This past week I went on my twelfth Algonquin canoe trip! But even though it was my twelfth, it was the first in a few different ways — first without campers, first since COVID, muddiest portages. Not to mention that for one of our group of five, it was her first canoe trip ever!
To back up a little bit, in May a friend (Claire) reached out and asked if I would like to join her (and two of her friends) on a 6-day canoe trip this summer. I agreed, excited by an opportunity to go on another longer canoe trip after so long, and one without campers! Although this was trip twelve, my last week-long trip was in 2016. After a bit of talking back and forth, our other friend Jenn said she would love to experience a trip, and so she was invited along. I assured her multiple times that I had taken 12 year old kids on similar trips, so even with no experience, she was fully capable of joining us!
I did a bit of extra shopping this time around, as I was so used to simply using equipment from our old Girl Guide camp. Last week we packed everything up and drove out to join Claire, Anik and Tom at Canoe Lake.
What followed was a delightful trip! We often joked about the 'typical canoe trip experience' that Jenn was having, and mentioned whenever something could be ticked off the list. Some highlights that anybody who's been on trips will recognize included crossing beaver dams, canoeing in the rain, rocky portages, listening to loons, and pretty sunsets over lakes.
We had some wonderful moments, like seeing a moose on our very first day! We had great luck with the weather (aside for deciding to push through our fifth day and end early in order to avoid rolling thunderstorms), and our journeys across the big lakes weren't too windy. We found beautiful sites (with some very new thunderboxes!). And of course some struggles, like knee deep mud at a beaver dam that almost ate my croc and a grassy bay that seemed to go on forever. I slipped in mud on a portage and the canoe fell on my forearm. The 2390m portage was a challenge! But honestly, canoe trip struggles turn into some of the best stories, and they really add to the feeling of accomplishment at the end of the trip!
Going on this canoe trip reminded me of how much I enjoy them, and why. It was such a different experience going with friends instead of campers. My last trip was in 2019, and I hope I don't have to wait so long to go on another one!
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