Camp Arowhon Senior Voyageur Trip

Camp Arowhon Senior Voyageur Trip, Temagami, August 2002

Trippers

Shevonne Brodeur

Sebastian Bohnen

Voyageurs

Cidney Carver

Elizabeth Bailey

Edward Lawton

Jessica Rogen

Kayla Bell-Weisdorf

Laura Buckley

Lindsay Block-Glass

Riccardo Pozzi

Dates: July 27^th-Aug9th

Distance: 171km paddling

Day 1

Camp Arowhon to Lady Evelyn, 2h on water, fair weather

We all survived the long bus ride with the Inter Voyagers. Once we finally arrived at our destination, Mowat’s landing, and we celebrated with the traditional paddle blessing, we got into our canoes and paddled. Not far along, we found our portage and as we started to unload our canoes at the concrete dock, we are greeted by some rather unfriendly people in a truck, making clear to us that motorboats have priority at this landing. Anyways, we moved over for them, and after some more paddling on the Lady Evelyn river we settled on our first campsite just on the corner of Lady Evelyn Lake. A great dinner of chicken fajitas and a swim followed. Cid taught Lindsay how to prepare a bear rock for her seconds. Resting, talking and reading in the girls tent was relaxing after a long day.

Day 2

Lady Evelyn to Hobart, 10h on water, rainy morning, then very windy

We woke up at 7:30 to a “Goooooood morning, Voyagers”. Lindsay made yummy apple crisp for breakfast. We paddled for about three and a half hours and made it all the way across Lady Evelyn Lake to the Obisaga Narrows thanks to a very calm morning, then ate lunch in the rain on the campsite we were scheduled to saty at for the night. Of course we decided to go ahead. The rain stopped but rounding the corner onto south Lady Evelyn Lake we were hit head on by a very heavy headwind. Lindsay and Beth were stuck for a little while with a major amount of waves! It was like the ocean. Waiting for Beth and Lindasy on an island, Cid and Shevonne’s boat drifted out to the middle of the lake. Jumping in after their canoe, they tore off their clothes to swim after it. A friendly motorboat driver came and dragged them and the canoe back to shore. They say it was extremely fun! After more paddling and running into a nice couple with their dog that we met on the Inter Trip not far from here a year ago, we pulled into our campsite on Hobart Lake to eat a good and rewarding dinner of tuna melt mushroom pasta. In the tents everyone falls asleep quickly after a very long but rewarding day.

Day 3

Hobart, 6h on water, fair weather then rainy evening

We got to sleep in!! Laura found a large chunk in her breakfast cream of wheat. Silly of her to think it was an apple chunk. We paddled a very short distance and dragged over a beaver dam in order to climb Maple Mountain. On top we even climbed the Fire Tower. Cidney and Lindsay thought they would die on the way up. Some obnoxious boys from another camp soon joined us on the summit and talked to us about hating trip. But we know better… We stole Mike, turned it into Nike and wrote Arowhon in the grass with sticks and stones. Then we re climbed the tower to take pictures. Actually Kayla took pictures for all. At the campsite it rained a lot while Kayla and Laura had to do the dishes. We got to stay up and make pretty bracelets. We discovered that Jessica is quite talented. The hike strained Laura’s already not so strong knees too much, so we start to get a bit worried about her.

Day 4

Hobart to Diamond, 8h on water, fair weather

We did not get to sleep in but are on the water quite early after doing some Yoga stretches in preparation for some paddling and then two portages. Cid and Lindsay carried a canoe and recognized they had been here last year. After lunch on the second portage, paddling down South Lady Evelyn lake we begin to jump in the water form our canoes to cool off. Paddling along the beautiful stretch into the North Arm of Diamond lake we passed a group on a campsite celebrating a native ceremony, with strange humming and chanting, then we stopped at the rock with the pictographs and camped shortly after on a beautiful island. Around the campfire after our Stir Fry Dinner, we discover that there are a few differences between Canadian girls and European boys after all.

