Appleby College - Argus Yearbook (Oakville, Ontario Canada)

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Rabbitnose Island and Surroundings Vaa Eve A v u X-. 9 Map by John Wright

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Tripping at Northward Bound Two of the most important and exciting activities that a young camper looks forward to are the canoeing and back-packing trips. These aspects of North- ward Bound activities are usually gone into with great detail and much preparation; both the boys and the instructors get together and plan for their trips. The canoe trips are perhaps the more favoured of the two because they are usually a little longer in both distance and time. Before anything is done, the course is laid out, along with prospective campsites. The length of the trips usually ranges from three to five days. Once the campsites have been chosen and the course has been laid out in full, a designated camper is put in charge of arranging a menu for the entire group. Another camper is sent to organize the tents and liners, and to make sure that everything from utensils to sleeping bags is packed and secured. This, of course, is all done the night before the depar- ture and checked by the in- structor in charge. The next day the patrol leaves early in the morning and sets out on its expedition. Depending on the weather, the patrol usually travels about 15 miles each day. Every so often, the patrol stops and has a breather and then moves on toward its destination. Lunch is usually had sometime around 12:30 or whenever a suitable site presents itself. After an hour for lunch, the patrol quickly moves on to its evening campsite. Because of the early darkness up North, the instructor has to make certain that a camp- site is reached no later than 4:00. Upon reaching a campsite, there is always a routine which the boys follow with regards to pit- ching tents, cooking dinner, etc. Two boys are put in charge of cooking throughout the trip; this not only gives them an op- portunity to cook whatever they wish, but it also gives them prac- tical experience in the culinary arts. After the dinner and clearing up has been completed, the campers sit around the fire and talk of the day ' s experiences and of the course which is to be followed the next day. Most of the days are made up of hard paddling and tough portages; as a result, every one goes to sleep early in the evening and wakes up early. As a general rule, back-packing trips are much shorter than canoe trips. However, the same routine for the setting-up of campsites and hourly breaks ap- plies here as well. The only dif- ference is the walking instead of canoeing as a means of trans- portation. The patrol is let off in a boat in a bay near a portage in the early morning and picked up the following evening at the same spot. There is usually a short trek through the bush until a logging road is reached. The patrol follows the logging roads throughout the entire trip, com- ing upon logging camps and small inland lakes and streams. By using both their compasses and these logging roads, the campers reach their campsite, which is usually situated by an inland lake. Both types of trips mentioned might perhaps seem boring to those who have not experienced them. Unfortunately, it is difficult to describe the feelings that the boys experience when on these trips. Every trip is different, and with each one comes a whole host of unusual and at times comical ex- periences. The dull routine (as described) of a day of canoeing or back-packing is greatly sur- passed by the occasional moments of realizing what freedom is all about, not to men- tion the wonderful feeling of self- sufficiency. Peter Taylor I Of,

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Solo I awoke early that morning with the sun shining brightly in my eyes. This was the morning I was to depart for my 48 hour solo. The day was the best I had seen in the whole month up here. I completed my laps and swim and jaunted off to the lodge for breakfast. I stuffed myself as if it were to be my last meal, and got my kit together. My food con- sisted of two chocolate chunks, a can of sardines, a bag of tea bisk, and two tea bags. I was allowed ten ft. of butcher cord, a small pot, eight matches and a six by ten foot sheet of plastic. Dave Gibson, my counselor, told me it was time to go, so I reluc- tantly got into the boat with some of the other soloists and we sped off to Seal Rock Pt. When I got there a feeling of panic filled me, and great loneliness. Right from the beginning I was busy, for I knew that if I kept busy I would not get lonely. First I looked around the area for a good site to pitch my shelter and then proceeded to find three large tent poles. I constructed this shelter and stretched my plastic sheet over it in about 20 minutes. Then I layed 6 inches of balsam bough bedding to in- sulate me and keep me dry. My next job was to build a fire which would reflect heat into my shelter. This would be a trapper ' s fire with a large stone for the backdrop which later took a great deal of dragging and tugging. When my fire was built I constructed a wood pile 4 feet high which took me till about four o ' clock or so, as I could calculate by the sun. The rest of the day I investigated the surrounding area. I came back into camp around six o ' clock and lit the fire anew and baked my bannock on the end of a stick. After eating I stoked the fire up and dropped off to sleep. The next morning I awoke and there was frost all over my sleeping bag and the temperature was about 30F and the sun was shining brightly through the pines. I started a fire and cooked the rest of my food. Then my counselor came by to check up on me at about 8 o ' clock and he took a picture of me and my -• ' shelter. Throughout the rest ot the day I did some thinking, writing and carving. Fraser was about 1 2 mile away so we screamed and hollered to each other and could distinguish some of the words. About four o ' clock I got really hungry and by this time I was talking and singing to myself. The drone of Dave ' s motor boat was very welcome in- deed. We went back to the lodge in a seemingly endless journey, expecting that when we got back to the lodge we would be feasting. When we landed at Rabbitnose Island we were greeted by Knobby with the vile statement: dinner is in about an hour and a half. P. Harnden 10 A-2