Northern Tier Journal - David Heath, Troop 1424, Dec 27-31, 2011 2012-05-19 13:39:19 -0500 Northern Tier Journal 12.27.2011 – 12.31.2011 Troop 1424 Okpik Day 1 12.27.11 23:13 What a crazy day! We all woke up at around 03:30 to catch our flight at 6. It turned out once my dad and I got on the plane, we couldn’t find anyone else! We called Mr. Gore, and it turned out we were on the wrong flight! We would still end up in the right spot, but we wouldn’t be with anyone else. To make matters worse, Mr. Gore, Travis, and Dylan weren’t going to make the original, correct flight! So my dad and I were on one plane, Mr. Gore, Travis, and Dylan on another, and the three Farleys, John Moore, and Travis Crissman were on the right flight. Totally crazy! So once we arrive in Minneapolis my dad and I go grab the van and then come pick up the Farleys, Travis C, and John, and head off to go find lunch while we waited for the other flight to land. We end up taking the coolest detour EVER, going into the Mall of America. After getting the Gores and Dylan from the airport, we were off. On the way to camp we actually saw a bald eagle! Upon arrival, we met our Interpreter, Rick. He’s an awesome guy with a lot of experience, so working with him will be a lot of fun. As we got our sleds, we discovered that being the last crew in for the trek was not a good thing, as no more gear was really left for us. However, we are still going to have the most action-packed adventure possible, and we can’t wait to get started tomorrow! So after getting all settled in, we had orientation in some ledge, and then went back to the dining hall for Cracker Barrel. All-in-all, it has been a very awesome, very cold day, and we’re all excited to see what tomorrow has to offer! Day 2 12.28.11 20:27 As I write this now, I am sitting in an ice cave. I am surrounded by 1 ½ feet of ice all around me, with the exception of a two foot tall door. This. Is. Amazing! Starting with the day – We woke up around 6 and tried to make as much noise as possible, before we went and got our gear. The sun doesn’t come up for a long time around here. We got about half the crew geared up, went to breakfast, then came back and worked on the other half. Shortly thereafter we got our personal gear all loaded up and hit the trail. We arrived where we are now, at Flash Lake, campsite C, with time to spare before lunch. We got everything set up and explored a bit, then had some lunch in the quinzee. After lunch we commenced total snow fun time. We started by building our own suinzee, adjacent to the one already left by staff a week before, and had a ton of help. It was a fun but challenging project. When it was all finished it could hold two people, Dylan and me. Also, at 14:00 we got a very furry visit from the sled dogs! There were four teams and they mushed around a small island with a couple of scouts at a time. It was incredible and I got to stand on the back! Our day was filled with much fun by snow-shoeing, cross-country skiing, and ice soccer. One cool thing about being on the lake is that you can hear when ice shifts or cracks! We wound down the day with a lovely fire and a nice 30 minute hike to get blood flowing again. Rich is just an awesome Interpreter, and I can’t wait to see what tomorrow has in store! Also, I miss Emily! = ( Day 3 12.29.11 21:19 As I lay here writing this, I can hear to wolves howling in the distance. I am also surrounded by a two foot tall wall of snow on all sides of me by what we just call a shelter. The top is completely open except for an overturned sled at my head to keep snow and wind away. It’s pretty tight. So now for the day! Today was certainly one of the most fun yet in many aspects. We woke up in our quizee to Rick telling up 3 inches of snow had fallen last night. It was incredible! We had a warm oatmeal breakfast followed by packing and then moving to our next campsite at Blackstone Lake. I had the great opportunity to cross country ski on the trail to Blackstone, and it was a good experience that I will not be repeating haha. When we got to camp we set everything up and started building our living quarters for the night. Travis C. and Lloyd are in a 4 man tent, Mr. Gore, my dad, and Rick are in the Russian, and Dylan, Travis G, John, and I are in separate shelters. We didn’t do much today except go on a few hikes and build a fire, but we’re all getting really well adjusted to the cold and life out here in general. I’m excited to see what tomorrow has to offer! Also, I miss Emily! Day 4 12.30.11 20:58 And I’m in an ice cave again! This time at Secret Lake, but don’t tell anyone I told you that haha. But anyway I’m in here still with Dylan and this will be our last night on the trail. I’m glad to no longer have to wake up and get dressed in 15 degree weather, but sad because this really has been an amazing adventure. Anyways, about the day! We woke up a little bit later today and then had breakfast. My snow shelter was rather cold, and I was freezing my butt off when I was getting dressed. At about 10:30 the ice fishing guy, James, showed up and we began our lesson. While no one caught anything, we did have a lot of fun goofing off and telling jokes and making snow angels in the meantime. We moved out around 11:15 and headed over to you-know-where Lake. We made camp in a previously inhabited spot which already had many of the amenities we would need. In order to keep everyone occupied, we built a polar dome ice cave for my dad and Mr. Farley to sleep in. Around this time my stomach became very upset for one reason or another and I could not function because of it. I ended up taking some Immotrin and a 30 minute nap and finally felt much better. We finished the night out with a nice dinner (I only had soup) and a great fire and walk. Tomorrow will be a fairly leisurely day as we have no activities to do, only hike in and return our gear. Day 5 12.31.11 22:40 Houston, we are back in the cabin! Woo hoo! We’ve had a very fun, very relaxing day on the trail and back here at camp. Here’s how it went down: We slept in big time this morning, probably until around 9. After breakfast and getting most of the gear loaded, we all headed off into the wilderness to find some pretty nice sleight trails. I went down one of the hills about 10 times haha. After we finished sledding we loaded up camp and set off. We hiked a long way down beautiful trails while it was snowing. It was an altogether very cool experience. We arrived at camp around noon and had lunch, then commenced returning our gear. Once that was done we had a very nice stay in the sauna followed by a refreshing shower. After that everyone just chilled around camp and in the trading post until dinner at 17:30. I got a carabineer for Emily, a shirt, and a belt buckle. At 20:30 the whole camp met in the lodge for a totally amazing closing rendezvous. We when headed off to the mess hall for some final snacks and drinks, then back up to the cabins to sleep in the New Year. I’m very glad to say that it has been a pleasure writing these log entries for the last few camps here, and I hope to have many more adventures to write about soon. Goodnight everyone.