Alaska: Day 25: 7-30-93: Lakeside Lazing And Capsized Canoe

Today's leg was The-Marathon-Within-The-Marathon, a 26.2 mile "dash" (though poor logistics in our typically chaotic atmosphere lengthened the course by a mile) bringing us to the outskirts of Anchorage. Back to form, Andre won the race, with a time of 1:38.

Next it was off to a local lake, ostensibly to go water-skiing, though only five of the forty or so attendees actually ended up donning skis (partly due to lack of interest [many volunteers just wanted to relax & soak up some sun] and partly -- as was the case with me -- because it took forever for Challenge Alaska to get their shit together [what a shock!]). But I was not about to let a little disorganization ruin my plans for a fun afternoon. First, I took in some rays while playing Ghost with Andy, Ken, Val, Chase and Win. After giving my friends a sound drubbing, Win, Val and I clamored onto a canoe and went out to explore the lake. Andy and Chase, having been the first two eliminated from the game, had taken out a kayak a little earlier, and when we caught up with them, we decided to start another "water war" -- we splashed the Hell out of them! We were rowing away all kinds of smug when they enacted their revenge. They came so close to us that it panicked Val, and when she stood up reflexively, it was all over -- the three of us plunged into the lake as the canoe capsized!

We quickly swam towards the kayak and valiantly attempted (twice) to flip them over, but our efforts were for naught. We realized that we needed to get back in our canoe if we were to rejoin the fray. Unfortunately, our canoe was flooded with water, and impossible to drain while we were treading water out in the middle of the lake. We soon realized that the only way to get the water out was to swim/walk the vessel back to shore and dump it out there. The only thing was, the lake bottom was totally disgusting -- it was this grey, slimy, mushy scum -- which I sunk into up to my knees as I hesitantly waded through. By the time I slopped my way to the beachfront, the gook had climbed waist-high. But there was no time for a bath. We emptied the water out of the canoe and set back off to find the enemy.

A quick search revealed that, like the Yellow-Bellies they were, Andy and Chase had already retreated to the safety of the shore. Begrudgingly, we docked the boat and washed ourselves off in the lake. Forewarned that the lake was leech infested, I anxiously scanned my newly cleansed body for any signs of the little bloodsuckers, starting with the most private of areas first (For the second time on this trip, I was reminded of Stand By Me, though it was a decidedly different scene which came to mind this go around). After a thorough examination of every nook and cranny, I only found one -- it was a small fry wedged between the first two toes of my left foot. The leech was deep scarlet in tone and so engorged with my blood that I thought it would burst. Peeling off the little guy had the same effect as removing a newly placed Bandaid -- the crack between my toes started bleeding profusely. Interestingly, there was no mark of any kind to be found beneath the dripping blood (eery, huh?).

After flicking the leech away, I piled into the car with my cronies and headed off to the American Legion Hall for a greasy, angioplasty-inducing meal of deep fried chicken, buttered corn and french fries. Then Michel and I played some pool -- boy, could he shoot! He was a regular wheelchair-bound Willie Mosconi. We faced each other in a couple of games, and he should have won both because he truly outplayed me, but I had two backdoor victories when he twice scratched on the 8-ball.

Soon it was time to head back to the campsite, where Chase, Val and I began another of our all-night gaming/bullshit sessions. We started with Go, and then quickly lapsed into giddy conversation. The previous night's discussion had been dominated by the topic of masturbation, and this night's theme was homosexuality. I don't exactly know how we got started on these subjects, but I have to admit that our talks were quite interesting and often humorous. After a brief word association game, the three of us crashed in Chase's tent, giggling ourselves into La-La Land.