Lost in Canada by Gregg S.

Lost in Canada by Gregg S.

Several years back 2 brothers and myself were fishing in Ontario on a large lake with many islands and our cabin. One afternoon the 3 of us in separate boats fished a short distance away to see if we could locate fish. After a few hours we had been moving around what seemed like short distances to fish and felt we should return to the cabin. After an hour boating around the islands we realized that everything looked the same and could not locate the passage back. The time was about 5 pm and at first there was not much worry as daylight in late May will go until about 9:30 pm. We started worrying about 7 pm when we still could not find our way. Rick is saying he knows it’s this way, his brother David is saying it’s this way and would take off making us give chase. The surroundings all look the same except one part of the lake had a tree area that looked as if it had endured a fire some time back. I began to worry the second time after about an hour that we came back to this area. I was preparing myself to spend the night on an island. I was the only one that had grabbed a back pack that had some food, a tarp and matches. The others thought they did not need anything, saying we were only fishing a short area away. The two brothers did not want to stop looking which brought us into dark. It started to get worse, rain and lightning lit up the sky. We were in an area were earlier I had noticed an abandon cabin along the shore. I told the 2 brothers that this is were we should spend the night before things got bad. One of the boats had run out of gas and was now being towed. I pointed in the direction of the cabin and headed off. Once I got to shore and waited for some time the brothers were not behind me. I headed back and found them stuck on a rock reef, with the rain and wind and one boat trying to pull the other it was almost impossible to cross that part of the lake. We finally were able to get all 3 of us to this gutted out cabin. Too dry I out I started a fire and used the tarp to keep heat in a small area, as this cabin had no windows with part of the roof missing. We all shared snacks, beef jerky, and some water. Not being able to sleep, anxious for morning and the weather, we talked about areas that we remembered when we first left, got a sense of direction to head when daylight came and made a plan. When morning came, in one boat with what gas we had left, we headed in the direction we thought was right and within an hour we found the opening to return to the cabin. The comfort of a cabin with no electricity, only a wood burner for heat and an outdoor toilet was like staying at the Ritz. I will always bring survival gear with me on any type of excursion.