A night on the (shanty)town.

The plan was simple enough. I'd head to Waterton National Park with a few friends from work. One was going to go snorkeling, another was planning on bringing his mountain bike, and I'd rent a canoe for an hour or two. (That carved killer whale canoe paddle wasn't quite as authentic as I'd hoped on a closer inspection, but that doesn't mean I haven't stopped looking for something I can swing over my head in a thunderstorm.)

Naturally, it's only after everyone goes their separate ways that I find out that yes, canoes are perfectly welcome at Waterton Lake, but canoe rentals are only available at Cameron Lake, which is sixteen klicks down the road.

Ah, well. I'm not so cultured yet that I can't have a good time just throwing rocks into a lake.

Did I mention that one of my friends was out snorkeling?

One can only spend so much time trying to perfect that second skip, though. Especially when there's driftwood to play with!



The way I see it, if I'm ever shipwrecked on an island with a group of people and we start building shelters, I'd like to be able to say, "I'll have you know this isn't the first time I've done this." Then everybody would be all impressed for the next ten minutes, at which point the frame would fall over.

Or would it? Take a closer look there. Is that...? Why, yes, it is! Structural integrity in the wilderness! Bound together with nearby stems and grasses, thank you very much. Don't worry, you don't have to present the merit badges in person -- delivery by postal service will be just fine.