From the Brook: Fall 2018, Canoe Trip

During last week, we were on a canoe trip to Maine. We started on Monday, easing in with just 2.5 miles of paddling in about as many hours. On Tuesday, we had about four miles. Canoeing was the easy part of the trip. On Wednesday, we started the hard part, the portage, where we carried all our gear, including the six 70-pound canoes, overland for over 3 miles. On Wednesday, we only covered about 1.7 of those miles. The portage spilled into Thursday, when we completed it and canoed the longest leg of our trip, at six miles. We made good time, completing those miles in just three hours. Finally, on Friday, we finished our trip and got back to Glen Brook. 

Wednesday was the hardest day. Due to our inexperience in portaging, we fell behind schedule, as we were supposed to finish the portage on Wednesday. As if that wasn’t enough, we only just got to our quickly-chosen campsite before it started to pour. Jake quickly set up the tarp for shelter, but our gear—and our tents—were soaked. Then, as if to prove Murphy’s Law (“Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong.”) both our camp stoves broke. 

Despite the dampness, lingering rain, and slow portage, we made it to the scheduled camp Thursday night, where we dried our socks by the fire, discussed politics, and celebrated Noah Weil’s birthday. We managed to get to the bus by 11:00 on Friday, and were unpacked by dinner time.