Vic, Gene and I got up early Sunday morning and left Goodsoil at 6:00 a.m.  The plan was to meet up with the rest of the boys at the 7-11 in Meadow Lake.  Amazingly, it did happen as planned.  While there, Matt bought a Sun and Pat picked up cigars.  It wasn't until we got on the road that Matt realized the Sun was a week old and once Pat lit up a cigar around the fire later that night, he estimated it was at least 3 years old.

Leaving Meadow Lake, Gene, Vic, and I brought up the rear.  Once we passed Beauval and hit the gravel road, we experienced a strange phenomenon.  With all the dust, we couldn't figure out why there were so many beer cans flying past us.  Speculation was that the cans had been left on the road by last nights revellers out of Pinehouse Lake and were kicked up by the trucks in front of us, or they were coming from the three trucks themselves.  After a few delays due to frequent whiz breaks, we did figure it out.  Vic calculated there was enough beer drank in 270 kilometres of gravel to save us one whole boat trip in to camp.

The real blessing was the GOOD ROAD!  None of the trucks or trailers experienced any flats or breakdowns, and a recent rain kept the dust to a minimum.  Making better than average time, we arrived at the launch site where just about everyone reminded Pat to check that he had the drain plug in before launching his boat although it would have been entertaining to watch him go down with the ship!  Even though Pat did have the plug in, Gene still made sure his own sleeping bag was stowed in his own boat.

With three boats we were able to haul enough gear that only two boats were needed to make a second trip, mostly for beer.  While making the trips back and forth, it was noted that the water level was high, which would make it easier on the boat monkeys who had to push boats over sandbars.  Vic figured the beer drank over the years had helped to raise the level of the lake considerably.

Once camp was set up, we started fishing.  It was great to be back!  Gene, Vic & I went to the rock island for lake trout, while the rest of the boys circled the island we were camped on before heading to the creek mouth for trout and jack.  Tim caught a 28 inch long trout, which set the standard for the rest of us to beat.

Back at camp after a couple of hours of fishing, the first of many great meals was prepared, laid out and dug into. The Degenhardt boys had brought along a batch of their dad's chili, which was excellent. And as an added bonus this year, the boys had brought and put up a new kitchen tent, lovingly dubbed "da Swamp". Actually it was a portable canvas single car garage, and was anything but swampy.

 

Another nice feature of our camp this year was when all the cubes of beer were stacked between two trees it made a great windbreak for the campfire! You could have called it the great wall of Costigan. After dinner, Tim sat me down to get something cleared up.  The last time I wrote about this trip, I had referred to the Degenhardt boys as gangbangers! Apparently this had caused some consternation with their spouses, who wanted to know exactly what the hell happened on these fishing trips!  I explained to Tim that I had thought there were enough Degenhardts along on that trip to form a gang, and the latest slang for a gang member was a "gangbanger", 'cause y'know, I am hip to these young kid's lingo, y'know.

Let me assure all you wives and girlfriends that every one of these Degenhardt boys have high moral fiber, and are outstanding citizens with a good Catholic upbringing!  Nothing nefarious was going on, or if it was they didn't invite me.  Though given their high moral character, the part that really confuses me is how does George fit in?

This year we cut cards to decide who teamed up in each boat the next day, a great way to mix things up and get to know everyone better.  So each night around the fire, we found out who was to be our boat captain the next day.  The other significant event of the first night was that Vic got Matt as his camp boy.  Matt wouldn't leave Vic's side for rest of the trip, it was quite endearing actually.