Appleby College - Argus Yearbook (Oakville, Ontario Canada)

Page 98 text:

A Typical Day at Northward Bound The usual awakening was to a brisk October morning which oc- curredduring the later days of the first session involving 10 A1. What I am describing here is a hypothetical day which excludes groups arriving from or departing on excursion. The general format consisted of three groups, in- cluding one leader and seven boys. These groups, known as patrols, shared the responsibility of running the show on Rab- bitnose. then straight to breakfast which by this time should be ready. Af- ter an enjoyable breakfast comes clean-up procedures, which beyond serving the useful pur- pose of cleaning also promotes patrol cooperation, and a chance to demonstrate leadership qualities. After a while the fellows begin to realize that nobody is finished until the entire task is completed. While we clean up John Wright supervises the clean-up of the boathouse and Dave Stuart is getting his equipment ready for his canoe trip to Kokoko Lake. The weather is dry, and clear skies prevail, so Knobby decides to have John ' s patrol stain the new siding of the main lodge as well as chop wood. For the rest of the morning my group works on various projects with Mr. O ' Leary who is the master up for the week. This leaves me free for the morning and time for an at- tempt to catch up on some of my school work. When 1:00 P.M. rolls around we get lunch on the tables, co n- sisting soup and sandwich followed naturally by another clean-up. Then John ' s and my patrol switch activities, my patrol staining and John ' s working on projects. At about four o ' clock everybody is looking forward to a hot sauna to gain relief after the day ' s work. On Rabbitnose this is the only means to get clean and it is very successful. One not only feels clean but also very relaxed. The next hour or so is spent in whatever way one wants to, fishing, paddling or reading, banging away at the piano, or just lounging. Meanwhile Knobby and a couple of boys are racing around trying to get dinner ready. After the gluttons (this is no un- derstatement) are finished with their meal which ever contented everybody ' s stomach, the boys are told to get on with some work. They can either write in their daily journal or work on their projects, or just read a book. Usually there is some hot- chocolate and biscuits to round off another day in the North . Then remains the most difficult job of all: getting the boys to bed for some serious sleeping. This is the instructor ' s nightmare, mainly because we too want to get some sleep. So, good night. P.P. Bloemen Today I am duty instructor with the help of my patrol. On waking up at seven o ' clock, I go over to the boathouse to wake up two of my boys and assign them to help our illustrious coach-director Knobby with breakfast and to read the data on the weather- station. I then continue on to start the fire and attempt to start the electricity generator (The Beast). At 7:30 A.M. I wake up my fellow instructors, Coach and Kink and wake up the remaining boys. Next is the short jog of about three quarters of a mile, twice around the island, 94

Page 97 text:

Lost Expedition Lost Expedition may not be the most appropriate title for this tale - we simply did not have suf- ficient time to finish the day ' s hike. The day that our group chose to depart on this trip was a very pleasant one. We paddled towards the high cliffs that loom to the east of the island. Our problems began when we reached the mainland, pulled up our canoes and began the por- tage inland - from the wrong point on the map! Unaware of our misdirection, we trustingly let our compass guide us through the dense forest, aptly referred to as ' jungle ' , for a distance of about four miles. After wading through a stretch of swamp, we finally came upon a small lake. At first glance, I thought that it was our expected destination, Red-mountain Lake (see map, p. 97); but after a few minutes of mapwork and a close scrutiny of the terrain and land- marks, I realized that we were not where we should have been. This was Indigo Lake; we were miles from our desired destination. The boys had no notion of our plight and I decided that they would be happier in their ignorance for the time being. So while the boys had lunch, I deter- mined the proper bearing for the trek over to Red-mountain Lake. Thus it was, that at about three in the afternoon Kink ' s group pushed off. Hiking in and out of valleys, hills and swamps, we finally reached the tip of Red- mountain Lake. While working our way along the shoreline of the lake, I took another bearing, this one to Slide Rock Lake, where we had said that we would rendezvous with the other trip- ping groups. By this time the boys in my patrol began to realize that something had gone wrong, but since the sun was setting rapidly, I decided that they had better keep moving while we still had some daylight: if we could make it to Slide Rock, perhaps another one of the groups would be there to meet us. While following our new bearing, we ran into many new obstacles and got disoriented once again! As soon as we reached a clearing I decided that we would spend the night there. As the boys organized the collec- tion of wood, I started a fire. To make a long story short, we all spent a terribly cold and un- comfortable night. With no sleeping gear or shelter, most of us remained awake, huddled around the ever-dwindling fire. When it went out at about 3:30 a.m. (no one had enough energy to collect more wood) it began to rain. By the time the sun came up and I decided to move out, a few of the boys had fallen into the first stages of hypothermia. We followed a very dubious course due West, for we knew that sooner or later we would come upon Lake Temagami once again. After four grueling miles through the underbrush, we finally reached the shore. Once there, we had our breakfast of left-over bologna. At this time I was very worried about the condition of a few of the boys, but with a frozen smile I pushed the boys down the shoreline, to the spot where we had left our canoes the previous day. By a life-saving stroke of luck, John Wright had spotted our canoes from the powerboat (he had been combing the shore looking for us); we were rescued! The boys recovered after some warmth and rest; as for myself, the experience showed me just what the title instructor is all about. The experience that I shared with the group made me realize that they were foremost in my mind when danger threatened. It taught me something else to live by - on tight situations, always keep a smile, be it frozen or real. David Stuart I DMj£ stoart ' s ckouP Uhew — l jj

Page 99 text:

Boys ' Impressions As I was walking to the boathouse to go to bed tonight, I looked out into the blackness of the woods, across the lake, and I wondered what it would be like the next night out there all alone. Tonight I tried to appreciate my bed as best as I could. This morning our group is on duty and we had to do dishes. We started at 8:30 and finished at 10:15. I am so sick of dishes I count them in my sleep. I realized something today: when you get hungry on a canoe trip, any food tastes good. For lunch today I had three pieces of brown bread with a small chunk of hard butter, a half-inch slice of cheese, a quarter-inch layer of peanut butter, and a quarter-inch layer of jam. It was fabulous. It ' s snowing! The 21st day of September and it ' s snowing. What a country! I saw weather today like none other I have seen in my life. The wind must have been forty miles per hour and gusting. The waves were all of five feet out on the lake. We awoke to the sound of wind whistling through cracks, and shouts and running footsteps on the rock. The Albacore had broken loose from its moorings and was being beaten against the rocks. I love the cold sunny weather. I feel like a trapper. I figure that when I am alone I get a twinge of homesickness, so I ' m trying to keep busy. Clean-up day. Everything within sight had to be cleaned. You name it, I cleaned it at least once. All three groups left and planned to meet at Slide Rock Lake. Two groups showed up. The third, Dave Stuart ' s group, never showed up. When we got back to camp they hadn ' t returned yet. It is now 11 P.M. and there is still no sign of them. Mr. Noble is planning on sending out a plane tomorrow to search. After we came back from the hike we ate stew for dinner and had a sauna. I wrote a letter and am now in bed. Good night, Journal. And good luck to Dave Stuart ' s group. Kokoko Lake was beautiful. There were no cottages or people there ... I have never been in a large place like that which was totally untouched by man. It was beautiful. Well, the final day of a fabulous month .... I ' ve never had a hap- pier month in my entire life .... I still don ' t want to go back down to Oakville .... I think I might deke out from School and go back up there.