Canoeing the Apostle Islands

Apparently due to my Jewish upbringing, I never learned that to say the word 'Apostle', you do not accentuate the T. Unfortunately, this was not brought to my attention until after we were done with our 12-day canoe trip through these islands, but whatcha gonna do. The islands were named so because it was thought that there were at least twelve of them, like the twelve apostles (I had heard of them, pronunciation aside). Turns out there are actually 21 islands included in the National Lakeshore. Off the top of my head, they are named: Long, Rocky, Outer, Cat, Bear, Hermit, Stockton, Oak, Raspberry, Sand, Basswood, South Twin, North Twin, Devil's, Manitou... sadly there is not a good mnemonic device for remembering them... so that's all I got for now.

My favorite thing that I learned about the flora and fauna of the islands regards the black bear populations. A couple of the islands are the most densely populated black bear regions in the country, because their area is just tiny and they have a lot of bears. For example, Stockton Island used to be the most densely populated, but then two bears swam to Oak Island and the title shifted accordingly. Funny, huh?

Good place for a swim, eh?

But way more exciting than bears... wait for it... AMPHIBIANS!!!!
Of the six species of frogs and toads in the Apostles, I saw all of them. And tried to hold as many of them as I could. Cynthia and I have often talked about how we have an amphibian catching problem. No matter how many times we have caught a dusky salamander in the stream, we HAVE to catch one if we see it. Even though we know exactly how it will feel, and even though we know it's not really good for them to be handled. It's slightly problematic, but as problems go, I think it's an ok problem to have. Plus they are sooooo cuuute!

Lunch Cake

 It's not summer if there's no Cake For Lunch. This summer was a particularly momentous lunch cake event, because the camper whose project the Cake For Lunch song originated from was on staff! Any excuse to make cake is a legitimate one, but that one really took the cake! Ha!

So but anyway, here are some pictures of cake that Emily and I made.

Why make a normal cake if you can make a multicolored cake?

Monongo

Second session at camp typically means more advanced workshop topics, older campers, ripe wineberries, HEAT, Bastille Day, but perhaps most importantly it means that everyone gets to go on the two-night three-day backpacking trip to Monogahela National Forest! Monongahela, also known by some as Madagga Hills, is likely the 2nd most special place in West Virginia to many of us who go to camp at the Cove.
The trips we lead during second session all have different themes. In past year I led the mellow trips: Lazy Monongo and Vista Monongo, where the point of hiking was not to get somewhere, but to be somewhere (this is a reference for those familiar with the wall of the lodge at camp). This past summer, I took a different path (mostly figuratively)--the Hardcore trip. That is not to say that we weren't going to enjoy BEING places, only that we would hike all day to get to those places.

Here is the group being hardcore. Nevermind the fact that this was taken right after a quick joyous frolic in a field of blueberries.

One integral part of a backpacking trip is coming up with a group count-off so that we don't lose people. Everyone is assigned a letter, and usually it spells something that meshes with the theme of the group. Unless you are the Hardcore group, in which case you will chose something that makes virtually no sense, like C-A-M-E-L-B-A-S-H. Actually, despite it not being a word, our count-off made a lot of sense because it used the first letter of everyone's name.

Here we are at the Canaan Valley Overlook for lunch on the second day. CAMELBASH, indeed!

While some intense thunderstorms threw off the intensity of our trip somewhat, we still managed to see a bunch of the Dolly Sods Wilderness. Here are the highlights:

Camping at O is always lovely. Though thunder kept us from swimming, Lucas managed to build a fire with a lot of wet wood and kindling. And to top it all off, I woke up to a sunny day and the sight of two of the campers walking back to camp with the bear bag of food in hand! The best sight!

Canaan Valley Overlook post-lunch snooze-fest. At one point, Alec was giving the campers a calculus lesson while Maddy and I slept. Lunch at this spot was also amazing. Bagels with cream cheese and pepperoni is delicious, who knew?

Red Creek. Always the tastiest water and the most beautiful sight on a hot day.

Camping at H by Red Creek at the best campsite there. When we arrived, the campsite was taken, so we started setting up camp in the adjacent but dark and enclosed campsite. After we had painstakingly set up the tarp, we realized that the other people had vacated their site and so we nabbed it.

YEAH. Hardcore Madagga! Here we are looking the most hardcore and also the most dirty at the bus on the third day. Weather aside, a trip to Monongahela is always a relieving change of pace from life at camp (especially if that that involves pulling up barberry).

