Day 1

I put down the camp stove and the container that carried, what I was told was, "white gas" on my left. I leaned a paddle against a tree to my right. I slipped off the straps of the pack that I carried in front of me and eased it to the ground. I reached behind me and pulled two more paddles out from under the backpack straps. Finally I shrugged off the pack that was on my back. I sat down on a nearby rock and leaned against a tree. I pulled the hood of my raincoat further down over my face to keep the light drizzle that had been falling for the last half-hour off of me and asked myself, 'what the fuck am I doing here?'

As I waited for the rest of the group to come down the trail of the portage, I shut my eyes, ignored the light but constant tapping that the rain made against the raincoat, and let my mind flash back on the events that led up to this moment.

About five and a half months ago this all started when my buddy Ron called and asked, "Hey Glenn, whacha doin' this summer, you gonna teach summer school again or what?" The two of us are high school science teachers. I just turned 29 and he was in his mid 40's. We got along well though, since we are both from the Midwest and were living in a southern town. We taught together for four years including three summers before he and his family (wife, three kids living at home, with two others in college) moved back to Chicago. At his new school, they had a yearly trip to Canada. The trip consisted of a weeklong camping/canoeing trip. Ron went on to say that this year they needed chaperones. His main selling point then was that chaperones, in other words teachers, got to go for free. Now it is tough for me as a teacher to turn down any trip but a free trip?? I had to think about that for less than a nanosecond. The fact that it was a camping and canoeing trip, was just "gravy". Ron sent me the information that he was given within the week. This information consisted of the pamphlets that the outfitters provided. It sounded like a pretty nice deal. The outfitters provided pretty much everything, canoes, paddles, life jackets, tents, sleeping bags, packs, camp cookware, and food for the week. It seemed like all we had to provide was clothes, flashlights and bug repellent.

Early July found me in Chicago meeting Ron and his wife in Chinatown. She had relatives who owned a restaurant there, so we got to eat on the cheap. After a phenomenal meal, we went to their house so the next afternoon we could go to the school and meet the buses and kids that we would chaperone. In the morning we stopped at the store for last minute supplies of bug spray and sunblock. I also got some aloe gel since I have fairly fair skin, which can burn pretty easy, to go along with my blondish (turning silver) hair.

That afternoon when we met the students, I counted about five girls and about ten boys. We also met the other chaperone, Matt, who was a parent of one of the students there, his son Joe had signed up to go on the trip, and they were gonna do that father/son bonding thing. Whatever. The bus trip up to Canada was long (22hrs) and somewhat boring, made little better by the fact that trying to sleep on bus seats is nearly impossible.

We finally arrived at the outfitters in mid-afternoon the next day. The owner and the two guides for our trip, Dan and Kari, met us. Dan at 22, was a little shorter than I was, which made him about 5'9", with dark hair and a slight moustache. Kari was about the same height as Dan, and I found out later to be 26. She had light brown hair, which reached a bit below her shoulders. The rest of the afternoon was spent going over 'Camping 101', which included Dan showing us how the camp stove worked, unpacking and repacking the cook kit. Kari showed us how to set up and repack the tents and sleeping bags. Then the two of them went over the purpose of "the trowel", some canoeing rules, and basic first aid. Then they had us carry the canoes that we'd be using down to the waterline, along with paddles and life vests. They then also went over basic canoe procedures and allowed the kids to paddle around until the dinner bell.

Up until this summer I had been an Instructor Trainer for the Red Cross, which means basically that I taught others how to teach certain Red Cross courses. I was an I.T. for lifeguards and swim instructors, along with CPR and Standard First Aid, and had once taught canoeing at a summer camp. So, the stuff that they went over was pretty basic for me. A couple of times I felt like chiming in with some modifications, but decided to let them do their thing.

At the end of our little meetings, and canoe play time, just before dinner was served, we were informed that due to the new regulations of the area that we were to be camping and canoeing in, there could be no group larger than seven at any campsite. So during dinner the students were to decide upon groups of five that they'd be with the rest of the week.

