First Tastes 1


By Riley Smith

Dates:June 6-9, 2003
Entry Point:61 - Daniels Lake (BWCA)
Type:Canoeing
Lakes:Bearskin, Daniels, Duncan, Hungry Jack

My memories of these earliest trips are foggy because I was very young. I still however have fond memories of our names we gave to campsites and places, of fishing late into the evening, of having a beaver ram the underside of our bow, of finding sunken treasure at the bottom of the lake (to a child, even a broken lighter and a tent pole are treasure), of hours in a canoe with my dad asking him questions about the blowdown and about the wonders of the wilderness I was being exposed to for the very first time, and, most importantly, the memories of our time together. This very first trip, we got our permits out of Hungry Jack Outfitters and portaged into West Bearskin. I was estatic for this adventure, though I had never been in a canoe before and, as a six year old, wasn't much help with a paddle anyways. I absolutely was hooked and fell in love with the place that has stayed close to my heart ever since. We portaged into Daniels which would be our base camp for the trip. On this first trip, we stayed at the southeastern site which, in the future, would come to be known as "Camp Wannabanana" by our group (since a cluster of ripe bananas was found hanging from a tree there one year.) I don't remember all that much of the trip besides. I know we took a day trip over to Duncan which was an incredibly windy lake. My dad struggled to keep our canoe straight as a 6 year old in the bow is not enough weight to keep the canoe in the water. This trip was a first taste for me into the magical land known as the BWCAW.