Scoutmaster minute: 04-18-2008 by Howard Lemmon
Day Four - The Day We Were ONE.
By Howard Lemmon
Friday Morning, July 12th 2007.
As I lay in my tent in the early hours of the morning in a land where the days are long and the nights are short, I reflect on the arduous journey which we had completed the day before that brought us to this point. Fighting ferocious winds from the northwest, we paddled our canoes loaded down with gear and food from one end of Basswood Lake to the other along the Canadian border. The long and arduous journey took most of the day. We are now half way through our expedition through the Boundary Water Canoe Area of northern Minnesota.
Now, nestled on the east shore of Inlet bay, our quaint little campsite is the perfect Hideaway to seclude us from the wind and intermittent rains that came and went throughout the night. It is a save-haven from the storm’s wrath like the one we faced the day before
It wasn’t supposed to be this way! A week ago, I looked at the 10 day forecast on the internet and noted perfect weather with a low of 57 degrees at night and a high of 78 during the day throughout our journey. But Mother-Nature had other ideas. We were hit with an unexpected cold front.
But ahead of us lay a new day, and a new challenge. As Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 439 (Mount Juliet Tennessee, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), I calculate that in order to get our 50 mile patch, we would have to paddle to the end of Ensign Lake and back to our campsite, a twenty mile journey.
We finish our breakfast and put our camp-site in order by piling all the gear into one place and suspend the food bag 12 feet off the ground from a tree away from bears.
Gazing at my watch, I note the time…8:00 AM straight up. With only our lunch and a first-aid kit, we launch the canoes into the lake and set out to boldly go where few men have gone before.
The scenery on both sides of the Lake is simply breathtaking. A verity of pine and birch trees jetting straight out of the water create a skyline so surreal and magnificent that not even a photograph can capture its beauty.
Our first encounter is with Twin Falls at the international zone between the U.S. and Canada. This spectacular view is created by the land bridge between Sucker Lake and Inlet Bay. This land bridge is our first portage. We must carry our canoes across Prairie Portage and reenter the water at Sucker Lake, about an eight of a mile.
After Paddling for a couple of hours, we turn sharply into Ensign Lake and begin our quest to the far end of this long and winding waterway.
There are four canoes in our group of nine people. I share a canoe with Joseph Vega. Evan Lemmon and Scott Seaman partner up in a second craft. William and Shaun Seaman man the other two-man boat. And Bill Seaman, Nathanial Hughes and Mathew Seaman take command of the three-man vessel. Theirs is the one with the leek in it that has to be dumped out every hour to keep from swamping it.
The sky is overcast and the wind shifts direction unpredictably. But we are happy. We are joking around and having the time of our lives. Perhaps the cool weather is a blessing in disguise. While pulling a canoe paddle stroke after stroke after stroke for hours on end, the coolness of the day seems somehow refreshing. Furthermore, the unpredicted weather has apparently spooked off most other would-be explorers. The lake is essentially vacant. I remind myself that the Lord’s hand is in all things (D&C 59:21).
There we were, in a timeless land unchanged for eons. Occasionally, a bald eagle would majestically swoop down right in front of you from his lofty position as a reminder that you are a guest in his land and that he is on duty. He then ascends through the sky to perch himself on a branch atop the highest tree overlooking the lake. There, with his eagle eyes and his position of sovereignty, he surveys all that is his.
Eventually, we enter the narrows near Splash Lake where the landscape on both sides collide. At his juncture, the flow of water from the upper region forces you to paddle with all your might just to get beyond it. Once past it, the lake opens up again into calm waters.
The next event is another portage. Thankfully, it is only couple hundred yards long. Launching back out into Ensign Lake we pull the last part of your trip. With my shoulder muscles really starting to ache, and my rear-end starting to hurt and my biceps near the inside of the elbow burning with fatigue, we have now been on the water for almost 4 hours. Having to stop every so often to empty the three man canoe, we finally weave in and out and around the lake side until we come to the portage to Trident Lake. We leave the canoes at the portage and hike to Trident Lake and back.
After returning, we move our canoes to the campsite adjacent to the portage. It is a great campsite. One of the best we’ve seen. There we take out our lunch bag and reveal what surprise lay in store for us. With all of us hungry we offer a blessing on the food and begin to devour it.
There are large bags of beef jerky, Cajun trail mix, Dried banana chips, Yogurt covered raisins, Spicy sausage bits, mixed nuts and Berry flavored Crystal Light mixed in to our water bottles. I am sitting on a large rock near the campfire ring while others surround the ring by sitting on a large log. We passed the bags around. Each person in turn reaches in and pulls out fistfuls of fuel for the journey back. We feast to our hearts content and there is plenty left over. It reminds me of Christ who fed the 5,000 and took up more then he started with. The overabundance of food seems symbolic of the overabundance of joy we feel as we bask in our accomplishment.
But it was more then just fistfuls of fuel. It was the comradely. It was the since of accomplishment. It was the since of joy that we had conquered something unbelievable which lifted our spirits to another dimension.
We are “ONE” at this moment having accomplished something greater than ourselves – together. It is a feast of food and spirit!
My mind is drawn to the other group of nine that was split out from us at the beginning of the trip. I am only hoping for one thing, that they were having as great a time as we were.
After the meal, we set off on our trip back. We return to our campsite around 4:45 PM laughing and playing and working and kidding all the way back. Just as we arrived at the camp site it begins to rain. While standing underneath a great big pine tree trying to keep dry, we continue to laugh and joke, and cut up, and have the time of our lives. Eventually, one by one we pealed off, get into the last of our dry clothes, and dive into our tents for protection against the elements.
Exhausted beyond measure, we fall asleep in our tents, and slumber our way right through dinner and on to the next morning.
Jesus prayed to the Father that his disciples would be ONE even as he and his father were ONE (John 17). He also said “by this shall men know ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another”. (John 13:35)
But in my favorite verse on this subject, Jesus says “If ye are not ONE, ye are not mine”. (D&C 38:27).
While the world rushes onward in its relentless pursuit of monetary things; on this day, at this time, in this place, we were His!
During our car ride back home to Mount Juliet, Tennessee, we stopped for gas and food. At Burger King, Evan, Nathaniel, Joseph, Gary Allred from the other group, and myself ate together at the same table. Gary asked me what I liked best about the trip. I told him it was the lunch we had on the rock at the end of Ensign Lake.
Lunch at the end of Ensign Lake
From Left to Right: William Seaman, Bill Seaman, Mathew Seaman, Scot Seaman, Shaun Seaman, Nathanial Hughes, Howard Lemmon, Joseph Vega. Behind the Camera is Evan Lemmon.