Up the Creek, With a Paddle!

For the past four summers, I have gone canoe tripping with Camp Wabun for six weeks.

 

By Max Bresolin

 

For the past four summers, I have gone canoe tripping with Camp Wabun for six weeks.

 

Last summer, I took part in an awesome journey. Traversing a centuries-old canoe route through remote, beautiful Northern Ontario, I paddled over 1,100 miles following the length of one of the MacKenzie, one of Ontario’s longest rivers, finishing at the shores of Hudson Bay.

 

Canoe tripping is more than just paddling; it’s about creating a community of friends with the other campers. Guided by compass and topographical maps, my section mates and I paddled and portaged all of our provisions. We utilized traditional Cree/Voyageur equipment, including wooden food boxes (wannigans) and leather carrying straps (tump lines). We did our own cooking and baking over stone campfires we built. There were moose, caribou, bear, otters, eagles, and wolves all along our route. Aside from remote Cree communities, who welcomed our visits, we had only ourselves for company. When everyone is without electronics and watches, time slows down.

 

Some people wonder how I can find any enjoyment in something so grueling and difficult. It isn’t easy paddling through white water and across huge lakes, portaging loads through muskeg (a thick bog), for nine hours a day, every day. However, there is nothing more rewarding than knowing that I, with my mates, actually traveled 1,100 miles on our own. I truly appreciate the world for its natural beauty. Now, I have a much higher tolerance for pain and exhaustion.

 

Whenever I’m presented with a physically challenging task, I remember what I’ve already done, and so much more seems reachable. And the best part is that if I ever found myself lost in the woods without supplies, I know I would be able to survive.

 

Author John McPhee expresses the experience best: “Travel by canoe is no longer a necessity, and it will nevermore be the most efficient way to get from one region to another – anywhere. A canoe trip has simply become a rite of oneness with certain terrain, a diversion of the field, an act performed not because it is necessary, but because there is value in the act itself…” 

 

The author, 17, is a senior at Rye High School.