First off, we sit in a car for 7 hours to drive to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, (this was a plus because it is unbelievable pretty up there) only to be greeted by a 2 hour canoe trip to our campsite, with all our luggage. Our group of boys ranged from 11-17, it was a very diverse bunch of kids (pics to follow and explain) and it made the canoe trip and car ride...very...interesting.
We spent 4 days in the blissful wilderness. The lake that our campsite was on, was only 1 of 4 campsites. We had 2 of them and each campsite can only have 5 tents...talk about secluded and we pretty much had the entire lake to ourselves. Each day we just wandered around and explored the different lakes and islands. Every day we played at least 5-10 games of ultimate frisbee, went to bed late and woke up at the butt crack of dawn. Playing and canoeing all day, late nights and early mornings were beginning to take a toll on me and my body, each day I would wake up more sore that the previous day. I came to realize two things. 1. I am way out of shape and 2. I'm not as young as I think I am. Now you all may say..."But Kye, you're only 21!" Yes, I am fully aware that I am still very young, but I have had some jobs that were tolling on my back and body and I blew out my knee 3 years ago in cross country. With this said, I was feeling just a sore as the older adult leaders.
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| Dwayne hyer-extended his knee on the first day so it was out the rest of the week. |
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| Beautiful Crooked Lake |
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| Our 3-canoe Pontoon, so we could fish and relax. |
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| Fixing lunch on some random place on the lake |
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| Last day, and the only day we didn't wake up to drizzle |
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| The hidden path the the secret beach |
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| Secret Beach (look hard, there is no one else there!) |
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| Secret Beach |
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| The Crew! |
1. The age and maturity of some of the boys
2. The weather, it was shoot and miss most of the days. It usually rained then was sunny and then rained.
3. The equipment. This was their first trip and they anticipated well. However, 2 little burners to cook gallons and gallons and gallons of water and a hand pump to purify gallons and gallons and gallons a water each day.
4. Dwayne hurting his knee and being a 'bum' for the week.
5. Canoeing ( I think this falls on both the boys and their age and skill level, and planning and the whole 1st experience thing)
6. LONG DAYS and not enough sleep!
7. Paddling 2 hours back to the portage to pack up and sit in a car, stinky and smelly for 7 hours.
The things mentioned above were very little parts in the grand scheme of things. I would go again in a heartbeat. The boys were awesome and real troopers, I felt like I was working at scout camp again (seeing the boys mature and grow). I was called Capt. Katy all week due to my life-jacket (which made me smile. When the boys, even the leaders that came with, see me at church or a stake activity call me Capt. Katy) We made the best of the situation we were given. The boys were thanking me that we had to go home early because I had 'other affairs' to attend to. (The trip was supposed to go till Saturday, but I had COMIC-CON!) Again, I don't want to make you all think that I didn't have a good time, because I did. I just feel that we could have done some more things to prepare better. Overall, for the 1st trip like this it was a success.
Benefits of the trip:
1. Ultimate Frisbee EVERYDAY
2. The Food, surprisingly the was great. I was told we would be eating dehydrated meals (I thought of space food *gag*) but they were home cooked meals, placed in a dehydrator and all we had to do was add water and heat
3. A week without cell phones, ipods, internet and just to get away and enojoi nature
4. The weather. I am aware that I complained about it earlier, but when it wasn't raining it was beautiful in comparison to Chicago's sauna summer we had
5. The Secret Beach
This is Capt. Katy signing off for now!
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