I could walk just about normal. Until I scraped one leg on the tip of M’s machete. That hurt. If I hadn’t had the sunburn it probably wouldn’t have hurt at all. Taking the band aid off tonight felt real good as well.
We did 30kms today and made it to the lake! Yippy! The part of the lake we paddled on today is real shallow, maybe three feet, and covered in weeds.
Our tents are up on a platform tonight since the island we’re on has lots of rocks and driftwood. Lots of horseflies too. Ugh, I’m not feeling that good, maybe I’ll feel better after some sleep. Tomorrow we leave for the Sand Dunes!
Day Eight:
Missed.
Day Nine:
Missed.
I should be able to finish this tomorrow.
Last edited by tryingtowrite, 8/7/2008, 10:58 pm
---
I'm not just staring out the window...I'm working!
|
|
8/7/2008, 10:55 pm
|
Send Email to tryingtowrite
Send PM to tryingtowrite
|
hadaad
NaNo Winner
Hero
Registered: 08-2005
Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 320
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
Fort Mac: Fort MacMurray?
---
Reading: Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes
Writing: Resurrection edits
|
|
8/8/2008, 3:32 pm
|
Send Email to hadaad
Send PM to hadaad
ICQ
MSN
|
Reythia
Squire
Hero
Registered: 11-2005
Posts: 546
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
Ouch. Sunburn sucks. But the rest of the trip sounds like a good adventure!
What's a hammock tent? I want a picture!
--- -- YAR! |
|
8/8/2008, 4:02 pm
|
Send Email to Reythia
Send PM to Reythia
AIM
MSN
|
tryingtowrite
Mini-NaNo Winner
Hero
Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 513
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
That's right, hadaad.
Yeah, Reythia, I was amazed with how much the vinegar helped. After a couple days, so long as I kept them out of direct sunlight they didn't even hurt!
The hammock tent I was in looked kind of like the Expedition Asym Woodland Camo on this page:
http://hennessyhammock.com/catalogue.html It's down near the bottom.
Part of day ten:
Day Ten:
After feeling dizzy and queasy on the eighth morning, I finally threw up and felt way better. Turns out some of the food I’d eaten the night before was bad. But I felt better so we packed up and left the island at eleven. (M & E are late risers. I keep waking up at six with nothing to do but re-read books. Wish they got up earlier.)
The sky is a nice, clear blue, the sun’s shining and there’s just a hint of a northwestern breeze blowing. The kayak paddles keep getting fouled up in the weeds so M & E have to go way out and around. We’ve gone around 10kms when the wind starts blowing harder and the waves get bigger. I start having fun with figuring out where to stick my paddle into the waves to make us catch air and bounce. Wee! Just like little rapids.
M & E catch up with us. They don’t have a skirt on the kayak, because Kaz sits in M’s lap, and have been taking on a bit of water. B & me take M’s pack, which is heavy, into the canoe. We decide to head for a big island about 10kms away- it’s the nearest land.
Now the waves are big enough they are starting to come over the bow of the canoe. Okay this isn’t fun anymore but we’re still moving forward. Then B looks back and says, “They flipped!”
What?!
We turn around quickly but carefully and paddle hard back to them. Turns out they’d stopped to bail out the water and gotten turned in the waves so they started filling up, fast, then Kaz jumped out and finished the job.
B & me know what we’re doing though so it’s all okay. We get in position, me bracing, B issuing orders and getting ready to pull the kayak onto the canoe to empty out the water. Unfortunately, M & E have no idea what we’re trying to do even with B explaining. (First stupid thing: We should have taught them how to rescue a flipped boat on flat water.) Kaz scrambles into the canoe and keeps wiggling around, now we’re almost tipping.
B gets so busy trying to help them that we get half turned in the waves. (Second stupid thing.) We start filling up with water and jump out to make the canoe lighter. (Third stupid thing: Now we have no control over the canoe.) The canoe gets even more turned in the waves and really starts filling up. Now we get smart and start pulling the gear out, something we should have done from the start.
But now the waves are so big that they just keep washing into the canoe and it flips. Well, all the gear is out of the canoe now, right? Kaz takes off and soon disappears in the, at least, six foot waves. E gathers up the gear that is floating around and starts tying it to the canoe and kayak. M & B keep attempting to flip the canoe but as soon as they get it half over it fills again. I’m in their way so I let go of the rope and start grabbing stuff. The boys give up and start tying stuff up.
Me, now that my arms are full and because I can’t really swim, I’m drifting away. No matter how hard I kick my legs the waves keep pulling me away. Kaz appears out of nowhere, half scared out of his mind. Since he’s already climbed on top of E and sank her, I use a paddle to keep him away. He goes and climbs on top of M instead. Now everyone sees that I’m getting pretty far away so E comes and takes the paddles from me and by angling through the waves we intercept the ‘raft’ of canoe, kayak and gear all roped together. Everyone pauses for breath and I look at my watch, it’s three-thirty.
Now that we’re all together and what gear we could rescue we have, a bunch of it has floated away- it’s time to think about getting help. This is when I find out that the satellite phone isn’t waterproof, because they start trying to find a way to keep M out of the water while he phones. (Forth stupid thing: Canoe trip=Waterproof phone. Always!) After trying several ways and failing we lash the canoe and kayak closer together and he’s able to get half out of the water by leaning on the kayak.
We risk it and open up the, thankfully, waterproof case, praying that this won’t be the 20 mins out of the hour that you can’t get out with this type of phone. But it is. After about half an hour of us yelling, “Big wave!” And M holding the phone as high out of the water as he could we get a signal, and lose it. Got it, lost it- got it again and lost it. Finally, it held long that M was able to phone 911 and tell them which lake we were on before it failed again. Another round of getting it and losing it.
