The Ghost of Ontario (Part 1) (10 Grade Draft)

Chapter 19: The Boy in the Woods

Song: "We Could Have Been Brothers" - Oliver Shanti and Friends

        The first portage was in a very lovely but buggy area. Camp Juniper paddled into a calm river that had trees that were very close to each other, and we studied them.

I soon heard the voice of Aunt Lydia, "I didn't even realize how beautiful Canada was."

Uncle Bart moved his head back and forth and searched for moose in the forest. However, not one was to be seen. As I mentioned before, moose were quite rare here.

From his canoe, Dad checked the map and grinned. "The first portage should be right up here!" he announced. Whoopee. Portages. Portages were just what I needed on a canoe trip. Dad immediately started to paddle faster, and as he did so, he added with, "We're almost at Carrying Lake, Camp Juniper! After Carrying Lake is Red Squirrel Lake!"

I gulped. Red Squirrel Lake. Oh, God. Anything but Red Squirrel Lake. We soon reached a dead end in the beautiful, clear river. Rapids and rocks were to the right of us and blocked our path. There was also a small waterfall. The forest was in front of us. Now, this is what I don't get, but I could see the other side of the river. So, I don't understand why we have to walk through a 670 meter-long portage when the other end is right there. However, later on I learned that we wouldn't be able to get the canoes over the rocks.

At first, I was like, "Really? You're making us walk through the bug-invested forest when the other side is right there?"

When we first reached the dead end, we had trouble finding the portage because we couldn't find the sign. Dad, though, said that we were where we were supposed to be. While they searched for the trail, I tried again to get Camp Juniper to turn around. I said, "It's a dead end. Oh well." I turned to paddle away, "We tried."

Uncle Bart turned us around, and we ran right into the shallow bottom of the river that fed into a small, rocky beach. To me, he said, "The portage is here, Kylie. We just have to find it. We knew this was coming."

"Why can't we just canoe over the rocks rather than take a hike?" I asked him.

"Because," he answered, "we'll mess up the canoes if we try to." He hopped out of the stern and pulled us up onto the bank of the river. All members of Camp Juniper pulled up to this bank.

        Uncle Bart sauntered over to the bow of the canoe, and he offered me his hand. I took it, and he pulled me out. My boots hit some rocks, and I stumbled but managed to catch balance. My legs were like Jell-O after sitting in the canoe for so long. It got better as the trip progressed, but on the first day, it was really hard work for me.

I examined the area and said, "Um, I don't see a trail." I glanced at Dad. All his crewmates had hopped out of the canoe, and he was pulling it up on the bank.

He glanced at Uncle Clement and ordered, "Clement, you're on trail duty! Go find the trail!"

Uncle Clement saluted, "Aye, aye, Captain!" He put his mosquito jacket on and approached a small hill. Uncle Clement climbed up it and disappeared in the forest. It was about 11:30 am by the time we reached the first portage. Lunchtime was coming.

Mosquitoes started to swarm around me, and I shooed them away. Reaching into Old Town #1, I pulled out my own bug jacket and the bottle of Deet. I slipped it over my upper body and sprayed myself down. The difference between bug nets and bug jackets was that bug nets covered your face and neck whereas bug jackets covered your entire upper body. I slipped the jacket over my hood and everything. Mosquitoes whined by my ears, but a few of them didn't land on me. I smacked the ones that did. Seriously, why did the bugs up here have to be so freaking enormous?! Eventually, I got used to the smell of Deet. However, my arms were killing me. I massaged them. Like I mentioned before, it got better as the trip progressed.