by Josh Squash

After a night of gastro-intestinal distress, possible caused by under cooked veggie burger, we woke to a beautiful sunny morning. Eager to prove ourselves as tough as the mythic Voyageurs we ate a cold breakfast and hit the water by 11 am! Amazingly, one brave masculine soul had time to plunge himself into the water before leaving.

While the sun was out, the weather was not completely cooperative. A fierce wind blew from the Southeast, or so we thought at the time. We laid out our course planning on using the islands to shelter us from the gusts. Specifically, we were planning on heading straight south, slightly off the craggy shore line of Voyageur Island. However, we had camped in a cove and did not realize the true force or direction of the wind. The wind was too fierce and we were forced to trace the coast line in and out, darting around islands, coves and bays. It worked pretty well and though the wind was still present and strong, it was manageable. We skirted the west coat of Munker Island and tried to slip though to the east coast of Long Island. It was not to be. As any good New Yorker can tell you, there is nothing good in Eastern Long Island. The winds were fierce and we doubled back to head down the west coast. Following one more hard push against the wind, we arrived at the north east tip of Red Rock Bay and broke for lunch overlooking Englishman Island.

We headed up Red Rock Bay past a ten rod portage and grabbed a beautiful campsite. After a diner of lentil soup, corn bread and cinnamon roles, we pots, paddled and prayed, and prepared for bed. We howled at the wolves twice, once before Sparky’s coaching and once after, but it was for naught. We went to bed listening to our echo as well as the call of a bemused loon.

The day will be remembered for the telling of two jokes that were so fiercely funny that they almost caused an accident and the taking of pictures. Angie, Cynthia and Josh posed for two pictures for the Carleton Alumni magazine. The first, they were joined by Boundary Waters Barbie for a breakfast around a large rock table and the second they stranded themselves on a five square foot island. Additionally, Cynthia was caught trying to burn a stick that looked like a torch and was willingly dressed as the Statue of Liberty replete with rain fly gown and the only book at hand, a paperback about dog training. It was a memorable day indeed.