Ron, Matt and I got to eat with the owner and other staff in a separate dining area. We were told during the meal that the girls would go in one direction with Kari and one of us as a 'chaperone' while the other two would go with Dan and the boys. Immediately I wondered which group I would go with. I knew Matt had to go with the guys since he wanted to be with his son. In fact as that thought zipped through my head Matt spoke up and stated that fact. So it was between Ron and myself to decide who should go with the girls. I don't know what was going through Ron's mind but I really didn't care which group I went with. The whole idea of this trip for me was to spend some time with my friend Ron, but with the presence of Matt and his son, that made it impossible. So we just sort of looked at each other trying to figure out what was going to happen.

At that point Kari asked us, "Do either of you guys have any experience with camping and canoeing?"

Ron and I looked at each other for a second or so then I replied, "I was an Instructor Trainer for the Red Cross and I used to work at a summer camp where I taught swimming and canoeing."

Ron chimed in; "I was a scout master for a few years, so I've done my fair share of camping and canoeing too."

Kari then decided for us, "Well, I think I'd rather take Glenn then. He has a little more experience with emergency situations and if anything happens out there to the girls, or me, I'd feel better about the whole thing."

"Yeah, that sounds good." Ron agreed. "Besides, I don't think I could explain to my wife how I spent a week alone with six women."

We all had a laugh at that. I thought I felt Kari looking at me but when I looked over at her, she was looking at her fork as she speared a piece of lettuce from her salad.

After dinner the chaperones and the guides met in a lounge off of the dining hall, so we could plan out where we would go, and which campsites we would be at on certain days. This way when we submitted it to the owner, it would be similar to a flight plan. Kari and I decided on our route so that we would see a few waterfalls and even some Native American petroglyphs. We made sure that we never had to do a marathon paddle and strain to make the next campsite, and the portages between waterways that were necessary, except for a few of them, were not that long. When finished, I looked at her and said, "Well, this looks like a pretty nice trip."

"Oh," Kari answered, "It's a great trip. I've been along most of this route a few times." Pointing to the map she continued, "I've never been over here to see these falls, but I have heard that they're beautiful. That's one reason that I wanted us to have our layover night near there."

The layover night occurred the fourth night out, and it meant that the fifth day we didn't have to go anywhere but "laid over" in the same campsite before continuing on back to home.

I was put in charge of our map; Ron had a map for his group of campers, as did Matt for his group. When we went outside many of the kids were waiting in the mess hall so that they could see the route that we would be taking. Kari and I went to one table and she called the girls over and explained to them that we would be going on a different route than the boys would be going. I could see that a couple of them were a bit disappointed and then they all sort of looked at me with questions in their eyes.

Kari also noticed that and said, "Glenn, here will be going with us, and I know that he'll be a great addition. It'll be nice to have a butler cooking for us, besides" she added laughingly, "we can make him carry all the heavy stuff like the cook kits." The other girls also laughed and even gave a small cheer.

That was the first time that I thought 'What the fuck am I doing here?' Unfortunately it wouldn't be the last time.

Kari and I talked to the girls for about an hour, and I learned that two of them, Alexandra and Brittany had been on this trip before as juniors. Of the other girls who had never been on this trip (Danielle, Caitlin, and Becky) Danielle, who although was the same age as the others, was only going to be a senior this coming fall.

