A Superior Post [1]

So, uh. Hi.

[Imagine this echoing into the empty recesses of our blog.]

I would have posted this morning, but instead I watched the Breakfast Club again. It's kind of weird, because I could have done a whole lot of other, more useful things (like sorting out school stuff, posting an entry, and sorting pictures from my Lake Superior Hike-

Actually, let me talk about that. I'll update on what I did after I came back later. (Weird craving for Breakfast ((Club)) and all.) I left on the 22nd of August, and came back yesterday (which was the 3rd). I spent one day at camp prepping for the trip (wellness checks, food, equipment, sleep) before leaving at 4:00 a.m. the next morning on an 8-hour van ride. There wasn't much leg-room, so being short actually came in very handy - I slept at least twice as much as everyone else because I was able to stretch out a bit and lean my head on the seat. It probably helps that I seem to be very skilled at the art of sleeping in moving vehicles. [I wake up once we stop or near the destination. I don't know why. Probably a subconsious thing.] An added bonus? I woke up every hour, so I was able to catch the sunrise. I can probably count on my fingers the times I've watched the sun rise, and this was by far the most beautiful. Second place goes to one while flying on a plane.

We were surprisingly lucky with weather. It rained the first night and the morning of the last day. On outtrip, rain can really make you miserable. Not that I don't enjoy rain itself (plus, in my opinion, the lake looks much more beautiful when it rains. Blue water is pretty, but kind-of-teal cobalt-gray is far superior[1] ), but it makes you cold and puts you in a I-don't-wan't-to-move kind of daze, which makes getting any work done worth twice the effort. Plus, it's harder to start a fire.

The terrain and scenery weren't monotonous, but they didn't vary that much either. Not that it wasn't beautiful. Just that after a while, all the picturesque beaches and rugged coastal rocks became the perfect, but same scene. I think that's kind of why I prefer cloudy Superior to sunny Superior, because it had more layers.

Our group was pretty small: Two counselours, three boys, two girls. Unfortunately, though, on Day 2, Maddie, the other girl, partially dislocated her knee after taking a funny step and had to be evacuated. [The OPP came and stretchered her to the highway for camp to bring her to the hospital after one of our counselours hiked with her strapped onto his back, splint and all, to the meeting point.] That's how I ended up getting a tent for myself.

Once we fell into tripping rhythm[2], we started to have time for things like cards and swimming, and in my case, exploitation of the macro setting on my camera (because things look so much better close up). We even played Texas Hold'em with rocks from the beach. By the end of the trip, we were all three shades more tanned, covered with scratches and bites (and in my case, three burns), and reeking of sweat, smoke, and trip food[3]. It was very odd to be back among people and toilets and loud noises and beds, and ever odder to fall asleep without the continuous roar of waves crashing on nearby shores.

[1] So many Superior puns, so little time to use them. Bad puns were also frequent during our poker sessions - we really hit rock bottom right then. See what I did there?

[2] Because ours was a hike and not a canoeing trip, we had to unpack and repack all of our food, equipment, and personal packs every morning and every evening in addition to finding firewood, cooking food, putting up the bear hang, and cleaning up the site. This, as you can imagine, could take a lot of time with only 4 people (6 if you count counselours), and we always seemed to end up doing dishes in the dark. It was a complete pain in the neck - or back, actually, since crouching after a long day of hiking was quite torturous for my lower back - to pull up the bear hang and fumble for dishes while hanging on to flashlights.

[3] I don't know what it is, but all trip food, no matter what it is, smells and kind of tastes unique. You can smell it at O.P (outtrip planning, where all the food and equipment is stored and ready for prep), and it really is very distinctive. It reminds me of faint citronella, not by the flavour of the smell, but of the feel of the smell. They feel similar. If you don't understand what that's supposed to mean, don't fret. I don't know how to describe it.