Wednesday, June 26, 2002

We set our sites on disappointment mountain but before we left our Jordan Lake campsite, disaster struck. Our canoe had sprung a monsterous leak. We tried to patch it, but were unsuccessful. Ryan ended up with fiberglass all over his hands that stayed for days because we didnt bring any gloves. Our canoe was taking on water fast. We put most of our gear in the other canoe but I couldnt fit so I had to sit in the middle of the leaky canoe. We decided we should just head for Snowbank and get out of the BWCAW before we died. The weather was horrible, windy and rainy. I was soaked up to my waist, desperately bailing the canoe with a pot. We decided we should ride out the night on Disappointment Lake. I tell you, this lake lived up to its name. There were no campsites available. We stopped to dump out our canoe and kept pushing on. We finally made it to the portage and quickly made it to Snowbank. The water was choppy and a few times I honestly thought I was going to die either by drowning or from hypothermia. Somehow we made it to the van, loaded up and left. This was my first ever camping experience and it was really really bad. I laughed, I cried, I actually cried alot, and the next year I returned. On that trip, I vowed for a better trip where I would be dry. Kevin put our canoe in the water with me inside and all of our gear and then our canoe capsized...but that's another story.