Day 5

Diamond to Temagami, 10:30h on water, fair weather

We had one short portage into Sharp Rock and no one even realized that today was going to be the hardest day of our trip, as we were a day ahead. From camp Langskip we had our message radioed to Arowhon that we would evacuate Laura. Her knees just won’t get better and we can reach an Access point today if we paddle the 30km down Lake Temagami. The day and the lake are beautiful, the only worries are the motorboats that are just too loud and too numerous. Again we jumped in from our boats every once in a while to cool us off. At 6:30 we met Woody at Manitou Landing and said goodbye to Laura all hoping that her knees will get better soon. Around the corner we find a small island as our campsite, it is fairly late but we still manage to have a yummy dinner of Pizza and some swims.

Day 6

Temagami to Temagami South Arm, 4h on water, overcast, very windy

This morning we slept in for a long time. So long in fact that Cid, Lindsay and Kayla woke up on their own and lay outside the tent. Lindsay learned how to tell the time using the sun and made more chunky cream of wheat for the group. New name: chunk of wheat. After breakfast Cid and Kayla make Bannock, using lots of duct tape to cover the holes in the plastic bag. Passing Camp Wabikon and heading into headwinds we paddled further down Lake Temagami. With Laura we also sent out a canoe so now we only have four boats for nine people. Cid, Beth and Jessica were sterning today and Riccardo sat as the princess in the middle of a boat. Paddling by more cottages we find a campsite on a quiet point. It is very windy, so the girls stay in the tent, drawing and learing French vocabulary. Seb makes the vegetable stew dinner and soon we are off to bed. Ps: we all miss laura.

Day 7

Temagami South Arm to Cross Lake, 3h on water, fair weather

We had another sleep in and a really short day. We packed up fast and then were off to paddle into cross lake with the wind always switching directions to hit us head on. (but that’s okay because it will make us strong). We ate lunch on our site. The bannock is really doughy today. After sunbathing and reading all afternoon, Lindsay, cid and Kayla went skinny dipping just before dinner and dumped a canoe in the middle of the lake. Edward, Seb and Riccardo sat by the water and talked about philosophy. They all agree that they like the theory that happiness is the proper matching of both level of skill and level of challenge. cid and lindasy do the bear canoe tonight and we all go to bed excited for the white water part of our trip.

Day 8

Cross Lake to Cross Lake Dam, 1h on water, fair weather

Today we hardly paddled any distance at all. Pulling into the campsite that is also the beginning of the portage around the cross lake dam we met a trip form camp wanapitei that was just packing up. After they did their portage we made camp there and then set out to explore our first rapid of the trip form shore. After lunch back on our site we went on to practice turns on the calm water above the dan until we were ready to proceed to the actual rapid. There we learn our first lesson of reading white water, plus defensive as well as aggressive swimming in the current. In the next step we are ready to run the boats down, and then we still have lots of time to do c turns, s turns and even some surfing on the standing waves. After a couple more swims down the rapid we leave the boats for tomorrow at this end of the portage and walk back to our site where beth and jess make yummy spaghetti for dinner. Later there is even chocolate cake for dessert. Exhausted but satisfied we are soon off to bed.

Day 9

Cross Lake Dam to Temagami River, 3h on water, rainy afternoon

We woke up to abit of rain, so we slept in a little more until it stopped. Using the stove we had hot water for our oatmeal. Today is another short day but we did all the rapids we encountered. It is great fun and we don’t have any spils. Right at our campsite is a class III rapid that we all successfully paddle down, except Beth who volunteers to go tomorrow and Seb who swam a chute that proved too shallow for water sliding it. A group of Spanish folks appear to be on their first white water trip judging from the way some hold their paddles, we were amazed at their confidence level. Stroganoff is a treat for dinner; we discovered that cidney’s ankle is purple and that some people need to use the bathroom more often.

Day 10

Temagami River to Cedar Lake, 2h on water, fair weather, windy

We woke up, once again to the cheerful “good morning voyagers”. After a hurried breakfast of chunk of wheat seb and Shevonne carry the boats up from the bottom of the rapids. Paddling only a short distance we did a few sets of rapids and thankfully didn’t even need to get our of our canoes. After some confusin concerning our position on the maps we asserted that we were going the right way and soon found a nice spot to camp. With lunch in everyone’s hands we pick a spot on the shores of cedar lake to go on an eight hour solo experience. Naturally most forgot to bring a sweater. So almost everyone got a bit chilly with few exciting events. In the evening we were summoned back to the campsite to have dinner in silence. Several plates of alfredo and toasted tortillas later we were finally allowed to speak again, sharing our experience with everyone else in our circle. Some corn bread for dessert and we are off to sleep.

