After Camp Juniper checked out at the ranger station, we were off! Finally! We were finally off for the Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park and the Ghost of Ontario! Just to tell you, after Ranger Kate’s story about her accident, I was even more nervous now. If it was true that the provincial park was no longer a beautiful paradise, then… Gods, help us all.
The drive to Lake Anima Nipissing, the first lake we canoed on on our huge canoeing trip up in Ontario, was just as boring as the drive to Finlayson Point Provincial Park. I had charged my phone during the night, and I tried listening to calming music to soothe my soul, but nothing worked. The closer we came to the Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park, the tenser I grew. Now I had something else to worry about besides the two portages we took that day. Stupid Ghost of Ontario. Finally, I gave up on my phone and turned it off. Without a word, I shoved it into my dry bag and frightfully peered out the window.
Camp Juniper stopped in the small town of Latchford to get gas and have one last potty break before getting on the water. I remember Latchford. It was a cute, little town. It was actually our final destination for our trip. We were going to get off in Latchford. However, I didn’t want that. I begged my parents to start in Latchford instead of on Lake Anima Nipissing so we wouldn’t have to deal with the Ghost of Ontario the first day on the water, but they simply told me that we needed to stay on schedule and shook me off. I slightly screamed as I climbed back into the car.
While we continued our drive, I waved goodbye to all the buildings of Latchford and glanced into the clear, blue sky. Okay, so far I hadn’t seen the creepy eagle again. The sky was empty. However, I knew it would be back.
Soon after we left Latchford, flushable toilets, sinks, and civilization, Dad turned onto a single gravelly road, like the one in Finlayson, which took us to Lake Anima Nipissing. We were so close. We were so close to the Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park and the Ghost of Ontario! We drove through a very forestry, buggy area, and the members of Camp Juniper, who rode in the Excursion, started to grow excited. Not me, though. Curses, Mom! I knew you were faking it all along! I wanted to roll down the window, dive out of it, and hitchhike back to North Tonawanda. I leaned forward in my seat and tapped Mom’s shoulder.
She peered back to me and asked, “Yes, Kylie?”
“Mom,” I begged, “can we please turn around? The Ghost of Ontario. He’s going to drown us!”
“Kylie please!” Mom snapped at me, “Get it out of your head! There is no such thing as the Ghost of Ontario!” She grabbed her head and frustratingly pulled her hair out.
“You don’t know that!” I snapped at her, “Even if there isn’t a Ghost of Ontario, a boy still went missing on Red Squirrel Lake ten years ago! Do you remember Ranger Kate mentioned that her son went missing years ago?! I’m sure the Ghost of Ontario grabbed him and dragged him into the depths of the lake!”
Uncle Harrison rolled his eyes and calmly but sternly told me, “Or maybe he just wanted to live on his own. Kylie, it’s not real!”
“Fine.” I angrily said. This was where my crummy attitude really started to boot up. I rolled down my window and rested my arms on the frame. I set my head down on them and watched the forest. “However, if we drown on this trip, Camp Juniper, then I’m blaming all of you. Just wait, the Ghost of Ontario is going to grab us!” I was silent the rest of the way to Lake Anima Nipissing.
Finally, we made it. We made it! We were here! We were officially in the Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park! We made it to the end of the gravelly road and turned into a wide open space that showed trees, very few houses, and none other than...Lake Anima Nipissing. A boat zoomed out in the lake, and Dad parked next to Uncle Clement who parked next to another car. I remember, there were a few boat ramps and docks there.
Right after Dad parked, he turned off the car and announced, “We’re here! Welcome, everybody! Welcome to the Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park!”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Grabbing my bug net and dry bag, I opened my door and hopped out of the Excursion. I landed on a mass of stones. A bug crawled next to my foot, and I squashed it. I then walked to the rear of the Excursion and put on my bug net. I watched as the rest of Camp Juniper exited their assigned cars and all together cheered. After they cheered, they started to unload and take things to one of the docks. The bugs here actually weren’t that bad, but I still kept my bug net on. Perhaps the reason behind that was because we were on the water. On the water, mosquitoes and flies wouldn’t be a problem. It was just when we were in the forest that they would feast. This was just what I needed: enormous bugs, portages, and the Ghost of Ontario. What else did I need to make my life even more miserable? Oh, I know. A weeklong canoe trip up in Canada with just adults was the missing piece. The Puzzle of Misery was complete. I was so miserable, so angry.
As Dad says: “So young! So angry!”
