Camp Arowhon Senior Voyageur Trip, Temagami, July 2002
Trippers
Shevonne Brodeur
Sebastian Bohnen
Voyageurs
Emeric le Morvan
Kelly Sowden
Max Muszynski
Morgan Coudray
Rachel Bourne
Samatha Collins
Dates: June 29th-July 12th
Distance: 156km paddling
Day 1
Camp Arowhon to Drop Off, 3h on water, fair weather
As we said goodbye to Camp Arowhon we had a quick and important reminder form Tripper Sarah about raingear, Emeric and Morgan had indeed forgotten theirs, so they ran back to the point to get it. Ahh, now we were set for seven hours on the bus. After arriving safe and sound we got off the bus just to get ambushed by black flies, so we kicked into gear and loaded up our boats in order to head into the most logical direction: downstream. Our first interesting moment came quickly when we hit our first swift. It came as a surprise to Seb and Shevonne but they figured all was fine. Nevertheless Seb and Emeric spilled, so we decided to drag the rest of this set. We kept on going and came across two more swifts, now approaching even more fast moving water. Seb and Shevonne pull over to check the map. Oh no! We went the wrong way! We started on our way back upstream, which meant we had to drag the boats back up three sets of rapids. Back in the parking lot from where we started we find the Inter Voyageurs just finishing up their dinner. Our dinner of chicken fajitas is cooked within no time as well, the maps are laid out to dry and we gather around the fire to reflect on the past few hours, agreeing that it was a good challenge and it showed us how much we can accomplish as a team in the two weeks ahead of us.
Day 2
Drop off to Smoothwater, 5h on water, fair weather, windy
We woke up with the Inter Voyageurs; let them have breakfast first, while we packed up our gear in order to get away from this parking lot as soon as possible. After switching up the paddling partners, we leave the Inters well behind, and went for some sight seeing on a little detour to lake Lamy. Back on our way we passed the Inters having lunch and shortly after stopped ourselves for some bagels with cream cheese and salsa. The waters on our next lake Smoothwater were all but calm; nevertheless we made it to our site in great time. It is very hazy today, the whole sky appears grey and somehow smoky. Later we found out that this was due to the forest fires burning on the Missinabi River. After hanging up our wet clothes, we went for a swim. Max, Max, Max, Rachel shut up hahaha, it was a lot of fun. Pizza for Dinner! Woo hoo! Cream cheese is so good on it. We started reading in our book “Paddle to the Amazon” all huddled together in the boy’s tent and then went to bed.
Day 3
Smoothwater to Scarecrow, 12h on water, fair weather
Portage day. We woke up to Oh Canada, and had yummy Apple Crisp for breakfast. Kelly tried to eat her meal through the bug net, which didn’t work so well. First portage: I have now seen hell. Oh shut up, do you know how good all our muscles will look? Hey Shevonne why are you in the bush? Rachel knows what it feels like to be a guy. Most of us jumped in the water after every portage, because it is quite hot today. We had our lunch floating on McCullock Lake, relaxing after so much work this morning. At the beginning of the next portage is a campsite where we could stay for the night. We held a group and decided to continue as planned to Scarecrow Lake. The last portage today is another long one: 1100m. In another council meeting, the group voted for Rachel’s’ idea of sending a team ahead to set up the site, while everyone else finishes up this last portage. The boys plus Kelly and Sam do the doubling back a few times and finally arrive on the island. The stir fry was almost ready, but Seb couldn’t make it back out of the tent again tonight.
Day 4
Sacrecrow to Stull Creek, 7:40h on water, fair weather
Getting up in the morning we try to shake out and stretch out our stiff limbs. After our breakfast of granola and peaches, we have to make a big decision: climbing the Ishpatina ridge or going straight to the Sturgeon River. It is a tough decision for us because the mountain with the fire tower looks very promising and the ridge is the highest elevation in Ontario, but in the end the majority felt like an extra day of white water will make up for it. The task ahead then is also not a small one: most of today we spent on Stull creek lifting over log jams or portaging around waterfalls, eight of these obstructions we got around until it was time to find a campsite. Luckily there is a suitable spot on a logging road. Getting out of the canoe Max shows the group that he can do the splits. Morgan, Shevonne and Seb had to go swimming in the creek to escape the blackflies, which are quite numerous in the dense bush here on the creek. After our dinner of very strong tuna melt and mushroom pasta we hiked out the food barrels on the logging road, as an alternative to the bear canoe that we couldn’t have on this creek. We read more of our adventure book and soon fell asleep.