Day 11

Cedar Lake to Ragged Chute, 5h on water, overcast, then fair weather

Granola for breakfast, what a treat, maybe gorp will make it tastier. We flew over trhee portages today and on the second one met Eugene, a native American medicine man, he says that future Arowhon trips are very welcome to stay at his cottage so that he can teach them about edible wilds. On the third portage we met up with wanapitei again and have acanoe plus a pack fall down a steep rock face into the water but both were saved. Thanks Shevonne! At the first set of ragged chute Seb and Shevonne show the wanapitei trip leaders how the chute is to be paddled without spilling. We had a very early dinner at four o’clock, swm and played in the rapids. Seb, Edward and riccardo teach each other English, French and Italian. At night the friendly kids form wanapitei come to visit and hung out with us till late at night. Lindsay, cid, Kayla, Edward riccardo and seb slept outside under the stars.

Day 12

Ragged Chute, 2h on water, fair weather

Another sleep in morning, and lying on the beach at our site made everyone love today’s rest and play day. The girls discovered that one can sit in small rapids as if leaning against jet strems. We hung out again with the wanapitei group and watched their leaders prepare to go down the chute again. But all attempts even Shevonne and seb’s second try are unsuccessful. When the wanapitei trip left at noon, we finally had all the lower rapids for ourselves to play in. everyone got a few turns shooting the difficult but fun set that ends in a pool. After dinner we caught a crayfish and named him little lobster. Yummy hot chocolate is our dessert and tonight everyone went to sleep outside.

Day 13

Ragged Chute to River Valley, 4h on water, fair weather

After a rather burned chunk of wheat this morning we portage around three massive aterfalls. Kayla forgot her helmet, but going back with seb she found it as well as lindsay’s shirt. Cid and beth dumped on a difficult class III chute in the middle of a rapid, they lost their shirts but the canoe is soon emptied of the water and ready to go on. The last section of the river is one long swift that is very easy and fast to paddle. On the shore we pass eugene’s cabin, farms with cows, and after the last rapid of the trip under a bridge we come to the river valley campground, Kayla, Lindsay, beth and cid wandered off to make sap tattoos while Jessica and Shevonne cheated taking warm showers. We went into town looking for a bowling alley, but found only ice cream instead. Good enough; thank you Shevonne! Back at our spot on the campground we had chocolate cake with raspberries, reflecting on the wonderful two weeks that now lay behind us. So sad – it’s over!

Reflections

Hey yo’s, I had such a wicked time ya’ll!! These memories, especially the dumping – all the dumpings, will always stay with me… I hope 2 c u all on the James Bay trip, that would most definitely b a lot of fun! Hey and everybody – everybody should remember that life is a canoe filled with gwakamoley going over unpredictable rapids… thanks to everybody who taught me something new, that is everyone! I had a great time and I really hope all of us did, too!! Cidney cammo_girl@yahoo.com

PS: I am going to miss the bannock no matter how doughy it was…

You guys, this trip was so awesome. I loved so much of it, and it was a great experience. Thanks for being part of it! Good times, good times Lindsay PS and remember “Have Patience”

Hey everyone! I had a great time with all of you. I’ll always remember the trip we had together. Thanks for making it fun for me! Kayla sweetbunny66@hotmail.com

Hey guys, on this trip I had so much fun. I’m glad I decided to come and will treasure the memories. I hope to see everyone next year (and if I don’t email me) I’m running out of things to say… reach me at jrogen05@ib.edu Jessica

Hi everybody! Thank you seb and Shevonne, you are the best! I hope I will come back for a new trip next year, I like the canoe and it’s why I was here. I like Canada! Edward

Ciao. Thank you seba and Shevonne for the trip. During the trip I’ve learned a lot of things. For example to live with others so close, travelling in a canoe, to live with nature, that the bannock is good, and the dinners are good and that it is possible to eat pasta with mustard. Italian boy Riccardo

hey! That was the best trip ever (of course it was only the second trip I’ve ever been on) I hope you guys don’t forget me! My email and msn is dreamyangel10@hotmail.com luv always! Beth Bailey