Taking a Leap of Faith - Wilderness Camping Sickie Style

So I had been planning a canoe trip for a year.  Well, not a canoe trip really, more of a wilderness camping trip.  But I wanted to be in the wilderness and as I can barely walk, the only access that I could  possibly manage was by canoe.

During this past year (as well as other years) I've been laying in bed looking at maps and photos and nearby parks and wilderness areas on google earth, trying to figure what the easiest (for a sickie) most worthwhile trip could be.

I spent time making lists of what I would need.

We (my roommates and I) had planned it for a week in August to that they could help me pack, drive me there, and then pick me up.

I started packing about a month before hand.

Two weeks before the trip (after a decent July) my health took a plummet and I thought, "There is just no way, I am too sick".

It was my roommate's momentum  that got me there.  I was in tears of fear and just sick/fluiness the day before and the day of departure.  They picked up the canoe I'd rented (the lightest one I could find), and got my stuff in the car.  I was still on the edge, feeling too awful to deal.


But on the morning planned, I dragged myself to the car.  On the drive I was feeling waves of sickness but at that point my excitement was also building.  Sick or not, crashed or not, I was going.  I thought "All l have to do is paddle a few meters up the shore, drag the boat on shore, and lay down just like I do at home".

Well, to make a long story short I'm SO glad I went.  The big effort really was the drive out and back.

I spent seven nights in one of the most beautiful wilderness areas I've ever been to and that's saying something.

I did spend most my time flat....but flat on the rocks looking out over the lake and islands....flat on my back looking at a sky full of stars, or the sun setting over the horizon.  I read a lot, journaled some, napped lots, took little dips in the cold clear water of Lake Superior.

And I was barely lonely.  I had some trepidation about the solo part of the trip, but really, I've been on a long solo the whole time I've been sick. I mean I spent more than 4 years living a lone mostly trapped in my house, too sick to go out....so this was nothing.  I enjoyed the peacefulness of it, the complete lack of stress.  I didn't want to leave at the end.

I'm not going to share all the details of the experience, but I'll share some photos instead.  And I'm planning on doing it again next year already.  Sick or not, this sickie can camp.  Admittedly, I needed lots of help (all the shopping, the shuttle, and some of the packing)...but if I can muster it again next year I'll be out there again.

heading down the coast, someone's excited

sunset from the tent

there was lots of napping on rocks

gorgeous coastline

clear, blue-green water

photo session at sunrise

sunrise on the creek

caribou tracks in the sand 

favourite camping spot with a view!

'group' photo