Emily Maze                                                                                                                                              8/29/17

Bearly A Water Tower

Sean woke up to the dark morning without hearing rustles of bags being packed. Everyone was still sound asleep. That is how our day started. We ended up loading the canoes and getting in our convoy an hour later than we expected. Our navigators, Julia and Sean, were leading us the wrong way, but luckily it was corrected pretty quickly. After a short while of paddling, we docked at a couple of logs in a bog for our second portage. Ashley D. and I got out to check the area and I sank knee deep in what looked like very shallow water. Eventually, all our gear was unloaded so we could start portaging. With my 60lb food barrel, I carefully plodded my way, but after 20 or so feet, my left leg was sucked far into a hole. Chris helped me up but when he put my barrel on my back again, the hole succeeded in trapping me again. Sometime along the trek, I was humming and singing bits of Bohemian Rhapsody. Emma and Ashley caught on so we could sing the overlapping voice parts and some awesome instrumental parts. Minus the mud, this portage was way easier than the last. A few more hours of canoeing and we collapsed at out new campsite. There is an old train water tower that looks like a gust of wind will blow it down. Kara taught a lesson on mammals where adorable manatees and Aye Ayes were mentioned and Julia learned that birds are not mammals. Ashley D. found a great teachable moment: bear scat. Guess where it was located: ten feet from Emma, Kara, and Sean’s tent and not too much farther from everyone else’s tent. I guess we’ll see tomorrow who is left to survive the quest of the holy van.