I didn't get gobbled up by a bear...

... and neither did Tee.

We made it back from the Great White North. Our canoe trip was a success, even in the face of a few difficulties.

First, let me tell you about the canoe circuit we traversed. Tee and I canoed the Bowron Circuit, which is a big part of Bowron Lake Provincial Park, located in eastern British Columbia. The circuit is a chain of 14 lakes and 3 rivers, laid out in a rectangular fashion. As the crow flies, the length is 82 miles of canoeing. For those of us who experienced some issues with keeping our canoe straight (we won't mention any names), the actual canoeing miles is probably closer to 100. In addition, there were several spots where our group would hug the shore, due to the weather.

We were in a twelve person group, and we canoed the circuit in eight days. Originally, we were to be a fourteen person group, but our leader, L, (and coincidentally, the only person who had done the circuit before) had to drive his son, J, home. J fell out of a top bunk in the cabin he was staying in, pre-trip, and broke his arm. After a few hour tutorial on the circuit, we morphed into a group of twelve gifted with a reluctant leader, Pirate Jay. I think all of us experienced pangs of panic when L and J drove out of sight.

Pirate Jay turned out to be a terrific leader. He's an experienced outdoorsman and canoeist. He's laid back and uses his sharp sense of humor to lift low moral. It rained on the circuit every day; on one lake, I swear it was rain/snow mix. When it was cold and wet, it was difficult to maintain a positive outlook on life, but then Pirate Jay would blurt out some deal, and he'd have us all laughing within a few minutes, and life looked much better.

I have more to describe about the trip, but I'll do it in smaller batches. Anyway, I'm glad to be home. I missed Lew, Rosie, Zander and Tony very much. I think Lew missed us as well. I received a phone call from him the nanosecond my cell phone started to receive reception again. He attended his family reunion in Eastern Washington, but broke camp to come back and be with us when we got home. We arrived home within five minutes of each other.