Lake McDonald

By: Lara Cleeland

You can undoubtedly count on adventure when you allow two hooligans hailing from Yes Bay Lodge to travel upstream. Like their fated fellow the salmon, this journey begins up river. On a happier note: we survived, whereas our bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwiches and endless bag of cookies were not so fortunate.

So it all began when Jaimie and I headed up the trail to Lake McDonald, through the treacherous enchanted forest, through unicorn fields and bear pastures. We sang Brittney Spears to repel the bears with our peppered voices. Through thicket, wet brush, and muddy terrain, we savaged our way to the cabin – hauling about 20 pounds of kindling, sleeping bags, cookies and lots of hydration (wink wink)!

Drenched with dew, we arrived at the cabin, ready to settle in and call this place home for a night. We started a roaring fire thanks to a surplus of kindling supplied by our favorite dock hand, Kenny, and roasted up some sandwiches! As any lady in the woods would do, we popped open some aged Alaskan Ale and pondered how real mountain women, whilst hiking, should be savage: drinking brew, bleeding blood, and brawling bears. These are obvious and crucial characteristics to possess if you’ve spent any time in Alaska, duh!

So we drank the night away, listening to the fire crackle and the rain go pat pat pat on the tin roof above our heads. Conversing for hours, we watched the wick of the candle burn into nothing, as our voices trailed into a whisper, then deep slumber on our solid wooden bunks.

It’s such a surreal experience to surrender yourself to the raw beauty of the wilderness, and to let the peace and quiet settle deep inside your bones. It will change you, even if it’s just for that moment where you become one with your natural surrounding. There’s nothing better than to escape, even for a brief period of time, into the wild from which we were created.

Lake McDonald Fly By (taken on our way back from town - see "Surviving Town") - Photo by Lara Cleeland