Grand Expedition Summer 2022

We’ll start our journey in Montreal on August 6^th. We’ll travel by bus to Girardville, a small town located northern Lake-St-Jean. It will be a big day of travel, but it will give us the opportunity to get to know each other.

In Girardville, we’ll be welcomed by our guides at our partner’s basecamp. For this project, we’ll be collaborating with Aventuraid. Located by the Mistassini River, the basecamp is a fascinating place where live a wolf pack (in captivity!) and sled dogs, that you’ll get the chance to spend time with… and hear howling! We’ll have a first welcome night with a discussion circle around the campfire. We’ll sleep in cabins.

From the basecamp, we’ll spend the next two days getting ready for the North-West Mistassibi descent. We’ll distribute and familiarize ourselves with the equipment and initiate the learning of basic white water canoe skills on two sections of the Ouasiemsca River nearby. Each night, we’ll come back to our basecamp and sleep in cabins.

On August 9^th, we’ll finally leave our basecamp, and we’ll embark on our 6-day adventure down the North-West Mistassibi River. Every day, we’ll travel between 7 and 22 km, for a 100 km total. We’ll cross sections of calm water snaking in between rocky walls in a majestic valley, the immensity of the “au foin” lake that runs for more than 18 km, and a succession of white water as well as class 1 and 2 rapids, which we’ll have the time to tame during our preparation on Ouasiemsca River.

During our expedition on the Mistassibi River, we’ll be in complete autonomy on an authentic natural territory. Each day, we’ll set up our camp in the wilderness for the night. We’ll sleep in tents or under tarps. Participants will be asked to take part in all the chores on the campsite: setting and putting down the camp, collecting wood, cooking, etc. Our guides will cook delicious warm meals on the fire. We’ll have moments of paddling, but also some free time, when we’ll be able to swim, fish, chill on the beach, or simply appreciate the landscape and the people surrounding us.

On August 14th, we’ll reach our takeout and head back to the basecamp for on last night of celebration around the campfire. The next morning, we’ll get back on the road to Montreal.