4 — Wednesday, Sepiember 25, 1991 - North Shore News

Up the creek

WITH A shock it came to me recently that I had not been
out camping — that is, plunked down out in the bush with
a tent and sleeping bag with nothing to do except survive

— for 29 years.

Twenty-nine years! My god!

Oh, I’ve been out in the bush a
fair amount over that period of
time, and have even slept over-
night in sleeping bags. But it
wasn’t camping. It was crashing
for the night while either in the
midst of an eco-campaign or
covering a story, or both, Work.

I mean ‘‘camping”’ in the sense
of just going out there. Bringing
the minimum gear, plunging out
of reach of mechanized civiliza-
tion (unless they send a chopper
after you), bringing it all down to
you and the profoundly-ancient
natural world.

Maybe that’s the key. I know I
love old cities more than young
cities. And nature is the oldest
“city’’ of all. Our original home,
the wilderness. Ail that.

So I announced to the kid that
the long-heralded moment of fa-
ther-son bonding was at hand.
Start packing. We're going into
the bush, just you and me and it.

It: the tundra, the jagged fir,
the dying white pine, black water,
muskvg, beaver dams, moose,
bear, horseflies...

i explained that this was about
as Canadian a thing as could be
humanly imagined. We were going
to go back in time, experience the
world as our ancestors must have
known it.

It was a four-hour drive to
Algonquin Park, the legendary
place immortalized by Tom
Thomson.

First we had to stop at the out-
fitters and rent a canoe, then drive
into the park itself to another lake
where you pay for your permit,
park, and push off.

We got there late in the after-

Bob

STRICTLY PERSONAL

noon. The clerk at the out fitter’s
shook his head.

“Gettin’ kinda late. Light goes
down early.”’

J gave him the calm, superior
smile of a former Patrol Leader
of the Coyote Patrol, 4th Win-
nipeg Boy Scouts: ‘We'll
manage.’’

My son Will, [ should mention,
is a pretty big guy for a 12-year-
old. A few more months, at the
rate he’s growing, and [ll put
spiked wristbands on him and hire
him as my bodyguard.

He has been a Nintendo afi-
cionado since last Christmas.

During the summer, he emerged
into the light of day only a few
times that I can recall. Mostly he
stayed underground in the base-
ment on the sofa, control panel
(or whatever it’s called) in hand.

He has developed into a skilled
and formidable player, and

Fall is
For
Planting!

ALL TREES
& SHRUBS

TERRA COTTA

STAINED CEDAR
PLASTIC

KING ALFRED DAFFODILS
25 LARGE BULBS FOR

heaven knows, one of these days
an interstellar fleet might appear
and challenge Earth to a Nintendo
duel, and if our champion loses,
all Earthlings will be eaten alive,
and it'll turn out that my kid is
the one who either saves the day
or botches the whole thing. } jusi
hope I don’t have to watch.

Anyway, I’m sure there are
other purposes Nintendo might
serve. It's just that I can’t think
of any at the moment.

So, partially in the name of in-
troducing the lad to a different
reality...into the lake crunches and
squeaks our 17-foot aluminum
rental canoe, the entire middle
postion piled up with equipment
and supplies.

The kid is perched at the bow,
looking curiously at his paddle,
his deep frown clearly saying:
**What the hell's this, Dad?’*

He gets the hang of it quickly.
Well, fairly quickly. What he
doesn’t seem to pick up on all
that well is the enthusiasm and
passion for cleaving along through
the water like a knife, making a
whistling sound, muscles and

two paddles

ligaments straining in a primeval
mutual rhythm, two human
animals driven by the same in-
stinets,

No. Definitely not. He tikes to
pause and survey the scene. Often.
Not that | biame him. The grey
and cloud-piled sky, the jagged fir
and sharp-barbed pine, the moan-
ing wind stirring enough water to
splash us...

**Hey. Dad, this is cool.’

“Yo. Paddle.”’

Dad, it has to be remembered,
has not canoed much lately. So
between us, our movement across
the lake is somewhat erratic: Dad
paddling madly to straighten us
out, when he could just use the
paddle as a rudder, and the kid
changing his stroke and side on
whim.

What with the wind blowing us
off course anyway, rain starting to
fall, and the light dying just as
rapidly as the outfitter had
predicted, there was a certain
urgency to my stroke. My gentle,
fatherly voice may even have been
raised slightly once or twice as I
urged the youth on,

Park safety concerns NVD

NORTH VANCOUVER
District Council will be seeking
public input into Lynn Canyon
Park safety.

A recently formed task
force, under the chairmanship
of Ald. Paul Turner, will host
a public meeting at the Lynn
Canyon Ecology Centre
on Saturday, Oct. § at 1:30
p.m.

0%.
POTS 30%:.:

0 |
CONCRETE GARDEN ORNAMENTS 50 % OFF

urry — Sale ends Sept. 29/91

-GARDEN CENTRE——

The task force was formed in
the wake of an Aug. 22 diving
accident in Lynn Canyon that
claimed two lives.

The tragedy was only the
latest in a list of deaths, inju-
ries and emergencies «:.at have
resulted from diving, swimming
or even hiking out of bounds
in Lynn Canyon Park.

Reg.
Price

Reg.
Price

Reg.
Price

488

Haywood Ave.

Marine Dr.

west Vancouver
2558 Haywood

922-2613

“Paddle or PUK you,’ I
think I did say ance.

The rule in the park is that you
can only legally camp in a desig-
nated campsite. This was interest-
ing to reflect upon as the shoreline
began to vanish in the rain and
gloom.

When we finally made it close
enough to look for landmarks;
nothing made any sense, and by 8
p.m.. I decided on an emergency
landing on a little istand, desig-
nated or not.

Stand by for the continuing
saga: A man, a boy, some CFC-
free recyclable styrofoam plates,
and The Wilderness.

2 es

CONSIDERING A
MOVE TO
VANCOUVER ISLAND?

Outstanding opportunities await you. We j
have a wide selection of beautiful
Properties, affordably priced, with and &
without acreage. Waterfront, sea-views B
and tranquil settings abuund.
Your timing could not be better. Call
now, without obligation, for full
information on the island home of your
dreams.
BARBARA HOLLANDS

: PHONE 1-656-3063 °

SUTTON GROUP FUTURE REALTY,
VICTORIA, BC. :

Open 9:30-6:00 p.m.
7 days a week

North Vancouver
1343 Lynn Valley
985-1784