The Canoe Trip with Uncle

The Canoe Trip

It was a beautiful morning when we arrived at the boat launch on Friday. We left home at 4:00am and drove two and a half hours to get into the park for an early start. My Uncle Rick and I were going to spend the next four days paddling through the lakes and rivers of a remote state park. This was something we’ve done since I was 12 and learned to paddle a canoe, the annual uncle and niece canoe vacation. The trips started small, just paddling around a recreational lake at a car campground to this year’s backcountry excursion.

I had just come home a few weeks earlier from my first year at college and was already feeling the crushing lack of freedom that was living at home. You go from staying out late whenever you want, with whoever you want, to having to answer questions when you try to step out the door. I love my parents, but you can only take so much. I’ve been counting down the days to this trip.

My parents have always been more stay-at-home people. I’ve always wondered if I was adopted due to my love of being active. Climbing, hiking, and paddling, as well as random sports were part of my high school and now college life. A lot of those I learned from my Uncle Rick, an outdoorsman and constant bachelor, he made sure I learned the skills I would need to be self-sufficient in survival circumstances.

The temperature was cool, but the sky was clear and sunny. We unpacked the car, dismounted the canoe from the roof, and carried it to the dock. We placed the boat in the water and tied to the dock, I stowed our gear in the boat and while Uncle Rick parked the truck. We had the tent, sleeping bags, and clothes in one pack, wrapped in plastic if it rains, near the stern. The food and emergency supplies were in a dry canister near the bow. I secured them with ropes, checked my knots, and threw in the paddles and life jackets.

Uncle Rick returned and it was a quick stop to the washroom for each of us and then we climbed into our craft, ready for a long weekend of nature. We did put on our life jackets, mainly due to the park staff giving us the stink eye. One last check and we peeled off from the dock, I was in the bow and Uncle Rick was in the stern.

There was no wind to the water was mirror calm as we cut cleanly across the lake towards a river. I could feel the rhythm of the paddle in my hand, doing a basic ‘J’ stroke to keep the canoe in a straight line. We hadn’t spoke since we left the dock, just letting nature and the Sun fill our souls with warmth. Speaking of warm, I was starting to get hot under the light jacket and life vest. I turned to see if we were out of sight of the main dock, we were, and removed the life vest and my jacket. This was how I was hoping to spend most of this trip, in just my yellow bikini top and small shorts. I was hoping to work on my tan this weekend before I was stuck inside for my summer internship began.

“That’s better! I can finally move freely again. How goes the stern Uncle Rick?”

“Good, nice to be back on the water with you Megan. Give me a second to get my vest off too.”

I turned my head to see Uncle Rick taking of his life vest and his shirt too. For being over 40, he was rocking an impressively muscular body. He was burly and strong, he towered over me at 6’3”. His wiry brown hair was cut short. I always wondered why he couldn’t find a woman. He was a catch, and good looking, even if he was my uncle.

“Is the plan to still camp out at the lookout?” I asked.

“Yup, unless you’ve grown too weak from school to make it. I used to know a girl who was tough and strong. I wonder where she is now?” He teased.

“I’ll show you; I’ll take the first portage myself,” I said confidently, “I’ve been hitting the gym 3 days a week while at school. I could almost lift you.”

“That’d be a sight to see. You probably just go to meet guys. You’re what, 4’9” and 80 lbs?”

“I’m 5’2” and a girl never reveals her weight, Uncle Rick.”

“Drop the uncle, this weekend and just call me Rick. You’ll wind yourself saying it all. We’re just Meg and Rick, out on the water this weekend.”

“Aye Aye, Captain Rick!” this was followed by him splashing me with the paddle. I shrieked and splashed back. This was why I loved our little adventures.

It was just after noon when we hit the first portage of the trip. We took out most of the gear, loaded it on our backs and I attempted to lift the canoe from the ground onto my shoulders. The trick is to get it on your knee, place your arms so they won’t cross, and pop it up above your head, resting the yoke on your shoulders. It took a try or two, but I managed to pull it off. Rick carted the rest of the gear while I carried the boat the 500 yards to the next body of water. It took us about 20 minutes to make the journey, but I did it myself. I gently put down the canoe by the water and we stopped to have lunch.

After a quick pee break it was back in the water we went. We were making great time; we should arrive at the campsite by 4:00pm. Plenty of time to set up the tent and cook dinner before it gets dark. We just paddled along with the current, I let my long blonde hair out from its ponytail to just drift in the breeze for a while. I leaned back from the seat, stretching out across the yoke and looked at Rick upside down.

“What are you doing? Tired already?” he teased.

“No, just making sure I get full tan coverage across my whole body. Don’t want any uneven tan lines.”

“No, I suppose not. What would happen to the world if you were slightly darker on one side than the other.” As he said that, I could see him, even behind his sunglasses, taking in the sight of my body, and looking down the front of my bikini. It felt a little weird to be getting checked out by a family member, but I can’t help but admit to checking him out when I was younger. He was my first crush until I got old enough to know it was wrong.

After a few more hours of paddling, we made it to the first paddle up camp site. These are sites that can only be accessed via boat, so they are pretty secluded from other people. No cars, no trails, and no visitors. We disembarked and dragged the canoe onto the shore. I tied it to a nearby tree just to be safe, we didn’t want it drifting away at night. Rick started unpacking the camping gear. He set up the tent, laid out the sleeping bags, and gathered wood for a campfire. We were lucky, it had been a pretty damp spring so there wasn’t a fire ban yet.

I started the camp stove and started boiling water to cook the pasta we brought. Nothing like camp pasta, it’s too hard or too soft, it’s bland, and it’s still delicious after a hard day’s work. We ate all that I cooked and cleaned the dishes in the water. Uncle Rick said he had to use the little boy’s room and wandered into the forest, I decided to do a quick walk around the shore to see if there was anything cool to explore before it got dark. I turned a corner and caught Uncle Rick taking a piss, I could see his massive penis clearly as Rick was just letting it spray anywhere. I couldn’t believe the size of it deflated. I started to wonder what it would look like hard and that got my mind racing. I saw him finish, give it a shake, and tuck it back in his pants. Luckily, he hadn’t seen me, so I just kept looking around.

When I got back the sun was just starting to set below the horizon. Uncle Rick stacked the wood he had gathered earlier and tried to get a fire going. It would light, smoke a bit, then fizz out. I got down on my knees to help. He would light some kindling and I would gently blow to provide more oxygen to the flame to help dry out the wood so it would catch. Each time I would lean in to blow on the embers I could see my uncle looking at my chest. I must admit, I do have a pretty rocking set of breasts. 32C’s, nice and perky, with suckable nipples, as a boyfriend once told me.

The fire finally caught, and we sat around watching the flames roar, talking about life and other random things.