The Fool is the spirit in search of experience...: June 2012

A few days after arriving back from our tripper training trip about 100 camp counsellors flooded through the gates of Birch Trail and camp started to amp up in anticipation of the hundreds of campers that would impede for the summer. As a Tripper thankfully I only had to endure about half of the general staff orientation and got to spend the rest of the time running rapids, playing tramp-ball and taking on the role of morning work out drill Sargent.

One morning I grabbed Casey's bike and headed out towards Bass Lake for a ride only to be stopped in my tracks as a large black bear ambled across the road in front of me, frozen and silent I waited tensely as it wandered into the road side brush and then I sprinted back towards camp, looking back once to see the bear retrace it steps back across the road behind me. That was my second encounter with a bear, I had seen one swim across the river during our tripper trip but this was a little more unnerving, it was so close and I was alone, not quite sure what to do!

D-day was rapidly approaching, we had all adjusted to camp life and had the opportunity to get to know one another but I don't think any of us were ready for the 212 campers about to invade our serene lakeside hamlet. On the last day of camp as we had come to know it we crammed into a 15 person passenger van and made our way to Minneapolis for an evening of Ethiopian chow and the plush beds of a hotel before our assault on the airport. The next morning we greeted, herded and shuttled excitable and tired campers and tons of luggage onto buses and back to camp and our quiet community erupted into masses of laughter and cheering. Returning staff knew what to expect but the first timers, myself included found it a little overwhelming to say the least! We retreated to the safety of Tripper Village not long after dinner that night scared for what the following day(s) would bring.

Thankfully after a few meals in The Lodge crammed with hundreds of screaming children you get used to it a little and my cheering and noise tolerance levels have increased somewhat.

Camp life is now in full swing, days are crammed with various activities for the girls, arts and craft, water-sports and games galore and I have received my trip schedule for the first session; I will be leading a 6 day trip to the Boundary Waters, a 3 day trip on the Namekagon River, a canoe voyagers program and an overnight trip with a group of the younger girls. I was really hoping to get the hiking trip to Isle Royale so fingers crossed for next session.

Really can't describe how much I am loving life here, summer and the outdoors. This is living!

Superb sunsets lakeside

A little Ninja fun with Cedar and Zach

Hanging in Tripper Village with Shae-dynasty and Deni

A sight...one of the girls dorms

Twilight serenity

Jamming... Cedar finally got some noise from those bags!

It feels like the time between my last weekend in Melbourne, my short stint in LA and the 10 days I've been here at Birch Trail has been lost in a time warp. My life has completely changed in a short couple of weeks, 10 days have passed and melded into a black hole since my arrival here at Birch Trail and I have to check my watch to find out what day it is, not that it matters at all!

After celebrating the nuptials of the ever wonderful Wylie's and spending an intimate few hours with the people closest to me I boarded an aeroplane to sunny days. LA greeted me with warm open arms, as did my Antarctic amiga Jamie along with a surprise cameo appearance by Alex. Two glorious days ensued; filled with great food, handsome men, ping pong poolside parties, belly laughs, engaging conversation as well as a morning Hollywood Hills hike thrown in for good measure. Before I knew it I was boarding another plane, headed for the mid west and what would be my home for the next few months.

I arrived at Birch Trail the day prior to commencing my contract, I met a fellow Trip Leader (from this point forward we will be referred to affectionately as Trippers) at the airport and we drove the couple hours North to the small town of Minong (My-nong Pop. 500ish) in Wisconsin. I settled in quickly to my new digs, a rustic cabin named Zulu Longhouse which I share with fellow Trippers Hayley and Julie. The following day brought some orientation and integration into Mid-West life with a visit to Hayward, the closest large town (Pop. 2000ish) where I experienced a $6.99 buffet pizza lunch at a place called Coops which was heavily adorned in antlers and various other mounted dead animals. It was then that it really occurred to me where exactly I was….the American Mid-West. I was pleased to find a specialty popcorn store which stocked both some delicious and interestingly flavoured popcorn, a local coffee shop which I will no doubt visit often and the discovery of an interesting store named 'The Man Cave'. After procuring myself a 'Hayward' t-shirt we headed back to camp ready for our official 5pm start to the Birch Trail camp season.

It was the coming days that really disappeared into the time warp, after a brief couple of introductory and induction days and some hours paddling the Pokegama Lake, all the Trippers (there are 12 of us) headed out on the annual Tripper Training Trip, which this year was a six day, 100 mile canoe trip, stretching the full length of the Namekogan River. To say it was a lot of fun is an understatement. I cannot remember the last time I had so many side splitting laughs and behaved so silly as well as serious and focussed at the same time. It was also a phenomenal learning experience and a great opportunity to get to know the people I will be working and spending the summer with. I also saw my first Black Bear which was pretty sweet, we were perched underneath a bridge playing cards and waiting for a storm to pass when I looked over to see a small black bear swimming accross the river.

While I was happy to return to camp; to running water, shampoo and lettuce I felt a renewal in my love of the outdoors and enjoyed the experience of 'unplugging' from the modern world. The things I enjoy the most about wilderness trips is that modern life and the outside world matters little, there is no make up, you smell bad, you can eat as much cheese as you want and all there is to think about is reading the river in front of you, watching the weather around you, deciding where might be a good spot to stop for lunch and how to avoid the bilge pump water gun attacks of fellow Trippers!

Return to camp brought one other highly anticipated event… a night off, which of course meant beer! After a well deserved burger and beer at the Angry Minnow we all hit up the bar across the lake, our 'local', for several pitchers of beer, dancing and more laughs which progressed onto raspberries (not the edible kind) and the breaking of a hammock.

It is going to be a very good summer.