Day of misery, day of victory!

“I really don’t know what in this rain that makes us so happy!”

These wise words come from Justine’s mouth. There is no better way to summarize the day that has just passed…

It all started around 4:45 a.m.. Some of us dragged themselves out of their sleep to get a little ahead of time in the preparations for the day, knowing that it was going to be long and arduous one. We were expecting to wake the participants up at 5 a.m., but we preferred to wait until the sunrise. So, they were able to sleep in until 5:30, a heavy grey sky kept the darkness hovering over our campsite. From then on, the rain began to fall. At first, a fine, almost soft drizzle; then, sustained, heavy and cold. Completely the opposite of the weather we had known so far.

Through an array of climatic conditions not leading to idleness and skills that participants had begun to develop, we closed up the camp in less than 2 hours. A real achievement when we know that we usually needed between 3 and 4 hours to do it.

The day begins with the 300-metre portage of the second section of the Staircase Canyon. It is quite a technical challenge, even more with the rain that keeps falling on us. Each and every one lends a hand and carries loads according to their respective capacities. While we had planned 3 hours to complete this portage, we will only need 2!

We continue our descent by crossing two short sections of white water reviving our participants; Through the drops of rainwater that come from above, and that of the rapids that come from below, a multitude of “wou-hu! ”, “Oh yeah! ”, “very cool!” and other onomatopoeia from obviously happy canoeists can be heard.

We then arrive at a relatively technical ledge. Taking pride in safety at the expense of excitement, we make the decision to portage half of the luggage and we leave the guides and a few accompanying veterans to make the descent of those rapids with the rest of the luggage and the lightened canoes. Meanwhile, Sophie and Andrée-Anne manage the feat of starting a fire in the rain, with wet wood!

Our descent continues, again and always in the rain… We cross one last rapid before accosting. In fact, the Mountain Falls are in front of us, but above all, the renowned “Portage de l’enfer”, which makes it possible to avoid this 20-metre break of uneven grounds. Indeed, since it is a long portage, technically very difficult and quite demanding, we organized a shuttle to cover 5 kilometres by road. It is with pleasure that we take advantage of these fifteen minutes of warmth and dryness in the minibus taking us a little further down the river, pulling our canoes on a trailer.

Our driver drops us off by the river and we have to climb to our campsite, obviously in the rain still falling. I step back for a moment and observe the scene… Everybody is working hands on. Participants help each other, support each other, and make a contribution to the benefit of the greatest number. But above all, all these tasks are done in cheerfulness, despite fatigue, cold and sullen weather. Our participants are very impressive.

In all honesty, it was by far our most difficult day since the beginning of this expedition; a real day of misery! We got up very early, we travelled a dozen kilometres by canoe, we completed 2 portages of which a fairly imposing one, and we dealt with quite difficult conditions.

At supper time, it is good to warm up near the fire or under the tarpaulin. The first participants left the group to go to bed at 6:30 p.m.. Only an hour later, all the participants are in their tent. They can enjoy a well-earned rest, a rest worthy of the greatest victors.

J-Charles Fortin, Blogger and Photographer for On the Tip of the Toes Foundation

The Noire River Expedition is presented by the Fondation Bon départ de Canadian Tire du Québec