A Dad and his Daughter
David L. McHone
On the drive to the boundary waters I was again reminded of how fast time passes and how quickly my daughter is growing into an independent young lady. Of course, the good news is that she has her driver's license and shared some of the driving! After a restful night and a hearty breakfast at the outfitters, we took the shuttle and checked in at Prairie Portage. The people you meet at the portages is always an interesting experience. Standing in line to check in I discovered that 2 of the other 3 parties waiting were from the same area where I grew up. Small world! As we slipped out of Inlet Bay into Bayley, Bayley discovered that I had returned and quickly kicked up the necessary winds to make the pass-through very difficult. I have had difficulty with Bayley in the past and became concerned with how to respond to the quickly changing weather conditions. I noticed that my daughter, rather than being alarmed, seemed to enjoy the ride! We quickly escaped behind an island and took a break, waiting for the winds to die down.
Over the next few days, I discovered a number of things. Watching my daughter take in this new experience and the wonders of the wilderness area, brought me back to the wonderment of my first trip. Elizabeth noticed things and made observations about our surroundings that I had begun to take for granted. She quickly adapted to the challenges of canoeing and portaging and did more than her share in the team work necessary on such a trip. Even though the trip involved a number of windy and rainy days, Elizabeth enjoyed it all. By the third day, she asked if it would be possible to do this again. I said: "Of course. We should plan something maybe for next year." What I thought was: "Most excellent!" There are few things more exciting than bringing someone into the boundary waters and seeing them fall in love with the experience. After we returned from Quetico, we stopped in Ely to take in the 'hot spots' and shopping opportunities. Elizabeth had been in charge of photography and brought home many wonderful shots of our experience. Even in her pictures, I saw things that had become routine for me.
In this day and age when our children are distracted by so many things, a trip to the boundary waters is one sure way of grabbing some of that all important quality time before they have grown up and leave the nest.
1 2
David L. McHone
