Unfamiliar water

I have been away from home for most of July. Instead of my usual journal featuring the Eramosa River, I'll publish the handwritten journal I kept on a three-night canoe trip with my 12-year-old daughter in Algonquin Provincial Park, camping on Rock Lake and Pen Lake. Click the links to see more photos.

July 6. First night of camping trip. I forgot the food pack in Guelph so Marian and I had to go to Dorset this morning and buy it all over again. Frenzy of packing and organizing this aft. Sense of futility. How can I possibly remember everything that's important? Rock Lake is gorgeous. We didn't arrive until 7 p.m., reached our campsite two hours later. We had a few minutes of anxiety that all the sites would be taken, but we found a nice scenic one among red pines. While canoeing along the Madawaska River we were welcomes by Swainson's thrushes and bullfrogs. There is a pale yellow lichen on the rock faces that looks like flowers from a distance. Just before sundown, I admired the golden shimmering light on the underside of trees and rocks along the shore. Marian and I joked and got along famously except we both wanted control of the map. Used pork tenderloin instead of chicken to make chicken scallopine. Delicious. The only things I can't find so far are the dishtowel and scouring brush. After Marian turned in I wrote in my journal, then went and sat on the rocks by the water. It was very still. The sky had clouded over. I stripped then slipped cautiously down the rock into the unfamiliar water to wash away the sweat and grime of a hard evening's work. It was freshening, invigorating. I sat still on the rock again, enjoying the utter silence and an occasional blink of a firefly. Then I began to feel a fine mist falling. I dressed and got ready for bed.

July 7. This morning we were wakened by torrential rain. Marian got soaked. The pup tent isn't waterproof, but I stayed dry in the big tent. It's great, but definitely not one I would bring on a canoe trip again. We need something lighter for portages. Lighter mattresses would be better too, foam maybe. It let up after breakfast and we went exploring a high rock cliff nearby. It gave me the willies, but Marian walked right out on the overhang. Today was windy, but fortunately mostly in our favour. The portage to Pen Lake is