I put the Adventure in Adventure Camp: Part 2

We left off with a canoe sinking, a kid covered in stinging nettle, and us paddling like the wind bouncing bank to bank attempting to get downstream.

There we were, kids still having trouble paddling, the canoe getting lower in the water.  The bailout child tried to help paddle by using his arms instead of bailing out the canoe.  He was having a blast, the kids paddling…. not so much.   We approached riffles.  I told the kids to aim for the v’s.  I held my breath.  My jr counselor went first.  Then came the sinking canoe.  It bottomed out, and got wedged .  I held the other canoe back, while my Jr. counselor attempted to free the canoe.  She pushed, the canoe gave way, she lunged forward, slamming her shin into a rock.

Blood poured from the gash in her leg.  We banked all the canoes yet again, and I cleaned up her leg, thinking that she might need stitches.  Butterfly bandages would have to do.

Finally, we caught up to our other campers, wading in the stream, waiting for us.  We were able to contact the canoe company and have another canoe sent out.  The Junior counselor contacted her parents about her leg.  Everyone agreed that she was alright with the butterfly bandages (her father a doctor) and she decided to stick it through to the bitter end.

We continued.  This time sticking together.  Soon we approached a stone dam (just built to create a small reservoir)  that was being topped from the recent rains.  We were to bring our canoes to shore, carry them down a slight hill, and stick them back in the water.

The slight current began to take their canoe.  They could not back paddle fast enough, and they were having trouble guiding their boat to the shore.  They were getting closer and closer to the dam. They gave up…. frustrated, and stopped trying to steer.  My junior counselor was in my canoe, holding back another that was having trouble.  The director was on the shore, telling us to “stop fooling around out there”.  She just didn’t get it.  Closer and closer to the dam.  I could come up along side the canoe, but then the other would be left floundering as well.  I had no choice.  I tied off my waist to the canoe, told my jr. counselor to block the other canoe with our own while back paddling, and I made my way to the canoe, swimming as hard as I could.  I grabbed the boat and had my Jr. counselor back paddle.  They were about 10 feet from the dam when I caught them and pushed as hard as I could swimming, guiding them to the shore.

The rest of the trip went without incident.  We reached our campsite, pitched our tents and had a good evening by a campfire.  It certainly was a trip to remember.