Bates College AESOP 2011: SQUAM ADVENTURES

I’ll start of by saying that there is a strong possibility of me trying to sneak on to one of the Squam AESOPs. Having just gotten back from two weeks of amazing weather, adventures, and relaxation on squam I can still say that after 20 years of summer vacation on squam it is one of my favorite places on earth. I’ve gone up to squam every summer with my family since I was a little baby nugget (proof below). Anywho, this year was exceptionally awesome.

NUGGET.

View from West Rattlesnake on a stormy day

I managed to keep fairly busy with semi-daily hikes, mostly to one of the rattlesnakes, which were usually rewarded with a swim in the lake afterwards. Another good chunk of my time was spent kayaking. I’ve recently discovered how incredibly mesmerizing night paddles under the stars can be. My friend mike and I did a night paddle during a new moon to the otter islands and camped out there one of the nights. Besides the approximately 10 million small spiders friends that inhabit the island it was an almost perfect trip.

The stars were unreal

The stars* this year were clearer and more vibrant than I could ever remember! I was blown away by how clearly I could see the milkyway and everything else. This picture is from the 3rd night I was there. I was down on the dock taking pictures when I decided I needed to go back to cabin and gather other people to see the stars. This is the fam gazing out over Squam under the stars. I also saw the biggest shooting star I've ever seen whilst a nighttime dock session - It was trailed by a split tail that crossed the majority of the starlit sky. it was epic.

*epic stars are not limited to the Squam AESOP trips - these SAME stars and whatnot can be seen on ALL of the trips. YES. get excited.

Another highlight of the trip was watching/photographing the bald eagles and eaglets that live on one of the islands. First of all, birds are awesome, especially birds with large talons and fierce eyes. Second, kayaking is awesome – that’s how I got there. Third, we showed up right before one of the parents came back, swooped down to snatch a fish out of the water and dropped off for the not-so-small baby mceagle nuggets (I like the word nugget) to devour. Awesome.

Other highlights include but were not limited to fish catching, star gazing, dock lounging, poker playing, loon calling, square dancing, torrential downpour paddling, wild turkey spotting, canoe racing, and general tomfoolery.

You guys better be getting pumped for AESOP.

OH, I almost forgot… I’m about 78 percent certain I saw Santa driving a baby blue VW somewhere just outside of NYC