One word, three letters : WOW!

In the miscellaneous category, a special mention must be awarded to Morgan. She woke up and understood that she had to pack her things; which she did, her eyes half-closed. She then went out of her tent with all her equipment … to find herself under a perfectly starry sky. And of course, alone in the middle of the campsite… It was then that she realized that … it was actually only 3 am and she had just dreamed that we had to dismantle the camp.

The real awakening occurred a few hours later. The Milky Way covering the slate-like sky had disappeared; it gave way to perfectly blue heavens. Early morning is warm; I myself spent a good part of the night out of my sleeping bag. The river gushes beneath a sweet breeze, full of pine-tree aromas. The winged creatures sing their happiness to their heart’s content. Participants laugh, sip their coffee, enjoy their breakfast, and savour the moment. An expedition morning as we love them.

We take a few moments to examine the map of the river and share the plan of the day with the group. Today, we will experience our first rapids! Motivated by this good news, the participants hasten to load the canoes and to raise the anchors.

It is not without reason that the Noire River is one of the most popular canoe routes in the east of the country. Its limpid water caresses the banks enhanced with golden beaches bordered with majestic pines, some of which nearly 600–700 years old according to specialists. We are the main actors of a film with sumptuous scenery.

After a relatively rectilinear portion of the river, a directive is announced: we land! The first section of the “The Wall” is in front of us! It is a short section, relatively simple to negotiate, but the fact remains: for the vast majority of participants it is a first encounter with living waters… A mixture of excitement, nervousness and stress transcends our brigade…

Led by the team of guides, all will pass this first test with flying colours. We celebrate by docking just below this first section in order to savour this victory and our midday meal of smoked salmon bagels.

We will spend the rest of the day there. In fact, this campsite is magnificent—a beach of fine sand bordered by a plateau surrounded by tall pines waiting only for our tents—but above all, this section of white water will serve as a venue for teaching the canoeing techniques and white-water swimming. This workshop is in a direct link with the concept of therapeutic adventure by bringing participants a little further out of their comfort zone and realizing that they have in them unsuspected strengths, talents and skills…

Tomorrow, an even greater challenge awaits us: a first portaging that will allow us to bypass the end of the “The Wall” rapids cluttered with trees swept away by the flood, then the MacDonald Rapids… Will we come out of this dry?

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