Then it held long enough for him to get put on hold, twice. After having to go over all the details three times, M was told that rescue would be in half an hour. If we were where the guy thought we were.
Last edited by tryingtowrite, 8/8/2008, 5:47 pm
---
I'm not just staring out the window...I'm working!
|
|
8/8/2008, 5:44 pm
|
Send Email to tryingtowrite
Send PM to tryingtowrite
|
QS2
Shepherd
Hero
Registered: 03-2006
Posts: 650
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
Wow, that is quite the adventure indeed, to bad some of the others weren't as good in general rescue of boats and all.
|
|
8/9/2008, 6:51 am
|
|
tryingtowrite
Mini-NaNo Winner
Hero
Registered: 03-2007
Posts: 513
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
QS2: Yeah, but B and me really should have taught them how before we need their help. Live and learn I guess.
Firle: At least no one was hurt and we didn't get too cold.
The rest of day ten:
I think it was around five when we first heard and saw the helicopter. It was way over at the side of the lake while we were in the middle. We got out E’s mirror and started flashing, but it just flew away eastwards. Several times it disappeared and reappeared, just a little bit closer to us each time. A couple floatplanes flew by, one awfully close, but they didn’t seem to see us. Then at around seven nothing, no helicopter, no planes, no boats. Nothing, just waves and land way off in the distance. That was really annoying, being able to see land on all sides but not being able to reach it.
Around eight we noticed that we were starting to get closer to the south shore, but it was still a fair ways off. Still if we were going to paddle our legs to keep warm then we might as well be going towards shore. Plus we hadn’t seen any sign of rescue in a while and there were clouds starting to build.
So, with B & E at the front and M & me at the back near Kaz- who’s riding in the kayak, which is full of water- we head to shore. Maybe in a couple hours we’ll reach the weeds, then the water should be shallow enough that we can walk to dry land. Which means we might reach shore by dark. At least the waves are helping us now instead of keeping us out in the middle of the lake. Still don’t know where the rescuers went, maybe to supper?!
Somewhere around nine, I think I hear something, but M thinks it’s just the wind. Then I know I hear something! Using the barrel I’ve been holding onto I lift myself partially out of the water and scan the tossing waves. Nothing…nothing…
“There’s a boat!” I squeal/yelp.
M sees it and scrambles for E’s mirror. They’re headed towards us! No, now they’ve stopped. We start yelling and screaming even though there is no way they can hear us. They start moving again and after several tense minutes, it’s clear…they’ve seen us!
They cut the engines and work their way closer to us with a paddle. E swims over to meet them and gets pull onboard, she tells them to get me next since I can’t really swim. I’m kind of scare to let go of the barrel, I’ve been holding it so long, but I do and work my way towards them with my modified doggie paddle-I call it my frog swim- the only way I’ve been able to swim on my stomach without my back hurting.
The two guys grab my arms and I think- I can probably pull myself up. I grab the side of the boat and pull…nothing- there is absolutely no strength in my arms. The guys are having a hard time pulling me in so M has to push from behind. I think I’ll save being embarrass about that until after we’re all rescued.
I finally flop to the bottom of the boat and scramble to my feet. Before I have time to feel the clod wind, I’m bundled into a huge coat and given a seat. B can’t pull himself in either, so that makes me feel better, since he’s a lot stronger then me.
M hauls himself out of the water then remembers that he wants his wallet and is prepared to jump back in, much to the dismay of our rescuers. Me: Um, why don’t you use that hook thing to pull your bag close then grab your wallet? Everyone stares at me for a moment. M & Rescuers: Yeah why not, that’s what it’s for right? I chuckle to myself-no kidding!
Now we’re speeding to Fort Chip. The lady rescuer keeps trying to get M into a sweater but for some reason he isn’t even chilly (No idea what’s up with that!), so she gives it to B, who is still shivering. B turned blue as soon as he hit the water, but he’s always cold in water. Only the top of my head, where the wind hits it, feels cold now and E seems to be fine.
We nibble at some of our food they’d rescued. That’s how they’d found us, they’d been heading home and Jumbo -a seventy year old with eagle eyes- spotted some of our gear that had floated away then a little ways a way more of it. So, they followed the wind and waves and finally saw the mirror flashing.
At Fort Chip, the police took us to the fire station (I got to ride up front.) where we showered and where, to the delight of E, B got to put on a way to huge fire suit and go collect clothes for us. After that, we were taken to Jumbo’s house where we were fed and given shoes, I got to ride in the back of the police truck this time. At 11:30 we were taken to the lodge were we were given rooms. Despite predictions, it took B & me a long time to fall asleep.
On the ninth, we dried what we could of our gear. We actually didn’t lose that much stuff, poor M lost all the expensive stuff. After wandering around town for a while –where everyone kept grinning and waving at us, I wonder why – we went back to the lodge and rested.
Today we went to see if the museum was open, it wasn’t, seems everything here shuts down when there’s a wedding. We’re also trying to figure out if we’re going to continue the trip or just go home.
---
I'm not just staring out the window...I'm working!
|
|
8/10/2008, 7:46 pm
|
Send Email to tryingtowrite
Send PM to tryingtowrite
|
QS2
Shepherd
Hero
Registered: 03-2006
Posts: 650
|
|
Reply | Quote
|
|
Re: I won't be here much in a little while.
Lucky they spotted you really then, would have been difficult to set up at shore otherwise, considering your arms had, had enough by then. Soooo..., was this something you were planning to repeat next year or so?
|
|
8/10/2008, 8:11 pm
|
|
Add a reply
Page: 1 2
Powered by AkBBS 0.9.5b - Link to us
- Blogs
- Hall of Honour
- Chat
Click here to get your own free message board
|
You are not logged in (login)
GMT is: 11/22/2008, 7:16 pm
|
|
|