Day 5
Stull Creek to Sturgeon River, 6h on water, rainy morning
First thing in the morning, Morgan gets his Benadryl to counteract his eye swelling that he owes to all the black fly bites. We ate our oatmeal inside our bugjackets. Some of us are on a mission never to do another portage again. At least for today the mission seems successful: A few more leftovers on Stull creek and then we are on the Sturgeon doing our first rapids. All of them are easy runs, especially with the water level this high the rapids are more like swifts. The final rapid at the 130 yard portage, before our campsite for the night is an exception, it is very technical but all of us manoeuvre successfully through the rocks. On the site we went for a swim and practiced some lifesaving. Not that we will need it, but it is still good to know how to toe another person in the water. Max, Morgan and Rachel try their luck with the fishing rod, but no luck. Emeric has taken control of our campfires. The potato dish is not enough to fill our hungry stomachs so we cook up some extra rice. Shevonne shows us the WME sign; Max tries to do a blue flame before we take up our book again listening to more paddling adventures on rivers further south.
Day 6
Sturgeon River to Kettle Falls, 8h on water, fair weather
Oh, say can you see by the dawns early light…After breakfast we practice swimming in the rapid right above our site: going straight down swimming defensively as well as ferrying across the current with an aggressive swimming style. We learn that everything we do on our trip is challenge by choice and go on to improve our river paddling techniques on the little lake downstream, pat is our key word for the c turns: power, angle and tilt. During the day we ran a few class 1 and 2 rapids that everyone does well. While we finished up our lunch on a high cliff, a canoe starts drifting away but thanks to Max’s quick reaction we can bring it back to shore, The 350 yard portage goes around a water fall and down a very steep drop. We have to take the canoes off of our shoulders and carry them down with one person on either end. The falls are big and one can see why they are Kettle falls: the water looks like it is boiling over. The next set of rapids downstream is 200 yards long and ends in a class III manoeuvre around a big rock in the middle of the stream. We decide to call it quits for the day and make camp across from the falls. After we set up the tents on a high cliff, we take the empty boats, our helmets and bug jackets over to the set. Max and Emeric decide they want to follow Seb and Shevonne while the rest watch from shore. The two boats make it down safe and sound, but the bugs are driving us nuts. It is too bad because it is a very nice rapid, but we decide to head back to our site. Another dinner of Pizza, some more adventures in our book and we are ready to go to bed.
Day 7
Kettle Falls to Small Lake, 8:40h on water, fair weather
In the morning we portaged our gear across, leaving the boats behind in order to run them down the set. The first attempt by Morgan and Shevonne ends very early upstream, so that the canoe floats down and gets wrapped around the big rock at the end. With the mechanical advantage system that Max, Seb and Shevonne quickly set up plus everyone’s help pulling the boat came loose and the current at last proves helpful pushing the boat free. The next two runs by Max and Shevonne and Morgan and Emeric are successful so that we can all continue downstream. A few easier rapids and portages later we find our campsite on a small lake. The rock is perfect for Canadian surfing and Morgan and Max do the butt stroke. We eat Couscous for dinner and read until late at night in the gril’s tent before we’re all off to sleep
Day 8
Small Lake to Sturgeon River, 6h on water, fair weather
After leaving the site in the morning we do eight fairly easy class I and II rapids before we hit another class II rapid at the 450 yard portage. Seb and Shevonne make it down but for Max and Rachel the attempt ends rather early, they tipped and again the canoe got stuck on a rock. Shevonne, Morgan and Kelly try to get a rope around butt the current is very strong and the boat just seems glued to the rock. Finally Seb swam out to the boat itself, got a hold of it, and freed it. We portaged the other boats across and decided to eat lunch on the other end of the portage among beautiful orange lilies. After two more portages around waterfalls we set up camp on the end of the last one on a nice beach. Unfortunately people have been leaving a lot of garbage around so that we had to clean up before we could go swimming. Lots of horse flies seem to like this beach as well. Dinner is Vegetable Stew and after our world class hot chocolate Kelly tied a second class rock (as opposed to Max’s 1st class one). At night we read more of our book.
Day 9
Sturgeon River to Wawiagama, 10:30h on water, fair weather
Today we paddled the last section of the Sturgeon River on this trip, and our group mastered the white water brilliantly. After lunch at Upper Goose Falls we portaged 1km onto the Obabika River. The trail was difficult to find, it starts to follow Obabika’s shore and then branches of up a high step to the right. Max carried one of the ABS canoes for the entire way (1km). On this river we have to paddle upstream, so our pace is slowed down a little. Again we have a few difficulties finding the next turn from Obabika River onto Wawiagama River. It is challenging because there are many dead ends branching off that could be the river we are looking for. When we got to a massive obstruction of fallen trees over the River, we decided that we went too far and headed back downstream. But as it turned out we had to turn around once again and drag our boats over the logjam in order to get to Wawiagama River. The next river is so overgrown it looks like a jungle, which is certainly beautiful to look at but everyone is quite exhausted from the upstream paddling. The contrast couldn’t be starker when we finally came out to our first real big lake in five days. Wawiagama lies before us like glass and the sun is setting picture perfect behind us. As well we pass the first people in five days, a Wapomeo Trip, and yes indeed girls: we are on a two day loop all around Temagami. While the spaghetti is cooks on the campfire, most of us go swimming and Seb is taught the butterfly stroke by Rachel and Emeric.
