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Class of 2001
Winter Outing Summary / Pictures
We waved goodbye to our parents as we left Mackenzie's parking lot; our cars overflowing with gear and a class of apprehensive Tamarack students. We drove to Smith Lake where we would be camping for the next five days. After several trips along the path carrying overstuffed packs, with the help of Tyler and his Ski-Doo we were finally ready to set up camp. The first thing on the agenda was to set up our 16' x 32' army tents on the ground; which was 4 feet under the snow. Together our class moved 2048 square feet of snow!! We slept in the army tents for the night. Without the insulation of snow, this was definitely the coldest night. We got our first taste of winter camping the next morning when we opened our coolers to discover that all our food was frozen. Everything, you name it! We rushed through breakfast and then headed over to Perch Lake to do a lake study, which would last all day. We tested water clarity, depth and temperature using equipment that we constructed ourselves. After we returned to camp, we dug out our quinzhees and made what were to be our bedrooms for the next few nights. We cooked up our dinner which was yummy for most groups, except for one, who brought a can of something that was either beef stew or dog foopd, we're not sure which. After a few rounds of cards, it was evident that Euge was 'sphincter'. It was the first night that Peter got his nickname: "Lefty". After a warmer night out in the quinzhees, we left for our for our 6-hour hike. Tara had a close call with some thin ice but came out with slightly wet feet. When we stopped for lunch, she warmed her feet by the fire, unfortunately whe sat a little too clase to the fier and melted her boots! Luckily, Dixie always seems to have some duct tape and we fixed up her boots in no time, who needs grip anyway? Our last day of winter camping was the TAMARACK Olympics. After a series of rigerous activities, we declared team Kenya the winner. The last night out winter camping we sat around a candelabrum with Carl and reminisced about the trip. This night brings back fond memories; the group really came together. Everyone was closer. Not ready to go home the next day, we took down the stinking army tents and carried our stuff out to the highway. Even thought we were definitely ready to take showers and looking forward to eating anything but GORP, it was hard to leave our camp. We left Smith Lake with a new experience and awesome memories that we'll have forever. Back to the top
As we unloaded the cars in the parking lot at the Highland Trail, we waved goodbye to our parents and prepared ourselves for a long week of backpacking through Algonqin Park. We set off at about 11:30 hiking to a small waterfall for a short break. The first campsite was shielded by a large rock that we could all sit upon to chill for a while. This campsite had the best point to relax, absorb the rays and swim with the fishies. The next day, we woke up nice and early and set off in three separate hiking groups for the day. After a nice morning, the day turned rainy and miserable but an upside to the day was that we saw an enormous moose and it was Geert and Rachel's first moose sighting ever. We stopped for lunch at a small point where Matt and Euge made everyone a fire to warm up by. There was nothing really spectacular about the next campsite, no good places to swim; just a covered shoreline with an open shaded flat area to pitch a tent. The next morning, camp was broken early like usual and the three groups set off again (in a different order) on one of the longest days of the trip. The day ended nicely at the best site of the trip with an awesome natural fireplace in the rocks. The next day started like all the rest, stopping on the same lake that we started the trip on. We could even see our site from the first night. That night there was a formal campfire led by Matt and concluded in a sing-a-long. The last day of the trip we hiked out the same way we came in. We elft camp a litle bit later as a whole group. As we re-entered the parking lot we started out from, we looked back and realized how amazing a trip we'd had. Back to the top
We all arrived at Mackenzie by 7:15 in the morning. We were all a bit groggy but ready to go. The trip started out as any other, we loaded up and drove down to Lake Placid. After arriving in camp and setting up our tents we headed straight for the mountains. We hiked up to the top of Cascade. It was a steep climb and the summit was bald rock. When we made it to the top, the view made it all worthwhile and the wind helped us to cool down as well. It began to get a wee bit chilly up there so we decided to head back down. It took us less time going down than going up, go figure! That night across from one of the girls' campsites "The Family" was singing. There was a huge sing-off with the family; we were definitely in violation of the noise restrictions. We went hiking, biking, and rock climbing in Placid. The whole time we were there, it rained! Two groups climbed Marcy and one group went up Algonquin. Both of these peaks were over 2900 ft tall. The biking was a bit dangerous because it was raining and the rocks were slippery. Everyone was really dirty after the ride, so we hit the showers, ah the feel of warm, realxing water. When we went rock climbing, we met Steve, the rock-climbing instructor for the group; the girls were in love at first sight! We decided to climb outside in the rain. The rapelling was fun and the climbing was amazing although the brown juice that was squeezed out of the rope was not quite as much fun. Steve, our guide, was very helpful. At the end we were all sad to leave and say goodbye to Steve. A couple of members of the group (no names, Adrienne and Tara) stole some pictures of our guide to remember him by. On Thursday night, we went to town for supper, a movie and some shopping. After supper, we headed off to Ben & Jerry's to have some delicious ice cream. Guess what, the sun decided that Friday during the car ride would be a perfect time for it to be shining. How considerate! Everyone was tired, their gear wet and they were all happy to be going home. This was going to be the trip of early mornings. The latest morning of the trip was Friday when we were awaken at 7:00 am. Mostly we were up at 6:00, but one terrifying morning Mr. Steer gave us his "G'd Mornin" at 5:30. The first 4 days were the toughtest ones. In and out of the canoe five or six times a day, along portage trails and rock faces made for some tiring days. The 4 km portage occurred on day 4. We all did amazing and kept our spirits up really well. To amuse ourselves on the lake, we would sing and sometimes Mr. Engel would join in. The 4 km portage and the first portage on day 6 were an introduction to the mud. We were stuck waist deep with canoes on our heads in mud. Deep, sticky, smelly mud. We stayed at a beautiful campsite on Obabika Lake where we swam, lay on rocks and Tyler dropped his glasses in the water. Thankfully some helpful friends with a good lung capacity helped him out. That day, we also visited a small lake with huge cliffs where the girls went skinny dipping, but in the words of Katie "the little pansy boys were afraid." We spent 2.5 hours on this lake alone during our solos. Later that night, some of the crazier ones of us stayed out in a huge thunder storm and screamed with/at the elements. We had some short paddling days and we had some long paddling days. We would have time to sit and sunbathe or swim each afternoon. Mr. Steer took the last step of TAMARACK and let us spend most of the trip by ourselves. We worked as a team moving canoes or packs or building fires or sharing stoves. We had made the final step and become independant of the leaders. We camped in style and we had a really great time. The last campfire was a time to remember the fun times of the trip and the year. We realized how close we were and what this semester had taught and meant to us. Jenn's sing-along was the perfect way to the last trip of the year. The early morning on the last day was a little hard to take and a lot of us were really tired of paddling. We made great time and we had tons of time to get everything loaded up before the parents got there and even had a swim. It was a long drive back home to Deep River and it was strange not to be out in the sun. Everyone was happy to be home, but sad that this was our last trip ever as a class. Back to the top |
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© 2007 TAMARACK
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