Erin Quinn – Youth Leader
Getting up at 4 o’clock in the morning is not a thing that many teens like. The only way I could roll myself out of bed was by telling myself that it would be worth it. Looking back I know it was a 4 hour bus ride, unloading the canoes and the first of many nature pees later, I was canoeing in Temagami. A group of 9 canoes going against the wind, it was hard, but looking back it was worth it. Throughout the 5 days we spent most of our waking hours in the canoes. Other times they were being carried on top of our heads. It was hard but looking back it was worth it.
Going into the trip was a group of 3 kids, 3 facilitators and a tripper. On the way back was the same group but not in three different categories, we were united together as a family. Spending hours in a canoe, exchanging life stories, playing stump the canoe and everything in between being alone in a canoe for hours on end, forces a bond between the two that wouldn’t otherwise have occurred.
On our trip our canoe was our safe place from the bugs, the grounds on which our friendship was built and the roof over our heads during a total of 3020 M of portages. Looking back the trip was hard but the canoes made it worth it.