We finished our meeting and night was a short way off. The director had set up a campfire on the other side of the small island and he wanted a short meeting with everybody before they went to bed in preparation to leave early next morning. Greg, the director/owner, had us get quiet so that we could watch the setting sun in peace. Afterwards he talked about how different this place was from what we knew back home. The water in all the lakes in this area had a purity of 98%, or higher, so we could drink water right from the lakes. He then read from the speech that Chief Seattle gave in 1854 when he turned over his ancestral lands to the U.S. government. The main gist of which was that we as humans are merely temporary occupiers of the land, and that we should try not to muck it up for everyone else, since everything is connected. Greg went on to tell us that the areas that we would be going into for the next week are areas that have been untouched, for the most part, by modern society. He wanted us to try to experience life the way it WAS, so there would be no watches allowed. Everything that we pack in we should bring out; we should only leave footprints. Greg left us with those thoughts and said that anyone was welcome to stay by the fire, but that tomorrow there would be an early breakfast followed by the guys leaving first and heading south followed by the girls who would be starting out to the southwest at first.

I sat with Ron and some others for a while by the fire as others filed back to the main area. After watching the crackling logs for a while, I said, "It's a shame that we can't be together since that was the whole purpose of getting me to come up here for this trip."

"I know," Ron agreed. "But even if we were going together we wouldn't be able to spend a lot of time together it seems since we have to be at different campsites all the time to watch the kids."

"That's true," I said. "But at least we could visit each other after the camps are set up and on that layover day."

Ron sighed, "Yeah, but there's no reason to dwell on it now. Besides," he continued as a smile broke over his face, "I think you're going to have a pretty good time without me."

"Why? What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well," Ron said continuing to smile, "I saw Kari kinda checking you out when you weren't looking and I think that she likes what she sees."

"Shut up" I said laughing.

Before I could say anything more we heard a scream coming from the trail back to the cabins. We both got up and headed for the trail. We clicked on our flashlights as we reached the edge of the firelight and headed down the twisting trail. The scream had stopped only to be replaced by crying just ahead and calls for help from one of the girls that were moving away from us. In about twenty meters we came upon Becky who was on the ground crying and grabbing her ankle in obvious pain.

I gave Ron my flashlight to hold and kneeled down next to her. I finally got out of her, between sobs, that she had tripped on a tree root a few feet back on the trail and as she was stumbling in the dark, she had stepped on the side of a sloped rock but was off balance and had turned her ankle. I looked down at her ankle and could see that it was already swelling. When I pulled her sock out of the way I could also see that it was already turning purple. I gently probed near the swelling. Becky sucked in her breath rapidly and winced in pain. I didn't want to take the sock, or shoe, off since that was helping until we could get it wrapped. I guessed that it was either really badly sprained, or maybe even broken, but didn't want to tell her anything right now since I knew that would be hard on her as she was looking forward to this trip. It looked like there was no way she could go now with this and tomorrow when it still hurt, it would be easier to convince her that she couldn't go.

Ron and I helped her to her one good foot, and asked her if she could walk on it at all if she used us as crutches. She replied that it felt like it was falling off even now just hanging in the air, so walking was impossible. I then stood in front of her and had Ron help her up onto my back so that I could carry her back to the cabins.

Just then Greg and Kari showed up from the camp led by Alexandra. They made Becky get off my back and sit again (against my protests) so they could examine her again. Greg looked at her ankle and announced that he thought that it might be broken, which caused Becky, as I figured, to start crying again. I gave her a hug and said that it would be OK. I then told her that she had the better deal if she thought about it. She would get to sit around here, sleeping on a nice bed, and eating good food, while we got to go out into the woods, sleep on the hard ground and eat whatever it was that I re-hydrated that night. Becky stopped crying and I could even feel her smile on my shoulder a little.

"Well when you put it that way..." Becky said as she wiped away the tears.

I had her jump up onto my back and carried her back to the main area where, by that time, they then had found some crutches for her to use. Kari then helped Becky back to the girl's cabin where guys were not allowed.

The next morning we all awoke to a gray overcast day. Everyone was dressed in shorts, T-shirts, and some kind of hat. I wore an old Brewers baseball cap, a T-shirt, and a boxer type of swimsuit, instead of shorts. After breakfast the guys got loaded up and left. Becky hobbled down to the docks on her crutches and all the girls cried as we got our canoes loaded. There were two cook kits; one had some food, the first aid kit, and the actual cooking utensils, while the other had the rest of the food in plastic containers or plastic bags. I had a pack that contained my tent, sleeping bag and my clothes. Kari had a pack that contained basically the same stuff. Then the girls had two packs to fit their tent, sleeping bags and their clothes into. When I saw the size of their packs I stared at them with my mouth hanging open. It almost took two of them to easily carry one of those packs they were so huge.