I left the Excursion and Explorer and ventured forward to the dock that Camp Juniper used to load up the canoes. It was right next to a boat ramp. Once on it, I crossed my arms and angrily stared out at the lake. It was so calm, but I knew the Ghost of Ontario would change that. Before long, I heard feet stop behind me and turned. It was Mom. She stood in front of me, and she was carrying a few life jackets.
With her free hand, she gestured me over and said, “Come on, Kylie, help us unload. Your Dad and uncles will load the canoes in the water. Don’t worry, you’ll be able to admire the lake in just a little bit.” Admire it?! Was she insane?! We were going to die!
Don’t you see, Mom?! Once we get on Lake Anima Nipissing, we’re not going to return to civilization! I didn’t say this. I just thought this to myself. I decided to give it another go. I narrowed my eyebrows and gave Mom the evil death glare. “The canoe trip is over.” I angrily stated, “Get rid of the canoes. Either that, or we start in Latchford.”
Mom scoffed and placed her hands on her hips. “You’re acting like a child,” she told me, “Pull yourself together, Kylie! You’re doing this canoe trip, and that’s final!”
Still glaring, I shoved by her and knocked her to the ground. I approached the Excursion and started to unload paddles and life jackets. Soon, with my arms full, I started back towards the dock, and I still glared. Luggage started to slip, but I held onto it as tight as I could. When I reached the dock, I dropped the luggage but kept a life jacket in my hand. I squeezed it so tightly, my fist turned white. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore! I yelled and chuckled the life jacket into the lake, literally chucked it. It landed with a splash, and Uncle Clement had to go fetch it. While he did so, I got chewed out by Mom, but I simply crossed my arms and ignored her.
After a bit, we heard a boat. All of us stopped unloading and packing and turned our heads. We peered out to the lake. A small boat came in our direction. It moved at an easy pace, and relaxing my face muscles so I was no longer glaring, I shuffled over to the edge of another dock and watched it come in. After a bit, from the boat, an auburn-haired man hopped out and landed on the third dock.
I watched as he tied the boat up, and what he said made me totally flip out of my skin.
“Whew!” grumbled the man, and he rubbed his forehead, “That was quite the trip. The Ghost of Ontario is probably feistiest this week.”
At the sound of the name, I lightly screamed and glared again. I tried to hide my fear, but I failed.
Dad, Mom, Uncle Clement, Aunt Jessie, and Aunt Delia approached the man and became involved in a conversation with him and two more people.
I hopped off the dock and grabbed my head. I wanted to throw something. My anger was just so great. I found a large rock resting on the ground, and I didn’t waste any time. Scooping it up, I yelled and chucked it into the lake. It landed with a heavy splash, and cool water sprayed onto me. I next tried skipping rocks, but of course, I didn’t succeed. Argh, I was having such a terrible day already, and we hadn’t even gotten on the water yet!
While I continued to fail at skipping rocks, I waited and watched as the rest of Camp Juniper finished unloading the Excursion and Explorer. One at a time, the canoes were taken off them and placed gently in the water. Next, the rest of the supplies was taken to them, and Camp Juniper split the supplies up in four piles. One pile was in front of each canoe, and it indicated that that was the canoe they were going to go in.
I felt like a thousand years had passed when finally, all the canoes were loaded and we prepared to get on the water. Oh no, the water! Why?! Why?!
Aunt Jessie helped me put on my life vest. She squeezed me so tightly that I started to suffocate. When finally I caught my breaths, Aunt Jessie finished with my vest. My life vest was blue on the outside but yellow on the inside, and it had dark blue straps.
After Aunt Jessie finished with me, she stepped back and yelled, “Yehaw! You look wonderful, Kylie!”
I glared and hit the ground with my hiking boot. Yep, I had to change into hiking boots because whoopee, we took two portages that day.
Mom approached me next and slathered me up with sunscreen. She put a hat on my head and made sure my life vest was secure. I glared the entire time she worked on me. I remember, she too was wearing a hat and sunscreen. Both Mom and I have a fair complexion, so we get sunburned pretty easily.
This time, when Mom finished with me, she took my shoulders and shook them, saying, “You look ready to canoe, Kylie! I have to admit, I wasn’t sure about this trip at first, but now that we’re here, I’m really digging it.”
“I’m going home after this,” I angrily told her, “and you’re never going to force me to come along on a stupid trip ever again. Just wait until the Ghost of Ontario drowns us on Red Squirrel Lake.”
“Stop with this whole Ghost of Ontario nonsense!” Mom snapped at me, “Why don’t you just get in the canoe with Uncle Bart and enjoy the trip? I don’t want any more of this sissy nonsense! You’re almost sixteen years old!”
