A big part of the float trip was Patrick therapy. Mike and Ray did a lot of listening, and I did a lot of talking. But in its own way the scenery and river provided a cure of their own. It's not an accident that river trips are a big part of literature - think 'Huck Finn' or 'Heart of Darkness'. River trips have a beginning and an end and lots of adventures along the way. And the journey is a good time to think things through.
Near the end of the trip we had a segment of 20 miles of winding oxbows surrounded by a swampy plain (what we called 'Morder')(click her for link to post that shows pictures of the area). My canoe was more heavily loaded than the others and needed to be moving faster than the current to be controlled. Ray and Mike wanted to loaf along with the current in the sunshine, but when I tried to go slow my canoe did spins and ran into the bank. So I decided to paddle and go on ahead. I told them I'd go ahead and have camp set up when they arrived.
So for 4 hours I paddled alone through 'Morder'. The tall grass on the banks whispered in the wind, and my paddle splashed in the water. Every once in a while I'd come around a bend and disturb an animal of some sort - once a beaver slapped its tail; a fox stood still, and looked and looked before he suddenly bolted off into the grass; a pair of swans beat the water as they honked and took off; Mallards, Green Wing Teal, and American Widgeons frequently gave me a jump when they raucously quacked and helicoptered off the water from behind a screen of grass.
It was a contemplative 4 hours. I did no talking and no one listened, but the scenery just went on and on. If I'd had an ipod it would've been playing 'Solsbury Hill' by Peter Gabriel, but really the sound track of the wind in the grass and the running water was far, far better.
I arrived at camp an hour and a half before the others and set up camp. I really did not look around much as I worked. Till suddenly I glanced up at a splashing sound that I thought represented the arrival of Ray and Mike. And there was junior bear staring at me from the water's edge. He sniffed around the camp perimeter and I held my ground with the pepper spray in hand. Then I looked upriver and there were 2 more bears. I realized I was surrounded by bears. They were not threatening at all and I continued to set up camp in their company. Mike and Ray did arrive a short time later and took pictures of these bears from their inflatables (see photos below).
That night I appreciated the electric fence around the camp perimeter.
Patrick
 |
| That's me in the blue canoe in the distance - pulling ahead for my 4 hours of alone time on the river |
 |
| The 'junior' bear who first approached camp |
 |
| Momma and cub upriver of camp |
No comments:
Post a Comment