What a beautiful morning at the foot of St. Peters Rapids! A slight mist runs over the Missinaibi River under the brilliant blue sky. The birds are singing and the morning dew carries the soft smell of the balsam poplars. One by one, the participants arrive in the kitchen area. Unanimously, the declare that yesterday’s portage resulted in a deep relaxing sleep… Granola cereals, blueberries and Greek yogurt never tasted better.
Before embarking, we hold a stretching session to reduce the lactic acid in our muscles after a few days of solid exercise. The group is warned that we will soon run out of toilet paper at this rate. So moderation is of the order and the use of leaves and moss is strongly suggested…
Soon after departing, we come up on the first rapids of the day. In fact, there are two class 1 rapids in the first three kilometres of our itinerary today. Piece of cake! But, a few kilometres later, we come to the Split Rock falls canyon and that spells portage in an enchanting environment! We took some time off to enjoy a snack of smoked-salmon bagels (Wow!) and a swim after the 300-metre portage.
As we continue on our way, we are treated to a collection of the best (?) Britney Spears and Rihana hits, a first contribution from the girls, before coming to the second and last portage of the day, beautiful Thunder Falls. Two hundred metres further, we get back on the river and are treated to a magnificent view of the impressive falls. And to top it all, it’s only 100 metres to our next camping site, without doubt the most beautiful on the river. We’ll spend the next two days there, as tomorrow is a day of rest. The rest of the afternoon is spent on personal hygiene, laundry, drying, fishing and meditation for some.
The evening is spent sharing at the halfway point, a tradition in each of the Foundation’s expeditions. Basically, we take stock on everyone’s experience to help them identify what they took out of the expedition so far and what can be drawn upon in the future. No doubt, this adventure has had a major effect on the participants, as they discovered that had unsuspected strengths and capacity of adaptation, hidden deep them within themselves.
After this heartfelt and emotional sharing, we retire for the night, once again lulled by the sound of the falls, a soft yet powerful sound, just like the adventure we are experiencing.