Kayaking becomes much easier

Dispatch from Michelle Olson — July 15, 1997

Judd shows the kids how it's done

Today was a good day. We kayaked again down the lake. Everyone's stroke has improved. Yesterday, Dan and I were kind of lagging behind, but today, our strokes have improved and are now becoming second nature.

The lake today, for the most part, was glass, which made the paddle smooth. Our surroundings are breathtaking, and literally, untouched by man. When we arrived at our planned camp it was unsuitable there. The beaches were too steep and there were really no flat areas. We could paddle back up the lake to an okay camp area, or we could have continued down to Palmer Creek where there was no guarantee of a campsite, or we could paddle across the lake to a marvelous campsite (this camp was about 2.5 kilometers across the lake — an open crossing). We chose the marvelous campsite.

The 2.5-kilometer pass over open water took only 25 minutes, a vast improvement. When we arrived at the campsite we all had lots of free time, so all of us went swimming in the very cold water. The team stayed in for a lot longer than the adults. From here, we can see Palmer Creek and parts of the Sandford Range. It looks just as hard as everyone has said. There is lots of snow on top, and it is very very big. The whole team is totally psyched. Tomorrow we will paddle to the dreaded Palmer Creek and finally see the "beast" for ourselves (Judd had read an excerpt from a book earlier that described the insects at Palmer Creek as "beasts from hell") . Needless to say it is totally awesome to be on the expedition.