Well, it was on our first trip to the Quetico, unprepared and sorely ignorant of most of the camping and portaging niceties. In Ely we happened upon an obviously experienced and knowledgeable woodsman: he had the latest stuff...targa sunglasses, Gortex handkerchief, battery-powered leg warmers and real Los Angeles trail mix. What a break to catch him just as he was finishing his double Mocha blueberry Breve from the rear of his cherry Nomad. Cool! So experienced and yet so far ahead of his time. Well, the best advice he could give us was to be sure to leave with
"some good Jerk". That's how Skip entered our lives. As we were somewhat shy of cash, we really couldn't afford any lean fresh cow meat and we certainly did not have any time to let it marinate in a plastic bag for very long. But, here comes Skip, already marinating in his own juices. He was wearing a two piece solid rubber rainsuit guaranteed by the KMart in Virginia, MN, to inhibit the influx of any moisture whatsoever. The beauty of this outfit was that it denied efflux as well, and, as Skip was still ambulating at this point, it seemed we had marinating meat 'en mobile' (although 'lean' it wasn't, at least not at this point). Heck, this portable snack-in-the-making even said it could carry his own darn load and could whip up a campfire in a driving rainstorm in less than five or six hours. Just one good happenstance after another for us neophytes!
Now, we weren't exactly all that ignorant. We knew at some time in the preparation of "a good Jerk" we would have to remove it from its marinade and let it dry, slowly removing the moisture and causing it to be more manageable and and easier to haul up in the bear bag. So, after a few musky humid portages, we felt it was time for us to start drying the critter. However, upon removing the green, two piece marinade bag, so much moisture escaped (we should have poked a few vent holes in it earlier, I suppose) that a low mist spread out upon the water, causing a group of Boy Scouts to miss their portage entrance and we had to listen to "Little Bunny Foo Foo" for two hours as they paddled earnestly about in search of it.
The following morning we had two surprises: 1) there were absolutely no mosquitos!, and 2) there was this incredibly fetid aroma that seemed to cling to our clothes and our hair and that seemed to have its epicenter just up wind, where Skip had pitched his tent. We soon realized that the sooner we began dessicating our Jerk, the happier we would be and mosquitos be hanged!
Well, to make this long story come closer to an end, we pushed our prune-like preparation out upon a silver lake in one of those nice Alumacraft solar ovens.
After about 14 hours we hauled it back in and then realized to our chagrin that we had forgotten THE essential ingredient in any good Jerk: a proper and well researched blend of spices. Now I have had some good Jerk and some not so good Jerk, but I can tell you that, as we dolefully admitted, on that long ago day, the failure of our first attempt at carrying along "some good Jerk", DEET flavoring is to be avoided at all costs.
But years have passed and we now carry some really nice barbecue venison Jerk and teriyaki marinated Jerk and even some Cajun Jerk. Yet, we haven't forgotten our first ignorant trek into the Quetico......we still carry that DEET flavored Jerk with us just for old times' sake.

Posted by Rockhead on March 13, 2000 at 21:46