Lifes Obstacle Course

August 9, 2012 Canoe Base Day 6

Today was by far the most challenging day I've had on this trip. Early in the morning I was awakened by my tent mates crushing me. The way we had set up the tent the previous night was on a slant which caused us to slide and crush one another. I tried numerous times to wake them up but with no avail they were out stone cold. Finally when breakfast time came I was able to slip out without disturbing them. The morning air was cool goose bumps lined my arms. To the east the sun was rising and it's beauty was astonishing I was overtaken for a while as I sat and watched it rise. Once everyone had gotten up I got to cook breakfast which was maple brown sugar oatmeal with fruits mixed in. After breakfast was when things started going downhill. As usual I was doing my regular morning routine checking the campsite for trash, making sure all the bags were packed. However this morning when I was helping carry down the canoes into the water I slipped and became bitterly cold. We quickly packed everything up and headed out so that I could warm up, however the weather didn't help much. It soon turned from a sunny morning to an overcast of clouds with an occasional breeze which made me feel miserable. Once we had gotten to our first portage I was relatively dry. This portage was mostly uphill which made it very challenging to carry an eighty pound bag on you or a canoe. After climbing up the hill for a short distance I slipped again scraping my arms up against the rock. I got up and shook it off and kept pushing through. Finally we started going down hill for a bit but as I continued to walk I ran into a gigantic puddle over a foot deep. As I was walking through it my foot caught a rock underneath the water and I landed face first in the water and yet again I was soaked. I tried numerous times to pull myself back up but I was unable to support the weight on my back and get up at the same time. One of my other crew members had to help me get back up on my feet and then I powered through the rest of the portages without getting wet. What lied ahead of us proved to be the most challenging obstacle we had to overcome it was a test of  not only ones strength, but of ones willingness to achieve.

From the east a powerful wind started blowing right at us making it much more challenging to canoe. The waves began to forum into white caps and our canoes began to rock back and forth. My heart began to beat faster as we tried powering through the waves. Pretty soon the canoe was in the air and I was praying that we wouldn't capsize. Our campsite was a mere three tenths of a mile away and what seemed like an eternity was only a matter of minutes as we arrived at the camp sight safe and sound. We broke out lunch and I ate like a mad man I was so overcome by today's obstacles I just wanted to put them behind me and look towards the days ahead. We had already at that point canoed a considerable distance that day so we made the group decision that we'd relax for the rest of the afternoon. At the end of the day just getting to relax for the afternoon was comforting it gave me a chance to unwind and reflect upon the day. Even though today might have been a obstacle course it taught me a lot about myself. It showed me that even though at point your whole world keeps crashing down you can always get back up. You have to take control of your'e life and pull yourself back up because if you don't your going to be on the ground going nowhere.