Not Under the Stars

I am not tempted to participate in very many memes although I usually comply when I am tagged. I did see a list of 100 things on Janet's blog, a bucket list of sorts. One is supposed to indicate which things one has done. Of course, I can seldom comply with meme rules exactly, so what I think I will do is grab some points from time to time and see what memories and thoughts they conjure. The whole list is here if you want to see it.

2. Slept under the stars

That was the second item on the list, the first being whether one has started a blog. Well duh, wouldn't everyone who were to pick up such a meme be a blogger by default?

Regardless, I've never done it: never slept under the stars. But I have certainly slept in a tent, and I think that's pretty close.

One time was when I was still nineteen years old. My friend and I had concurrent vacations, so we decided to spend them together: the first week at Expo 67 in Montreal, and the second camping in the wilderness that is Algonquin Park, which covers about 7 630 square kilometres (almost two million acres or 3000 square miles), in Ontario's near north. Our plan was to canoe some of the 2400-plus lakes and 1200 kilometres of streams, but we didn't get very far. We paddled for a day and then rested ... and rested. Boy, did we rest a lot.

While I'm almost certain that I have posted about the trip previously, I can't find it for linking purposes. Nevertheless, I'll cut the account a bit short and refer only on our very silly sleeping arrangement.

You see, this is bear country, and bears do like to scrounge about in campers' food supplies if they can possibly arrange it. My friend decided that, in order to protect our provisions, we should sleep with the food in the tent. While I thought it odd, he was the experienced camper, so I didn't question him. How would I know that you're supposed to hang your food pack out of reach in a tree? Otherwise a bear could possibly crash into the tent and maul those who stood (er slept) between him and a midnight snack. It was a very bad decision that could have led to disaster, but no bears sniffed around, and both we and our food remained safe.

This was to be my only experience of wilderness camping but not my only tenting experience, but I think that's enough for one post.