Trip Journal - River Trek 2 - 1999

Day 1

Well, the trip got picked up fine, but on the way, the trailer hit a huge rock or pot hole, and knocked off the wheel. We found it in the woods. It took a while, but all the trippers and gear got shuttled to the drop off. It was a 40 km shuttle, and Tim didn't get in with the last canoes until way after dark. No problem. Hannah and Karen get a fire going, and we get used to the sound of riviere l'orignal, the river we are camped beside, and will be travelling down to link with the Dumoine. It was an exciting day.

DAY 2 (After the trailer got fixed)

To prepare for the first day of paddling, we loaded up on oatmeal. After taking down the tent and packing up, we got in the boats and headed out. It wasn't too long before we came to the first set of rapids on the trip, which we shot without trouble. We soon came to another, bigger set of rapids which we decided not to run, but to swim in. Everybody learned how to swim in rapids without getting hurt. After the exhausting swim, we had a big soup lunch and took off for our first real campsite, a Caribbean-style beachfront property, where we had spaghetti with tomato sauce for dinner. For most of the group, this day was an introduction to canoe camping.

DAY 3

We woke up to rain on the tarp, but were happy to see the skies clear a little during breakfast. After a quick campsite take-down, we headed off for a long paddle (25 Km), stopping for a GORP lunch before finding weird scouts (Mike called them evil scouts) at our desired campsite. We settled for a beach site around the corner, and Jesse and Lo spent almost 3 hours setting up a palatial Baker on the sand. A little game of water-frisbee helped to relax us.

DAY 4

SUMO!! A whole sumo-wrestling tournament was organized on the beach after breakfast. Sarah was the big winner, taking down Aaron and Lo. This was the first indication of her superhuman strength.

We had a very long paddle (less than 1 Km) to our next campsite, Cathedral Point, where the scouts had been the night before. Hannah and Karen gave a paddling and rescue clinic, then Aaron gave a lesson in reading rapids. After a lunch of pita, cheese and lettuce, everyone seemed to become expert rock-skippers. This site, with the tall pines and soft ground, was certainly the best of the trip.

DAY 5

Immediately after taking down camp, we came to the first set of rapids on the Dumoine River. After the rapids, we had the first portage of the river. After a sugar lunch at a beach, there was a Royal Rumble in the water with Alicia, Sarah and Karen taking on Chris, Mike and Aaron. It was a tight battle, but the girls came out on top. That night, we camped at Alligator point, which Chris noticed actually does look like an alligator waiting to attack. Karen took the group on an alligator hunt, and everybody got to see some cool logging machinery from the turn of the century. We had delicious chilli for dinner and rice krispie squares for dessert. Mike learned a valuable lesson about Tabasco sauce.

DAY 6

After paddling to the Twin Falls portage, we realized that we had forgotten a dry bag. Aaron and Karen paddled back to the site, where some old guys gave them the bag plus a paddle which had been missing since a couple of days earlier. We paddled to the top of a 1.5 Km portage where we had a hearty soup lunch between carries. The group suffered a few injuries, but still did a great job. The old guys passed us and gave us Astrid's hat which had also gone missing days before. As we finished the portage, rain started falling. We paddled 2 quick rapids and soon found ourselves looking at two beautiful rainbows as the rain ended. We camped at "Little Italy" and drank hot chocolate in our wet clothes. Sarah grabbed everybody's attention by single-handedly hoisting a heavy pack out of a boat and on to her back. Lazy perogies for supper were a big hit.

DAY 7

DUFF DAY!! After a long sleep in, we had a very long pancake breakfast, then engaged in some serious hanging out with periodic swim breaks.

After a delicious quesedilla dinner, we celebrated the summer solstice with a ragin' Pagan festival. All of the trippers showed respect to various Gods of canoe tripping in their own way.
Mike worshipped the Toilet God by making a sacrifice of some toilet paper in the fire.
Sarah appeased the Sun God by singing the "Mr. Sun" song.
Lo offered some berries to the Food God.
Chris told a story about a forest fire in South Africa for the Rain God.
Thadde dressed up in his river gear to praise the River God.
Astrid wore a bug shirt for the pleasure of the Bug God.
Alicia offered a sacrifice of some wood for the Forest God.

To show the Gods that we were good people deserving of their benevolence, we then engaged in a secret gift-exchange ritual.
Lo made a beautiful bracelet for Hannah.
Hannah made a leather bag filled with wintergreen for Chris.
Chris made a Rain Stick for Astrid.
Astrid gave Mike a beautifully painted rock.
Mike gave Jesse an authentic dreamcatcher.
Jesse gave Lo a beautiful bracelet for herself.
Thadde made a drawing for Aaron a.k.a. "Burp Man".
Aaron gave Alicia a collection of blueberries.
Alicia gave Thadde a natural bookmark.
Sarah made beautiful dreamcatcher for Karen.
Karen wrote a personalized poem for Sarah.

