Two and a half men in a boat - Part 2

The view from the campsite where we landed

We went around to explore the new place. A few log benches were present around a campfire area, about 10 metres from the shore. That was the only sign of previous human occupancy of the place. Well.... not quite. There was one more arrangement for campers. At the end of a trail leading away from the glade, there was the Thunder Box.... a huge wooden chest like thing connected to a deep pit, used to answer nature's calls.
About 20 metres diagonally from the campfire area, there was an open and more or less flat area with four trees at the corners, allowing for tying the tarpaulin. The tent was set up in its shade in a jiffy (Experts already!). We made sure everything was stable, and then went ahead to unpack the other stuff.


The utensils were kept outside, but the food was all placed in a small bag, and a rope was used to tie it up to a tree. This arrangement was to keep bears away. apparently bears have a liking for most human stuff including diapers.

The bag containing food waiting to be hoisted up to the branch

Vishnu and I decided to get into the water. Cold sparks up the spine initially. But then it became normal. We were wearing our life jackets and that kept us floating, as we tried walking off to the edge of our limit of having our feet grounded. We discussed the idea of swimming a few hundred metres across the channel to the island, but felt that it would be too exhausting. No argument could get Irene to enter the water. She was too scared of it.

Useless effort

Meanwhile water was getting boiled on the small gas stove to make it drinkable. Two of us started collecting splinters and twigs that would be used for the fire in the evening. There was plenty lying all over the place. I got bored of it too soon, and rather decided to saw off pieces from a fallen trunk. The idea was more to use a saw for the first time than to get wood for the fire. (Rowing for 17 kilometres and then this, definitely my arm muscles have never been busier.) However all this effort was wasted as the trunk was damp, and didn't catch fire at all. But we are getting too far ahead in the story. In the first place there was a serious problem as to how we would start the fire. Here I should give a briefing on this. The first requirement is something highly flammable but that continues to burn for a long time. Birch wood which looks like paper, may be used for this purpose but may not be found so easily. Next some splinters and dry small twigs  are required, that will help build the fire. Once the fire is up and steady, slightly larger branches can be added because if they catch fire they will sustain the fire for a longer period, without anyone having to pay attention to it.

As an alternative to birch wood we were given a candle like thing as a fire starter and sustainer. Somehow we had lost it. It seemed we were doomed to be in the dark. We decided we would attempt to light a fire directly with splinters. But there was still an hour till sunset and two till darkness. Vishnu and I again decided to set out in our canoe for a short trip around the islands. One was inhabited by campers, the other didn't have a camping spot, and as we neared it, we found thousands of inukshuks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuksuk) bordering the island.

With our inukshuk

We decided to park our canoe here and explore the island. After making our own inukshuk, amputed though it was, we tried to make our way into the island. A machete would have come in handy, as it turned out to be difficult and risky to force our way through dense foliage where possibly no one has set foot in recent times, if not ever. Suddenly Vishnu noticed some white sheet like stuff lying on the ground. Rolled up patches with small brown marks in some places. It was exactly what we needed. We didn't have to confirm with anyone that it was birch wood. We went a few steps ahead into an opening and there we saw lots and lots of it lying all over the place. All the trees around us were birch trees, and their white bark was kind of scaling off. We were overjoyed at this serendipitous discovery, and returned to our canoe, our hands full with birch bark.

It was getting dark by the time we reached our camp-site from our pilgrimage. Following the prescribed method, we got a steady fire soon enough. Here I could do with a flashback. 3-4 days ago, when we went shopping for food and equipments for the trip, Rohit and Madhavan were with us. The part they were most interested in was having roasted marshmellows by the bonfire (just like in cartoons, they said). They went to the extent of finding roasting sticks and marshmellow packets in the departmental store. Vishnu and I, on the other hand, not knowing about its popularity, declined the idea. Yesterday again, after we had collected all our equipments from the outfitting shop, the girl who was giving all the instructions was casually confirming that we must be having marshmellows with us. When we said we didn't, she exclaimed with an expression of "then why have the fire!!!" So we were left with no option but to get a pack of marshmellows. And so back at Parkside Bay Camp, we were sharpening a stick each. The procedure was to put the marshmellows in the fire, heat it till golden, but it shouldn't catch fire. The outer part became like a crispy coating to the gooey molten core. It tasted amusing.


As it became darker, we could see another camp merrymaking in the distance... songs, whistles, shouts. A persistent bird had been calling plaintively and irritatingly ever since we pitched camp here. Initially it gave us a feel that we were in the wild, but gradually it started getting on our nerves.
Sometimes our fire showed signs of dying off when left unattended for long, but everytime we saved it at the very last moment, collecting more twigs from time to time. Inbetween we had some coffee, and finally noodles was being prepared. We were very hungry and ate a lot. It was eleven, when the fire finally died off, and we doused it off completely. The starry sky thrilled me once again. But suddenly in the distance towards east, we saw a flash of lightning. And then another. We sat by the shore till some more time. It felt nice. Vishnu and I shared one more cigar (there were 5 in the pack we bought from Niagara, and we only had them on special occasions). Meanwhile we could feel the clouds approaching us. We could already hear the thunder, faint rumble though it was. We estimated that it would hit us around 2-3 am. We read the instructions for a thundershower just in case, and the plan we decided upon was to run to the end of the trail in the direction of the thunderbox, as it had less tree cover, thereby reducing chances of getting affected if lightning strikes.

Finally at 12.30 we got into our tent. The setting was perfect for some ghost stories but we were too tired for the unearthly. It has been a day where we did a lot and everything for the first time. We were soon deep asleep. The persistent bird continued.

I woke up to an orchestra. It was about 5am. There was faint light outside. No signs of storm or rain. And a thousand birds were chirping, at various pitches. Different melodies combining to give a grand effect. Add to that the snoring from either side of me, and it was quite some music. I tried moving a bit inside a tent, and found that my shoulders muscles were sore from exercise. Deciding it was too early, I went off to sleep again.

Morning coffee

The morning was spent in packing up. We were supposed to leave early, but the earliest we could do was 11 am. However this time we were really fast and made the return in 3 hours including the portage. There were a few hiccups though, once with direction, I said we had to go left, while Vishnu and Irene said that we needed to go right. It took quite some convincing, which I realized is quite difficult, when the listener cannot turn around to face me. On another occasion our map flew off from the canoe and floated on the water (they accounted for this possibility), and we had to make rounds till we could retrieve it. The remainder of the journey was more of a snake boat race. I was wearing my gloves today which made it easier, and we commanded each other from time to time for changing sides of rowing depending on our course.

We had told Shaun that we would return by 11 am, and that if we are delayed by more than two hours, he should know that something is wrong. We were delayed by three but no helicopter came our way. After all Shaun has gotten used to our ways. We reloaded the canoe to the car, took it back to the outfitters place, got some souvenirs, and drowsed off while Shaun drove us back. Irene met her relatives at Wonderland which was on the way. She went with them to Niagara (I wondered how!). As for me, I was completely spent. Spent, but happy and satisfied by our whole canoeing-camping experience.