Adventure Roulette - a collectively written story

Jan 30/31, 2016

Destination: Warden’s Cabin, Three Mile Lake

Winter Camping Party: Tristan, Avalon, Sara, Erica, Morgan, Angharad
Trip details left behind in the Cabin Log Book. 

The storm from the night before had just settled and we decided to make way for the cabin deep in the woods. We decided to play adventure roulette, completely unsure whether the lakes would be frozen or not. [dangerous music plays ominously]

The first emergency put upon us required us to put the Aussie’s feet in plastic bags after he stepped in water testing the integrity of the edge of the lake, (it would be the first of many wet feet).  It was a unanimous vote that would ultimately save the integrity group for the duration of the trip. The Lady wolf pack was determined the Aussie’s toes would not freeze on his first Canadian winter adventure.

The first leg of the trip was too bushwhack from Aerotech to the first lake, battling through brush with skis and tangling ourselves in the low hanging branches holding us back.  Having made it to the lake, we made the risky decision to transverse the lake on the half-slush half-ice rather than hacking through the dense undergrowth following the edge of the lake to stay on safe and solid ground. We took the risk. Here the skis help distribute our weight, but those on pokey feet had to keep moving constantly so that they didn’t slowly sink through the soft slush; all that was keeping them from the icy depths below.

We finally made it to the end of the first lake to begin our fruitless search for the portage trail. Determining that it was an unmarked trail we abandoned our skis and followed a compass bearing through the brush towards the next Lake.

After surviving the first crossing our confidence grew too much and we set forth on the lake #2, ignoring the soft ice slush cover once again. Thirty steps in and unaware of our very dense traveling pack the unimaginable happened, even though we spent the first leg of our trip imagining this very scenario. A foot in the orange jumpsuit went through the ice up to the knee. The howls and panic that were released shook the forest. We froze figuratively, and anticipated the physical freeze doomed for our friend's toes, [ominous danger music volume increases]. 

Surprisingly the magic orange jumpsuit was a good water shield and the foot did not freeze - no garbage bag first-aid vote was needed and the integrity of the frozen lake held.  The pack decided to push forward doubling our roulette adventure on the stupidity of crossing the slushy pit of death/danger, AKA the technically unfrozen lake.

Safely reaching the other side with only one wet shin, we made it to the second portage trail. Thankfully this time the clearing was marked. Trudging through this trail was a slush hopscotch competition, which resorted to a full speed harsh-bardge tactic and we made like the gods and floated across the marsh with will and speed (while screaming like barbarians).

Making it to lake #3 we checked the map and voted if we should make a deviation in our route plan (headed by Tristan). Mid-lake, now crossing with a tentative confidence, we veered left and bushwhacked uphill.  This effort outweighed possible death as we eyed open water at the end of the lake.

After clawing our way through the near vertical wilderness, we spotted the pond far below us. We made a descent like giant awkward winter otters, skirted around it to the left, and to our dismay found ourselves faced with another snowy ascent.  As the dusk began to close in on us, we half crawled half-staggered up the ridge over boulders and bent branches.  Again we crested and slid down the snow covered nature slide on our bums, channeling our inner winter otter once again.  Then to our delight, up ahead Tristan let out a triumphant yell.  We found the cabin and would not be sleeping in the snow!

     

 

Thank you so much nature loving community for maintaining this beautiful little cabin, we are thrilled for the shelter and adventurous trek. However, we honestly do not know how one would get through those portage trails with a canoe overhead;  perhaps summer travel is much more easier.