Randy:

I've made a few blunders in my time, but I think the biggest was the one we made on our first trip to the area, about 20 years ago.

My partner came up with the idea that we could use our week-long adventure to help us overcome our nicotine addictions. It sounded good on paper. We'd have our last smoke on the way in and since there aren't any convenience stores in the wilderness, we'd be forced to go the whole week without any cigarettes. We would emerge as cleansed individuals, having beaten our chemical dependencies.

It started out according to plan, smoking our last cigarette on an island in Moose lake. Then we made our way up into Agnes, beginning to comprehend the mistake we had made. Over the next seven days two lifelong best friends came close to strangling one another.

If it wasn't for the incredible experience of being on your first Quetico trip and some excellent Smallmouth fishing, I suspect that one or both of us might never have returned from the wilderness. In retrospect, I'm surprised that we didn't try to smoke some lichens or birch leaves.

In the end, we emerged, not cleansed, but with nerves frayed and tolerances worn thin. Back in civilization, our first stop was to buy cigarettes in Ely and then on to one of the bars to have a beer and repair our friendship.

I'll never do that again.

...Tom

Posted by Tom Swulius on November 13, 1999 at 00:22