You may remember that in 1989 Jim went canoeing in the Quetico Provincial Park with Dale DeJager, Dave Johnson, and me, Gary Crockett.
I kept a fairly detailed journal of that trip, which I still have in paper form. I've attached a PDF scan of that journal.
Rereading it after all this time brought back many happy memories, as I hope it will for Jim.
I particularly suggest, on page 7, the first paragraph from Monday, September 4 as a snapshot of what it was like to have Jim as a travel companion.
Monday, September 4, 1989
We're breakfasting in the tent this morning. The inside of the tent is, as near as we can tell, the only dry spot for several miles around. It rained on and off all night, then settled down to a steady downpour that continues as of this writing. Jim was the first to venture out; he started the camp stove and got hot water going for cocoa. I was out next; I wandered about aimlessly for a while and then came back into the tent. Now Jim is talking about packing up (in the rain) and getting moving (again in the rain). He appears to be serious; he's stuffing his sleeping bag into its stuff sack even now. We're searching through Dave's medical supplies for a tranquilizer dart to hit Jim with, but so far no luck.
Jim got the rest of us moving eventually. We packed up the campsite in the rain, and paddled all morning in the rain. We changed our strategy on the portages; we had one person take just the canoe while the other took both packs, one pack worn backwards in the front and the other pack carried normally on the back. The two packs are a lot of weight but they don't feel like that much because they're well balanced. Much easier than handling a pack and a canoe. The only problem is that you can't see your feet. ~ Gary Crockett
Jim enjoying dry weather at Quetico
Mileage tracking for the 8 day trip in Quetico
Jim plotting possible routes for portage and paddling
Comments