River, here we are !

Our awakening was both mystical and poetic… A thick mist concealed the Ottawa River near our campsite and we could scarcely see it. One by one, the participants slowly came out their tents to admire the scenery. They were drawn from their sleep by a soft melody of Marc-André playing “What a wonderful world” on the ukulele.

Participants did not notice that the alarm clock indicated barely 6:15 am. In fact, we took their watches and phones, so that they ould focus on the moment. And for the time being, the present moment was to head for the breakfast tables filled with yogurt, granola cereals and English muffins. A little coffee was enough to loosen the tongues and open eyes wider. The first activity of the day was to watch a demonstration on how to pack the expedition equipment. Then, logically, the second activity of the day: packing expedition equipment…

The sunlight succeeded in piercing the fog; the day looked radiant but warm. It was hardly 10 o’clock and we were already sweating profusely while taking down our tents. It is at the end of the morning that we hit the road towards the Noire River. The road was quite bumpy so we decided to take a break. There we met our host committee: a cloud of black flies! Quick! Let’s get back on board, let’s run away!

Fortunately—and for a reason we know nothing about—it was a false alarm. The black flies were conspicuous by their absence when we reached the launching site, namely Kilometre 125 of Noire River. Ah! How beautiful this river is! And how refreshing! We’ve put the canoes in the water, loaded them with our ton of luggage and we then got a taste of happiness… That was it! Off we were!

We slipped through the meanders, watched the sun shine on the surface of the water, smelled the pine trees, listened to the birds and appreciated the incredible talent of Jody who sings beautifully. Ten kilometres more and we set up our camp on a sandy beach just waiting for us.

After a generous supper of buttered chicken and a succulent dessert of apples and oats cooked on the fire, we took the time to go around the table and checked the morale of troops. We also asked the participants what values they hope will transcend our group; respect and mutual assistance will stand out. The discussions continue; we talked of everything and nothing … until the second welcoming committee landed on us in the twilight: mosquitoes! This will also abruptly put an end to the writing of today’s blog … J

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