DAY 8

For breakfast we had the delicious bread that Jesse had baked the night before. We briefly met the "Fat Men " who flew into the campsite next door. After setting off, we came to a set of rapids where Thadde decided to take an unscheduled leisurely swim. After that, we portaged to the ``Canoe Eater`` rapids, where the guides ran the loaded boats. Next up on this rapid-heavy day, we shot "Double Choice", "The Snake", "The Sleeper", and "Thread the Needle". We then had a buffet lunch at the Hobbit campsite where Alicia and Sarah jumped off the rock repeatedly. After lunch we shot a fun 1 Km long rapid and then came to the portage around Little Steel Falls where Alicia hurt her ankle. We then ran into the Fat Men again and had to kick them off of their site. We had fusili with garlic and parmesan cheese for dinner and Sarah and Mike read Jitterbug Perfume to Alicia.

DAY 9

After granola cereal, we paddled to the "Cliffhanger" rapids where Jesse had a little incident and our rope bag took a little dive. We then paddled through Burnt Island Lake, which looked rather un-burnt, then portaged our gear plus Alicia around the Big Steel rapids. Sarah decided a "throw bag" was for throwing and tossed it into the rapids (by accident). We then paddled a long set of swifts into Sheerway lake, and Aaron found the lost throw bag on a log in the middle of some rapids. At Sheerway, Hannah and Alicia hopped on a floatplane and left the trip. The rest of us had humus for lunch, and after lunch Chick Pea (Mike) and Pop Tart (Sarah) were born. Their first order of business was a paddling contest, won narrowly by Pop Tart. We camped on a road at the top of "Turner Rapids" and had a rice stir fry for dinner. There was definitely a weird feeling in the group after saying goodbye to Hannah and Alicia.

DAY 10

We woke to a sweet breakfast of cream of wheat, then paddled "Turner Rapids". After that, we had about 10 Km of flat water before we came to the long, but easy 1.5 Km "Grande Chute" portage, where Lo carried a canoe the entire way. We then paddled to the top of "Red Pine" rapids where the group had a buffet lunch while the guides shot the canoes down the big stuff. When we got back in the boats to shoot the end of the rapids, Aaron and Chick Pea swamped and Chick Pea took a swim down the rest of the rapids…and loved it. Sarah put her strength to use rescuing the gear, while Aaron and Jesse went about freeing the boat which had managed to get stuck on a rock. That night we stayed at a nice campsite and checked out the moon after having spaghetti with sautéed carrots and garlic for dinner, to the delight of the entire trip. Everyone seemed to slide down the tent in their sleep, creating some awkward moments.

DAY 11

After having muffins to start our final full day on the water, we paddled to the "Examination" rapids, but decided to skip the exam and line the boats down instead. We then did two smooth carry-overs and took a swim at the bottom of a waterfall. After paddling a long stretch of swifts, we came to "Gunwhale Rubber", the final set of rapids on the Dumoine. Chick Pea celebrated the occasion by soloing the canoe from the bow, while Chris went down Gondola style. We arrived at the campsite, "Bowman's Portage", quite early and were welcomed by fearless chipmunks. Jesse prepared egg noodles with his special sauce for dinner, and we decided to hold the first ever Dumoine arm wrestling tournament. Chris showed everyone what he is capable of, while Sarah showed who was the boss by defeating Mike. Astrid also settled a family feud by teaching Thadde a lesson in "Bras de Fer". We closed out the trip by having a big talk by the water under a beautiful moon. Everyone talked about their experiences on the trip and summed up what it meant to us. Mike, Chris and Aaron read poems they had written for the occasion. Sarah realized that sometimes being dirty is really being clean. That night was quite cold, so we were spared the bugs and all slept soundly.

DAY 12

We woke up early, had GORP for breakfast and packed super quickly. We paddled down the end of the Dumoine until Tim surprised us by speeding up in a motor boat to pick up Astrid and Thadde who had to catch a plane back to Belgium. We ended the trip by paddling across the historic Ottawa River.

Some memorable lines and moments from the trip:

Burp Man
Master of toilets or Chef de Toilettes
"There's a stick in my food"
Mr. Bean
The toilet bandana
When Aaron rescued the Fat Men at the falls
"One day I want to be big and strong like Jesse!"
"I'm leaving on a canoe trip…"
"Well I guess it'd be nice if I could…"
Dijon and chocolate mix.

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