I RETURN VICTORIOUS OVER THE POWERS OF NATURE.
and indeed, it seemed my very environment had it's sights set on ending my life! countless times i could have sworn our canoe was about to flip over, dumping myself and kesley, my partner for the weekend, into the FREEZING lakewater, freezing us to death WITHIN MINUTES. also challanging was the intense winds! on and off the water, it blew into your face no matter what direction one faced, thus sending me home with a rose red nose and cheeks much like sunburn only much more painful. it was so cold and hatefully blustery that we could barely muster the energy to even feed ourselves! so we ate the easy thing in our packs; chocolates, cheese and one night some mac and cheese. i probably gained a couple pounds on the trip, despite the immense amount of caloric output i achieved. on that note, another danger were the portages. a portage, for those of you who are retarded, is when you are canoeing a lake and come to the shore, but need to get to a lake on the other side of a landmass and then proceed to carry your gear and canoe (the canoe i carried single handedly was 72 lbs) over said terrain (in my case, mountainious rocks, ice, mud and snow atop hidden treefalls) for a distance known as 'rods' which is about 15 ft or the length of a canoe (i walked a total of ~400 rods, yes with the canoe the whole time.). i nearly fell and killed myself countless times on these treks. also, please note that canoes are NOT built to be carried with ease. they are built to be carried albeit in an economical (not ergonomical) fashion. my back and shoulders are absolutely killing me. i can barely shrug without incredible pain and could really really really use a pretty girl here to help rub the kinks out!
speaking of pretty girls: i mentioned last time the girls i was with and my enthusiasm over spending a weekend with them. WELL. upon setting up tents the first night, we were able to choose our own tent partners. i threw my junk in one tent and let god sort it out, and to my surprise and joy, kelsey, the girl i had my eye on since classes began immediately threw her sack in with mine! now, before you start with your "oooh, rob! you sly dog" speeches let me just say; co-habitating with a woman you know and love can be mighty difficult even in the best of times. living under extreme conditions in a team-work heavy environment with a woman you're attracted to but barely know can be complicated and frustrating to say the least. this thought occured to me as i held in one rancid fart after another. at one point even forgetting the dutch oven i'd made of my sleeping bag and shoving my head inside for warmth only to immedeatly remove my noggin due to tear filled eyes and a mouth full of potential vomit. rancid, rancid, rancid. so yeah. pretty sure my shot with kelsey is blown. sad faces there. and let me illustrated a few points here by saying that on friday night i was too cold to flirt. lets go back. I, Rob Finlayson. found an environment to be SO EXTREME. so baleful. SO BITTER AND HATEFUL AT THE VERY PROSPECT OF MY BEING. that i couldn't even manage a witty quip and sly compliment!! and that, ladies and gentlemen, is saying something!
so thats the worst of the weekend. lots of awesome stuff happened too though! we made cake! it was fucking AWESOME. but when our guide, jake, squeezed it out it legit looked like a bear shit we'd decided to fry up in a hypothermic delusion. also, when i mentioned how frightening it was when i almost tipped over and died in the canoe, it was also EPIC and AWESOME that kelsey and i managed to cross a lake in a pro fucking fashion that shocked and impressed guides and professors alike and went down as one of the more epic ventures of the weekend. also, did i mention i carried a fucking BOAT over two fucking mountains? TWO. that was pretty fuckin' sweet. pictures of that shit to come. defintely pushed myself to the limits and back again in a lot of ways this weekend. absolutely the trip of a lifetime. ONCE in a lifetime, to be sure, but trip of a lifetime nonetheless.

i can't wait to move to arizona.

stay spiny friends! i'll get more stories as i think of them and pictures as they become available!