Bert and Judy, Scotty and Di, and Arthur and Shirley met in the parking lot of the Epinette trail system on Saturday for a hike/campout at cabin 3. We shared the trail with 3 zillion mosquitoes, which some of us managed to fend off with healthy(?) doses of insect repellent. The mosquito coils did little to keep the swarms at bay as we cooked supper, but the deet made it bearable for some of us. Shortly before dark, Jackie and her nephew Josh and Dover showed up. Fourteen year-old Josh was very impressed with his Aunt’s penchant for outdoor living (I think he was quoted as saying, “Auntie Jackie, I don’t think this was such a good idea”) but he gamely assisted with the supper preparations, accepting the offer of a repellent that was a little more effective than the citronella they wore coming in.
After supper, Bert (bare-legged and armed-that means sans cloth or mosquito repellent) headed out to meet Fred, who had left Winnipeg at 6 pm on his bicycle. Shortly thereafter, Fred strolled into camp, swatting fiercely (His loving wife hadn’t even left him the citronella as he requested). Fred had taken the old trail, somewhat shorter but quickly getting overgrown and minus the bridges. We were all impressed to see Bert saunter back half an hour later, totally oblivious to the blood stains and welts that covered every inch of his legs.
No sitting up shooting the breeze till all hours this night. We were all tucked away well before midnight—all that is, except Dover, who didn’t quite know what to make of the howling coyotes (we didn’t quite know what to make of his snoring, once he did settle down). Saturday morning, we woke to clear skies and a light breeze, and—miracle of miracles—no mosquitoes.