Memoir

The Most Beautiful Place In The World

I was born and raised in the city of Minneapolis. Minneapolis is very urban so I spent almost my entire childhood growing up in the city and everything it came with. The bright lights of downtown at night, the busy freeways, the Mall of America. All of these things are beautiful and great but there was a small part of my heart missing that the city just could not fill. Then I was introduced to Menogyn. Menogyn is a YMCA camp for teenagers who want to explore the wilderness with other kids like you. It is for backpacking, rock climbing and canoeing from 8 up to 50 day trips. My dad was a guide at Menogyn when he was younger, my brother went on many trips and then it was finally my turn to go on my trip. In the summer leading up to my eighth-grade year I went on an 8 day canoe trip, and the summers following I went on an 11 and a 14 day trip. Those were great trips in the Boundary Waters but the trip that I will never forget is my 21 day trip this past summer to the Quetico. The Quetico is like the Canadian Boundary Waters.

Before the trip, I was very nervous. My brother had told me many times that "it'll be the hardest trip you do. You'll be pushed a lot but it is so worth it." I was also unbelievably excited. Another reason that I was nervous was that I didn't know anyone who would be going and the group that I was going to be spending 21 days straight with were all complete strangers. The two things that I was most nervous about turned out to be two things that completely changed who I am.

Menogyn is a seven hour bus ride away from the Twin Cities. That is a long time to be on a bus with strangers. The bus was my first experience with having to open up and talk to people. For the first part of the drive up, I was very nervous to talk to the people around me. I thought that they would think I was weird or annoying, so I spent the beginning of the trip sleeping or listening to music. When you first arrive at camp everyone comes together and you find out your groups. This was the first time that I would meet the people that I was going to be spending the next 21 days straight with. Again, I was very scared that we were not all going to get along or become friends. I soon found out that all of the people on the bus, and especially the people in my group, whom I had thought were weird, were hilarious and nice. Being on that long bus ride and being thrown into a group of strangers forced me to step out of my comfort zone and to talk to these people I didn't know. It taught me that if you make no effort to get to know people, you will never find out how great they are. It also taught me that stepping out of your comfort zone can greatly pay off. 

We all had a few days in camp to get to know our groups and get prepared for our trip and then we were off to trail. Being on trail is one of my favorite things in my life. It is also one of the hardest. Everyday of the trip we canoed miles and portaged long distances. Because we were so far away from camp, we had to push very hard some days so we could keep up with our route. 

 The hardest day of the trip was the day we did the Death March. The Death March is a 2 mile long, very hard portage. It was also the thing that i was dreading. We woke up that morning with our counselor Lizzie telling us to "get up and get ready. It's Death March day!" We paddled a little bit to the portage and stopped right before starting. I kept telling myself that it was too hard and that I couldn't carry 70 pounds of pack or canoe that far. But I finally realized that I just had to buckle down and do it. There was something really cool at the end that was all of our inspiration. The Death March, although it was hard and tiring at the time, was a wake up call that I needed to push myself more. That was something that I needed to do and I had to rely on myself to do, nobody else. It taught me that we are all able to do more than we think is possible for ourselves. It also showed me that sometimes there are things you have to figure out how to do on your own, and that you can't depend on others. But also along with that, there will be people right along side you in the same situation who will encourage you and help you get through hard situations, whether they be physical, mental or emotional. 

The end of the Death March was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. It is called the Olive Jar. The Olive Jar is, as our counselor explained to us before our trip, "a jar where everyone who passes through writes a note about their trip, experiences with the wilderness or just life in general. You can read peoples notes from over 40 years ago. It will be one of the coolest parts of our trip." and it was the thing we were all looking forward to. When I was in the Quetico, we went days without seeing people and to find this Olive Jar with notes from all these people made me realize how spectacular the wilderness really is. While we were reading notes, one of the girls in my group said to me "hey Natalie, your last name is Holdahl right?" I wasn't quite sure why she was asking that but the handed me a note that she had taken out of the jar. It was my brothers note from when he did the same trip in 2007! Reading about the experiences that others felt and their connections to nature made me feel a connection with these people that I have never met before. It especially gave me a connection to my brother that nobody else can understand. Being in a place that is only experienced by a very minimal group of people makes it seem amazing and that much more special that you get to be there.

On my groups last day on trail, we did our last portage of the trip and their was a water fall at the end of it. We had seen many waterfalls on our trip already so it wasn't that big of a deal that we were going to see another one. That idea totally changed when we got there. This waterfall had a perfect rainbow going from the top of it down to the bottom. We got there at just the perfect time to see this unbelievable sight. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life. It made me appreciate the beauty of being out there 1000% more.

My canoe trip to the Quetico last summer taught me some things that I will never forget. It taught me that hard work pays off and that pushing yourself will earn you great rewards. It also taught me to appreciate this world that we live in and how truly amazing it is. Never take anything for granted or look over anyone or anything because it might be something truly life changing. A portage can turn into a spark inside of you, a simple Olive Jar full of notes may connect you to a whole new world and something that you have seen many times before might turn out to be something that you will never be able to forget.