Finally we were loaded and got headed off towards the first portage.

I chose Cait, who was a very petite girl, to be in my canoe. Partly because I wanted to get to know her a bit better since she was probably the quietest of the girls, and I also chose her partly since she was so petite, I thought that I could compensate on her lack of skills. We headed off first since I had the map. Following us were Alex and Brittany since they had done the canoeing thing before. Following all of us were Dani and Kari.

Just as we reached the first portage it started to lightly rain. Cait got out of the canoe as we pushed up onto the shore near the trailhead. She pulled the canoe further onto shore and I crawled out from the back. As we unhooked the straps that held the packs onto the thwarts, the others came onto the small clearing of weeds. It really wasn't a beach since it was mostly just mud and rock.

After we unloaded the canoes, everyone dug out their rain gear put it on. Then they loaded me up with the cook kits, one pack on my back, and one in front, they shoved two paddles between my back and the pack back there. I then grabbed the stove and fuel in one hand and a third paddle in my other hand. Cait and Dani said that they would take one canoe and my pack and they would switch back and forth when the one who was carrying the canoe got tired. Kari took her pack and one canoe. Meanwhile Brittany carried the canoe while Alex carried the two remaining packs tandem fashion. She took one pack ahead and after a period of time she would put it down on the side of the trail and then walk back and get the other one and then carry that new pack past the first pack. Then she'd repeat the process with the new pack.

As I headed off along the trail ahead of everyone else, I could hear the banging of canoes on the ground, and the girls talking behind me. Soon I could barely hear them as the rain continued to fall. The portage was a little over 800 meters, so in about 30 minutes (I'm guessing since we had our watches collected along with other valuables to be put in a safe place back at the outfitting area) I reached the other end.

I put down the camp stove and the container that carried, what I was told was, "white gas" on my left. I leaned a paddle against a tree to my right. I slipped off the straps of the pack that I carried in front of me and eased it to the ground. I reached behind me and pulled two more paddles out from under the backpack straps. Finally I shrugged off the pack that was on my back. I sat down on a nearby rock and leaned against a tree. I pulled the hood of my raincoat further down over my face to keep the light drizzle that had been falling for the last half-hour off of me and asked myself, 'what the fuck am I doing here?'

As I waited for the rest of the group to come down the trail of the portage, I shut my eyes, ignored the light but constant tapping that the rain made against the raincoat, and let my mind flash back on the events that led up to this moment.

Getting caught back up to the present, I opened my eyes, and decided that that the girls probably needed help in carrying some of the packs and canoes to the end so I got back up and headed back into the woods.

About halfway back I found one of the packs that Alex had left by the side of the trail and I could see the silvery underside of a canoe making its way slowly along the trail through the leaves a few turns further back. I yelled out, "You're doin' good, and you're about halfway."

"WHAT!!!" I heard Dani yell back. "Only HALFway?? Oh, God!"

I then heard Kari start to laugh further back. Soon the others joined Kari, including Dani.

I waited as the canoes passed by and Alex showed up with the other pack. "Go and help out the others with the canoes. I can get these." I said.

"Oh, Ok." Alex said. "I'm glad you came along to help me, I realized while I was carrying these things that if I continued this, that I would walk this portage a total of three times!"

After a quick thought, I said, "Yep, that's why I try to carry as much as I can and do it all in one trip. If it's balanced right it isn't too bad to carry two packs."