Day 10
Wawiagama to Obabika, 4h on water, overcast
We have a well deserved sleep in today, for we are two days ahead of our original schedule and it is raining. After our relaxed breakfast we lay out the maps to think where we can spend our extra two days. The decision is quickly made because everyone feels drawn to see the old growth forest on Lake Obabika. The girls from Wapomeo made it off their site earlier despite the rain, we can see them heading for the portage while we are still packing up. At two o’clock we finally make it off of our site as well. Yeah, portaging in the rain! Fun, fun, fun…for some. Not so much fun for others. After a long paddle half way up Lake Obabika we set up camp on a beautiful and extensive beach site. Dinner is Mac and Cheese, and after some more chapters in our book we are ready for sleep.
Day 11
Obabika, 5h on water, fair weather
We got up a tad earlier this morning for our excursion to the old growth forest. With empty boats we paddle up the rest of Obabika, Max and Seb letting the fishing rods troll behind them. We learn about the different tree species and on the orange loop trail we find the famous Three Sisters. Just before we reach these old timers we have to climb over a fallen down branch of a massive white pine, the branch alone is as big as a whole tree. Back on our site we have the whole afternoon to do a four hour solo. We spread ourselves out along the shore and on a nearby island but the experience is affected by another camp, a Kilcoo CIT trip pulling into the campsite next to ours. Shevonne cooks amazing Pasta Alfredo for Dinner and even better Chocolate Cake to everyone’s pleasure.
Write a verse in the sky
Up high where everyone can see
And know that they hold within the power of me
A power stronger than an unbreakable wall
A power that will always stand true and tall
This is some thing that once found in your grasp, you will have
With a passion and protection withholding no wrath
But this is also a power of control and respect
Without either of these one holds little self
The path to oneself is a difficult journey
One that many are afraid to make for fear
That they will loose the selves that they have already made
Selves that they show to the outside world and have convinced themselves is all they can hold
Kelly
Day 12
Obabika to Temagami, 6h on water, fair weather
A very sweet breakfast this morning of blueberry cobbler gets us off the site very quickly. One portage into Obabika inlet and some paddling brings us to the west arm of Lake Temagami and into a perfect position to sail, so we put up a trap and passing many jealous onlookers, including the Kilcoo trip that had caught back up to us, sailed quite some distance towards our campsite on a little island. While preparing our stroganoff dinner a rather rowdy group across on the mainland starts shouting things at us, but after a while of ignoring them they left us to our book. After we finished reading, the boys went back to their tent but were captivated on their way by the amazingly bright stars. Rachel and Kelly soon came to join them and spend many more hours gazing at the falling planets and stars.
Day 13
Temagami to Temagami, 2:20h on water, fair weather
We woke up to a ready made breakfast by Seb and soon were paddling among the many motorboats past Bear Island to our campsite on Matagama point across form the pick up spot. We passed the Inters on an island close by and after lunch on our site proceeded to prepare the traditional sauna of the last day. Just in time we finish our book and come together for a final ceremony of making bracelets and reading the trip journal. We got to bed a bit sad that our trip is over and on the other hand excited to reconvene with the inters, going back to a main lodge with four hundred people.
Reflections
My favourite moment of the trip was when we arrived on Wawiagama Lake after a long day of paddling. I was glad to see everyone smiling especially Zebastian. Later that night I still managed to swim some fly and tried to teach Seb the stroke, which he had trouble with. It’s all about the rhythm
Hey people, what’s up? M-m-h fav moment umm well I got lots: in the two weeks I had the best days of my life. We are like a family. I am really glad I came on this trip and we must all keep on talking. Ok. Max I will see you on our date hahaha kell you got to pee? Hehehe Love you all lots Rachel
Hey guys I hope everyone had a great summer. Thank you all so much for the best voyageur ever. You were the best group I have been with. Have a great year. Max
This was one of my first Voyageur ever! I was a lot of fun. We all had great laughs and fun times, e.g. Max and the lighter with the BIG flame. I laughed so hard my sides hurt. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the summer and have a great year. See you all later. Samantha
Hey, Wow. This was one of the best times I’ve ever had with some of the nicest and most interesting people. There have been so many memories that I can’t even begin to choose a favourite, but the many campfires (Emeric!) and stargazing sessions were a lot of fun. Thanks for a great time and I hope we stay in touch Have a great summer, Kelly
It’s the frenchie’s turn now. Hehe. Ok, so one of my best times, when I look back on it, was when during the solo, I was in my shelter when suddenly one guy form the campsite aside us popped out of the bushes and stood astonished for a few seconds and then left.
The trip was the best! Morgan