A New Adventure
by photonanax2
The big day is finally here. We checked in with VNO last night, picked up most of our gear and finalized last minute details with Lynn. This morning after a huge breakfast at Britton’s, we watched the movie, went over our proposed route with John, loaded up the truck (boy that food pack is heavy – are we eating steaks every night?) and we’re off.
It looks like the weather will cooperate today with nice bright skies and calm wind. We make our way to the entry point, the truck is unpacked and we start first portage. This will be our longest portage of the trip. This doesn’t seem so bad, but of course, we are starting out fresh. Since we have three packs, we realize one of us will be double portaging the entire trip. As the day wears on, we have come to the realization that we are no longer 16. The paddling is getting a bit harder as we go through Nina Moose and Agnes and the portages seem to be getting harder and longer. After the 97 rod portage, Lari realizes just how bad his shoulders are and can no longer carry both the canoe and a pack at the same time; we will now both be double portaging. What we thought would be a 5-6 hour trip turns into an 8-9 hour trip. But, we keep our eyes on the prize – Tiger Bay. As we come around the corner from Boulder Bay and saw the site we wanted was vacant, we know this first day of pushing hard was worth it. The site (#179) is beautiful with a wonderful view of the bay across from us and the potential for awesome sunsets. The “kitchen” area sits just above the lake with the tent area farther back. As we sat in front of the fire enjoying our steaks, we came to appreciate the hard work and determination it took to get here.
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