I attended Red Arrow Camp in northern Wisconsin for seven weeks per summer, at ages 12-14. Fifteen campers, and some counselors, took a 10-day canoe trip into Canada. We had a one-day bus trip from camp to northern Minnesota, where we picked up another adult expert. The next day we canoed across six lakes; at the end of each one we carried all of our belongings to the next lake. On the last lake we found a flat, treeless area, and we stayed there for six days. The only sign of other people was a spot with some belongings which had evidently been ripped apart by bears. Campers had left.
We immediately put up our tents (four per tent), gathered some wood, and set up a spot for cooking meals. We slept well that night. After breakfast the next day, we cleaned the metal dishes, and set out on the lake, fishing for our dinner. One day our leading elderly camper went with me and someone else, and we caught a great number of fish for meals. He was a good fisherman.
Fruit trees did not flourish that summer, and wild animals were starting to look for good food inside camp sites. One day while we were fishing, our expert noticed a large mother black bear bringing her two children toward our camp site. She approached our tents, and our expert shot and killed the mother bear. The two younger ones ran away and did not risk our camp.
After fishing all day, we returned to our camp, and were told about the dead bear. We cut it up and had some of the meat for dinner. We also kept some of the bear skin for souvenir. Most of us felt scared and sick, and simply walked away from the dead bear. Many of us slept poorly that night.
We later canoed back to the starting place, and again carried heavy belongings between lakes. The bus back to camp took us first to Lake Superior. It was 48 degrees – I could swim for fewer than five minutes. One of the boys was using an ax to goof around – perhaps to break wood. I stupidly stood behind him, and he suddenly swung the ax by lifting it back before swinging it forward. He hit my throat and I could barely breathe. Fortunately, he hit me with the dull side of the ax, and I gradually got better. We did not tell our counselor. When we arrived back at Red Arrow Camp, everyone was very excited about our famous bear story.
