On the Road Again 2012 Rainbow Gathering part #2

The next morning we packed up our tents and slowly headed down the trail. On the trail were two young people (male and female) who had already been set up at the trail head when we got there (they were travelling together but were not a couple), a father and his 5 year old son and a mid 20s couple along with their dog. The last two were the ones who had picked me up.

The directions had said that the camp was to be about two kilometers from the parking lot. I was prepared for that to be a little bit inaccurate but I was confident that the lake would be basically just down the hill. Within five minutes of walking I knew that my optimism was unfounded and that it was not going to be an easy hike. The bush was tense! It may have been two kilometers from the trail head to the lake if one could fly but for us mere mortals it was far more like five kilometers of going up and down hills, circling around swamps, climbing over large fallen trees and crossing a fast flowing, slippery rocked river. The ground, which was hidden by ferns that were as high as my waist, generally was covered in a lovely mixture of rotting trees and moss. It made the footing somewhat uncertain.  Bits and piece of tree branches laying on the ground were waiting to be tripped over or to snag ones pants. The trail was well marked with tape but there were times when it felt as if one was lost in this beautiful but dangerous rainforest. Because one could never see too far ahead, there was little sense of how far one had either come or had to go.

After an hour I knew I was in trouble. Every one had passed me. I was too tired to walk and even after a ten minute break I was too tired to even think of lifting my pack on to my shoulders. I only had a few sips of water left in the container, I was sweating copious amounts of water and the mosquitoes while they were not biting me, certainly were annoying. I had asked  the others to, when they got to camp, to ask for some help for me.

I had never asked for help before. I had this image of myself of being this tough "Coureurs de bois", someone who could pick up and carry a 70 pound canoe through swamps - not just once but sometimes 6-7 times a day -just to get to a lake that looked interesting on a map.I was someone who helped others carry their stuff in - not someone who needed help. But there I was - stuck in the middle of nowhere - unable to help myself. It was a sobering and alarming feeling.

After an hour of sitting there I realized that it might be a long time before anyone came and got me - so I slid down the next hill on my rear end and and slowly climbed up the next one. I took my time and was careful of where I put my feet. The last thing I needed was a twisted ankle. Finally through a clearing in the trees a few hundred feet ahead of me I saw a bunch of people. I had arrived! I could see a nice beach area and a river. This had to be it. But it wasn't. What I had see were just all of the people who had left with me plus two other people taking a break at the river. The two new people had spent the night beside the water and were heading back home. They were not prepared to keep on going through the bush.

The young ladies who had spent the night at the river told us that we were only half way there. We had left the trail head at 8:30. It was now 11:30. I knew that I could not walk for another three hours. It was clear that at this rate it, at the very least, might take another 4 hours for someone to come and get me. There was however, a canoe in camp and it  was suggested that if I followed the river down to the mouth, someone could paddle down and get me. If that was not possible then I would stay where I was. After the others left I tried to get down to the lake but the bush was far too dense for me to get through even without the pack. There was no way that I could have pushed my was through the dense alders along the shore. I was not about to wander through the bush trying to find another way. That is how people get lost.

 
However I was not that discontented staying by the river. There was a place for my tent, running water (I had my filter pump) and if there is where I was going to stay - so be it. It was a great place. Great that is except for the cougar tracks along the shore.

It looked so much better than the alternative.

Picture on left is of a sleeping bag being dropped and almost floating down the river

You can see in the right picture, if you look closely, the five year old boy walking into the bush. He was really a great kid who never once complained about how far he had to walk. I kept on telling myself that if I didn't have to carry a pack, I would not have complained either

It was nice by the shore. I drank liters of water and slept in the shade. Finally after two and half hours, the canoe came up the river and after my two rescuers had done some trail work, off we went to camp and within after a thirty minute canoe ride I was home with my Rainbow Family.