Day 28, 09/07/12 - Jessica Sauer

I woke up this morning much earlier than most. The sky was still dark enough that I needed my head lamp to get around camp. I knew it was going to be a long, hard day and I wanted to make sure I would be ready on time with my things packed and a hot breakfast eaten. Everybody was ready to get started at 8 o’clock (we really are getting good at this efficiency thing). We started off the morning more exciting than most and we road Wavy Rapids down to our site to fill our canoes before our long journey ahead. The rapids were short, but they were fast and fun and got me ready for the rest of our day. We began down the river and quickly got to the very long Greenhill Portage. It was a long hilly portage, and the two hours that went by were sweaty and exhausting but when we finished it, our group was excited about our huge accomplishment. After a quick lunch break we were back on the river and ready for more rapids. The weather was much better than I had anticipated but I was still expecting some rain. Clouds were coming in, the temperature had dropped, and the winds were changing. With all of this in mind, we started our final portion of our paddle with some force. We were happy that the weather cleared up again and we had time to slow down and even pick some ripe cranberries. Split Rock Falls quickly arrives and the group was anxious to see where we would be staying. Excitement quickly turned into fear when we disrupted an angry hive of hornets. Jon and Kelly were the first two to get stung, followed by Jeremy and myself. The group was instantly concerned knowing that Jeremy is allergic to bees and he was the one that was hit the hardest by the swarm. After seeing his reaction wasn’t too bad the group unloaded the canoes and split up into separate sited. Our tent had a very nutritious dinner consisting of cake and pudding and got ready for debrief. The day went by quickly and before we knew it we were in the tent with a pan of cinnamon rolls to look forward to. Today showed how much our group has improved since week one and I am hoping we are all ready for the long hard week ahead. -Jessica Sauer