Lessons of the North Woods
Noah Imm
“You cant take it all with you when you go.” You cant always take the seven extra pair of socks. You cant take two pairs of pants and an extra pair of shoes. No, you cant bring four books. You can only take the memories you have and what you can fit in your dry sack. Don’t forget your toothbrush and your raincoat, or your sleeping bag. Please don’t forget your sleeping bag. These are the words I remember hearing on my first canoe trip. Maybe I was just an overdramatic kiddo but I am glad I brought a raincoat down the Turtle river in 2010. I remember it rained a lot that year. I think every day on the trip and a lot back on the island. I remember swimming in rapids for the first time ever among the vastness of the Canadian wilderness.
The next year was much better and the Bloodvein gifted me with my first swamping experience. The Rawah’s that same year made my legs much stronger and gave a great first introduction to mountain medicine. They also fostered a love for the mountains of Colorado and ‘humping’ or backpacking. Four years in the Marine Corps infantry with First Battalion Third Marine Division gave me what I wanted in terms of humping gear around. After humping gear over miles, mountains and rivers for four years, I often thought of the seemingly never ending portages from when I was a kid. Throughout this time I was introduced to many different people, ideas, and leadership styles. I learned both good and bad examples of leadership. I learned that growth is painful and there is more to growing than just bigger muscles and more freedom. Most of the time it means more responsibility. Sometimes it means your current mentality is unrecognizable from the one you had before. Sometimes growth is actually the absence of other things. But growth is really just another way maturing, and becoming a more well-rounded man.
I wouldn’t be back on Deer island until 2019 after my time in the Marine Corps. But, unlike myself, nothing on the island had changed in that time. Tim Downey, and JR seemed to not age. The weight shack still had its rustic look, but with the addition of a boxing ring. The skeet range had been moved and promptly set on fire (a story for a different time). The next time I remember seeing as much water on the island as I did 2010 was the record breaking flood of 2022. But even then, by the end of the summer the water had gone down enough, and the sun came out. Socks dried out, the waterline receded, and it was just one more thing that the island and the people on it had managed to endure. The island was the same way it was when I arrived when I was thirteen. It always seemed to be that way; it was the one thing that was always constant throughout the years.
There’s no such thing as a bad summer. Even the tough summers, whether its dealing with a record flood or getting much better at hiking, or changing your perspective on summer camps, either way it makes you a stronger person, mentally, physically and for the rest of your life. I’m a firm believer the reason for this is that when young men are forced to struggle and confronted with a change of their baseline, even at the depths of breaking down and being homesick, or being injured and pushing forward, this is where one begins to understand manhood, and your own personality. Camp Kooch-i-ching did this for me when I was a kid. I remember crying on almost every portage but not letting anyone see. I remember being in the back of the pack for the entire Rawah backpacking trip and getting the worst blisters I’ve ever gotten since, including in the Marine Corps. I believe a man’s mentality is not unlike a blister. It hurts at first, it's gross and there may be some tears involved, but next time it's more difficult to cut through the skin. Next time the skin calluses over. Next time the portage isn’t as long as it seems. Next time you enjoy the scenery and take in the solitude. And then the time after that it's too cold and you didn’t bring warming layers. You’ve never been that cold in your life. You think about it and decide to never let that happen again. It isn’t a matter of mentality and you begin to realize that mentality is part of the puzzle, but wisdom is the whole picture.