Barbarians

I've spent the last few weeks in tandem. Part of my time involves living in a beautiful tent on the hillside above the field with a stunning view of Left and Right Ridge out my tent window, while the other part involves killing and poisoning things for a few hours a day. My job description actually says 'Destroyer'-- my duty is to tear out wineberry and barberry bushes. Taylor, my partner in crime, and I spend our days in various locations around the lodge, gloves on hand and loppers close by. We rip out wineberry, stuff our faces with berries, get covered in scratches, attempt to avoid poison ivy, jump in the pond, try to pull out every barberry plant, get more scratches, use loppers to cut down enormous barberry, sometimes dump borax solution on the roots in hopes of poisoning them, jump in the pond again, and take long snack breaks.

Here's a picture of the tent. I like it because I feel like I'm outside (I can see the entire sky), but I also am effectively inside (I have a real bed and mattress and everything!). We even have a guest room! For real.

And that just about sums up this past week! Next up: Monongahela and Cake for Lunch. 

Note to anyone who is reading this:

Sorry I've been failing at blogging. I meant to, I really did, but summertime just zips by with little time for things like computers and witty remarks. Which is why I did not write a long blog post-- taking a break from blogging and school has made me less able to write things coherently. Cheerio!

Dang DC...

I'm only in town for a week, and so I'm trying to make the most of it. I've never done a real 'DC Summer', so on Tuesday I decided to test my luck at getting out and about in the city, instead of just lazing at home.

Tuesday in Bar Harbor means pick-up ultimate frisbee, and by chance it turns out that Tuesday evenings in DC are also frisbee nights on the mall. Lucky day- I was missing it.

I went down to the mall and joined in on the games for a couple of hours, silently freaking out to myself about how gorgeous the sky swirled around the Washington Monument as dusk fell. I made a pact with myself that I would try my darndest to watch the sunset on the National Mall every night that I was home.

Yesterday I got my chance, armed with a camera this time, in hopes that I could capture the magnificence of the mall in the evening. Let me back up and say that my favorite thing about DC summers are the thunderstorms. I don't get to see many thunderstorms in Maine during the year, and didn't see any while I was in Alaska, so I've been quite happy that there has been some crazy weather every day this week. And it makes for gorgeous sky colors.

So back to yesterday afternoon-- I met up with my friend Rachel from school, right before the wild 3-minute storm hit. One minute all was calm, the next minute saw torrential downpours and tent-ripping gusts of wind. As recent graduates from hippie college, we ran around barefoot eating strawberries and soaked it up!

We made our way to the mall, lo and behold the sky was indeed incredible! That blue against the capitol building, calm after the storm... can't get enough!

  

Later on in the evening, I wandered the mall as the sun was setting, true to my self-pact. Here are
some pictures of how pretty DC is. What-a-city!

What's in your backpack?

I thought it could be fun to dump everything out of my all-purpose school backpack and see what I'm really carrying around. I like to be prepared for anything that could happen, and in Maine you never really know what the day could hold weather-wise.

It's funny to see which things come in handy at which times. For example, while in the middle of a conversation about determining personality types, I realized that I had a handout about personality types in my folder... good thing!

I also frequently come across people who need tape or glue. My donut tape dispenser is actually my favorite thing in the world (aside from my now forever-confiscated camping stove, RIP), good for hanging up posters, taping letters, birthday surprises, etc.

The other most useful thing in my backpack of late has been a spare shirt. Rain, sweat, frisbee... so useful. And the INSECT one is particular is good for getting asked many times: "Ummm is there a story behind your shirt or something?"

Ok I know I keep saying this, but I think I'll blog about something interesting that I did soon. Promise. Sumer break!!

The end is near...

....and so I'm testing out reviving this blog, in hopes that it will keep me more connected with friends who are scattering around the country so soon. Also because lunch cake da best.

Two weeks until graduation is a whole lot scarier than three weeks. Time to cram in all of the things with all of the people we love before we leave the Bar Harbor Bubble. Even though I'll still be around in the fall, I am still feeling the urge to check all of the stuff I've been meaning to do over the past four years off of the list, before the people I entered with are gone (stopping with that thought before I get too nostalgic for the good ol' days).

Here's hoping this blog post will hold me to finishing this bucket list!

Go climbing/bouldering in Acadia
Get a bagel from Agnes herself
Work at an ice cream shop
Play water polo
Sleep out on Sand Beach again
Hike up Cadillac (how I have never done this??)
Go to a work day at Beech Hill Farm
Jump off the rope swing (haven't done this in over a year, egads!)
Bike the park loop road