I pushed her chest back and watched as she marched away from me.
Soon after she did, Dad approached me and shook his head. “You know,” he told me, “I hate to admit this, but you’re acting like a real drag, Kylie. Get your paddle, and get in the canoe with Uncle Bart when you’re done.” With that, he left me and came within reach of Uncle Harrison.
From where I was standing, I growled and stomped the ground. I almost threw a tantrum, but I managed to stop myself before I could. I had to wait until I was alone to throw my tantrum. I’ll be honest, though, when I found out that I would be canoeing with my Uncle Bart, I lost a little bit of my anger. Remember that Uncle Bart’s my favorite uncle, and he gave me the whistle? Of course, you do. Now, I was still angry, but I wasn’t as angry as I was around Mom. Mom was the one who really got on my nerves that day. I remember telling myself that once I got my driver’s license, I was going to spend a week away from my parents; I was so tired of them. I really just wanted somebody else my age to hang out with. Somebody who would help me through this trip without worrying about the Ghost of Ontario. However, I didn’t meet the chosen teenager until that night, and it’s still going to take a while before we meet him, so just bear with me.
So yeah, I lost some of my crummy attitude when I learned who I was going to canoe with. When I was ready, Uncle Bart helped me into the bow of our canoe, and I picked up my paddle. Uncle Bart and I were in Old Town #1, the canoe that could hold two people. Dad, Mom, and Aunt Delia were in Old Town #2, the red canoe that could hold three people, Uncle Harrison and Aunt Lydia were in Old Town #3, the other olive green canoe that could hold two people, and finally, Uncle Macon, Uncle Clement, and Aunt Jessie rode in the Sawyer, the fastest canoe we had. In our canoe, Uncle Bart was in the stern, and I was in the bow. I’ve ridden in the stern before, but it’s hard for me to steer from back there. It’s easier for me to steer in the bow. Uncle Bart soon climbed into the canoe after me, and it rocked for a bit.
I gulped.
Uncle Bart picked up his own paddle and told me, “Well I’ll tell you, Kylie Wylie, we’re going to make history this week. We’ll be known as Bart the Impossible and Kylie the Invincible.”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes. I was in too bad of a mood to laugh at his joke. We had a lot of luggage in our canoe. We had the bucket we used as the latrine, two, giant dry bags, and a cooler. We slipped our own two dry bags under our seats. In each canoe, one person had a map of the Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park. Uncle Bart and I were the first ones on the water.
Uncle Bart untied our canoe and pushed off the dock. Officially we were on the water of Lake Anima Nipissing. Oh God, my nerves were rattling. This was it. This was the last time Camp Juniper would see civilization. With the Ghost of Ontario on the loose, I would be surprised if we actually made it through our first day in the provincial park.
Uncle Bart started to paddle, but I didn’t move a muscle. I just sat in the canoe and refused to help.
Uncle Bart soon called, “Kylie, I need some bow help!” to me.
I groaned and growled, “Fine.” I picked up my own paddle and stuck it in the water. While we headed out to the darkness of the Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park, I watched the clear water get deeper and deeper. Eventually, I couldn’t see the bottom anymore. The people who were aboard the boat that came in waved goodbye to us. I waved goodbye to the cars. I didn’t wave goodbye to them. My only chance of hitchhiking back to North Tonawanda was over. Now I was officially stuck in the wilderness with just adults and a ghost on the loose.
The rest of Camp Juniper’s canoes pushed off the dock and headed towards Uncle Bart and I. We stopped to have a short meeting to discuss our plan and where we were headed to. I wanted to puke when I saw how long the first portage was. It was 670 meters long! Do you not even realize how long that is? Oh no, we were going to take a walk through Bug Paradise! Argh! Why did Dad force me to come along in the first place?! What if we heard “Lucilla” right now? What if the Ghost of Ontario was already getting ready to jump out and drown us?! These were two of the few questions that were on my mind at this point. Ranger Kate’s story about her canoe accident was the last thing that was on my mind. What if the Ghost of Ontario critically injured us? Oh, God. Anything but the Ghost of Ontario!
After we had our short meeting, Dad folded his map and grinned at us. “All right, Camp Juniper!” he announced, and he pointed forward with his hand, “Let’s do this! Paddle on! Three, two, one, we are officially on our way to Red Squirrel Lake!”
Everybody cheered, except me, and we started to paddle. The docks and cars grew further and further away. Before long, we went around a point and officially started our expedition in the Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park!
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