Wow! A Beautiful Day, Indeed! Monday morning, and our expedition gets underway. Au-revoir Blind Bay. We leave you to launch from Kilcoursie beach as we head to Pancake Island, some 6 kilometres away.
Before leaving, some last minute precautions: beware of poison ivy and the improbable presence of rattlesnakes. The park Rangers tell us there are some Mississauga Rattlers in this area. They add that it is highly unlikely we will come across one of them as we are at the northernmost limit of their habitat, that the species is extremely rare and endangered, and finally, because we will be camping on islands. As a matter of fact, not one specimen was seen this year. Well, if you say so… lady Rangers… In any event, we have our own highly competent medical staff!
Surprised and relieved, we managed to get all our material in the kayaks. Better still, there was some room left! We were rewarded for our efforts to use every single cubic centimetre: first, we spotted a doe and her two, still speckled, calves, followed by a smoked salmon lunch.
We finally launched early afternoon. The cloud cover cools the air slightly, the ideal weather to paddle. Georgian Bay is calm, i-d-e-a-l conditions. We eat up the kilometres like pros. Our young friends are having a ball, and so are we.
Propped up on the boulders of our campsite, we listen to their chatter. They are happy. Finally, they can share will people who have lived through the same situations they have. They laugh and share about the sometimes-esoteric situations they experienced because of the side effects of their treatments. They comment on the regrowth of their hair, hospital food, the alteration of their culinary preferences as their sickness and treatment progressed. They are clearly happy.
And so are we.
As I write this, (Monday, 10 PM) the wind rises and menacing clouds are showing up. The guides examined the tents to make sure they were secure. The night may well be agitated.