As Alex helped me with getting the two 'monster packs' on, one in back and one in front. I noticed that up close she was even more attractive than I realized. She had an exotic, oriental look to her with, what I guessed to be, quite large breasts. I couldn't really tell since she had on a large T-shirt and bulky raincoat. She had shoulder length black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail and stuck out through the back of a baseball cap. Her eyes were dark brown, and she had full lips that looked perfect for kissing, or for sucking a cock. I shook my head, trying to get that vision out of my head as she asked; "Ok all loaded up, you ready?"

"As much as I'll ever be I guess," I replied. She headed off ahead of me and since there was nothing else to do, I stared at her legs and ass. And it was a VERY nice ass too from what I could see sticking out from under her raincoat. All the girls were wearing shorts and Alex had on a pair of running shorts, which sort of flared away from her thighs slightly. Her legs were toned, shapely, and tanned. I enjoyed watching her legs swing back and forth, as her ass moved tantalizingly under the thin material of her shorts. It seemed like seconds and we were back with the rest of the group.

Alex continued on to Brittany when I caught up to Kari. Together we paused, she let the canoe rest a bit and I said to her, "Well this is it, I've got everything. When we get to the end we can pack up and head out."

With a slight smirk Kari said, "I'm sure you have everything. I have to remember later to thank you. When I've been on these trips before with girls, it seems that everyone has to make two or three trips to get everything, and I'm usually the one to be making a lot of those trips to help."

"Well," I shot back, "that's what I thought I was here for... to be a butler and carry all the heavy stuff."

Oh, C'mon now," I heard Kari say as she straightened her canoe over her head and started off again. "You know that I was only joking before, I expect these girls to do as much work as possible, we are here to make sure that they have a good time and are safe, we are not their slaves to do everything for them."

I knew that she was joking but I had wanted to rub it in a little. I then said, "Ya I know you were joking, I just wish someone had told me before what to really expect and what was really going to go on here. Sure I'd been a counselor at a camp before, but it had been out and a rich kids camp in Maine, and they expected the counselors to do a lot of the stuff for them."

"Rich kids camp?" Kari asked.

"Yeah, rich kids," I replied. "You know, Mom and Dad spend over $4000 to send little Johnny away for seven weeks during the summer. Then little Johnny can play tennis, swim in a pool, and 'rough it' in a cabin with a bathroom and only one shower for six kids and two counselors."

"Damn, sounds pretty nice." she commented.

"Compared to this, those cabins were like a five-star hotel." I continued, "We had to keep them clean or the cabin would get demerits. Now normally I wouldn't care if we got demerits or not but if the cabin got demerits the director would not let the counselor who had that night off go out, he felt that the 'team needed to be strengthened'. That just pissed me off, so that I had to go back through everything to make sure that the cabin was clean enough for inspection. I wanted to be able to go out."

"Damn!" I heard her say again. "I can imagine."

"So we can turn this into more of a team thing where everyone has to work together for the good of the group?" I asked.

"Yep, kinda like that survivor show." She said. "But no one gets voted off and sent home."

"Except Becky," I joked.

Kari said, "Oh, that's cold." But then she laughed. The sound that came out from under the canoe reverberated inside and made her laugh seem intoxicatingly musical. That, along with the fact that I was behind her, made me again look at another very, very, nice ass move around under a pair of nylon running shorts peeking out from under her raincoat. Her shorts were the kind that had a slit on the side to allow for more ventilation. It just had the effect of making her muscular (but not too muscular) tanned legs seem even longer. Her ass was a nice size, a bit larger than Alex's but not huge. The thought that came to my head was womanly.

We all finally made it to the end of the portage. While we rested for a bit I made the girls open up their packs and we rearranged some of their stuff and put more of their "nonessential" gear into Kari's pack, or mine, which were MUCH lighter than theirs were. This evened the packs out a bit and none of them were 'monster packs' any longer (except the cook packs). Finally we finished and loaded the canoes. We were going to get a drink of water, but Kari said, "The water near shore isn't that great, there's larvae and all the mud and stuff that runs off the land. Wait until we're further out."