It’s been a
long week. It’s 2230 and I’ve finally caught up on academic journals and
reports I have been pushing off the last few days due to long hours of
movement, wetness, coldness, tiredness and hungriness. Maybe a little laziness
too =]. This last week’s transition onto the river from seemingly endless lakes
has been a bit more of a logistical nightmare than I imagined. As a leader of
the week last week I learned quickly how to plan routes and estimated times of
arrival pretty quickly and straightforwardly. My fellow leaders and I got us to
right outside the mouth of the Missinaibi River where I would take over for the
next weeks planning along with two other new victims (leaders of the week).
Having knowledge and experience from the week prior, I felt comfortable with
the next weeks planning. Well, long story short, I underestimated the
logistical nightmare of Mother Nature’s waterways, the rapids. After the first
night camping on the river we were baptized in rushing waters as our curriculum
literally walked us up a running rapid to study how the water works in
conjunction with the rocks and slopes. Onward we moved to finally trying to
ride these monsters in our canoes. The uncertainty of running each of these
swirling beautiful waterways raises many questions and concerns at each
individual rapid. Some may be run without a second thought, others may need to
e studied long for a safe passage, while some may not be passable at all. As
each day passes we are getting a little better at identifying which is which.
Our instructor and our canoes are thankful of this as the amount of rocks hit
and scraped decreases. It’s not easy being on this river. The rapids are fun
yes, but the days are long, the paddles hard, and the portages many. Maps of
the river and pages from the guidebook are burned into my retinas. But, every
morning I get up, have a cup of coffee, look over my routes, load my canoe and
set off with a smile on my face because of the beauty of the land and water
around me and the people I get to share it with.
Because it takes two to canoe.
Steve Acuff
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