I don’t know what the final song of this expedition will be, but I guarantee you that the list of all the songs sung over these 10 days is looooonnnng! Even as I’m writing these lines, the participants are still singing Les BB, a band from the 1980s. Incredible.
But I’m getting ahead of the day.
We were woken up this morning at 6:30 a.m. by Ho Hey from The Lumineers on the ukulele. We had to quickly break camp to paddle the scheduled eight kilometers on time for our takeout.
The day looked sunny once again, a little windy, but with a south wind, so not too chilly. I must say, we were incredibly lucky with the weather during our expedition. Just one full day of rain; otherwise, generally beautiful weather — at least good enough to avoid living constantly in wet clothes and gear. Even though everyone stayed in good spirits during the rainy day, maybe our morale would have dipped a bit if we’d had several rainy days in a row. So, thank you Pachamama!
After seven days of daily paddling, an eight-kilometer trip is considered a short day, and it was done joyfully, in good spirits, with pairs chatting, deepening their connection, and fully in control of their canoe.
We left the campsite at 9 a.m. and reached the final portage around 11 a.m. The participants tried a different portage technique — lifting the canoes as a group of six, with all the gear still inside. This avoided the need to unload and reload everything for just 25 meters of walking.
This brief stop gave us a chance to take the official group photo and have a moment of silence at the foot of the rapids. It was a way to help the participants (and a little bit the team too) ease back into “civilization,” as we could already see the road on the other side of the river — so close.
This can be an emotional moment for everyone, because the connection with nature — the one that allowed us to disconnect from daily life, obligations, worries, stress, and challenges — had become the norm over these few days. A norm shaped by the synergy among us, with our canoes, the rhythm of life at camp, the shared tasks and roles, and the simple life of explorers on this little slice of land.
The last 250 meters of paddling were done in silence and very slowly. That strange feeling of wishing we could keep going, even though the day before we had started to talk about how we missed our partners, kids, friends, parents, etc. It’s not that we don’t want to go back — it’s just hard to leave the peaceful mindset and the connection we created.
Once ashore, it was time for hugs, kind words, and sharing our appreciation for one another. We gave individual hugs and one big group hug in the shape of a cinnamon roll (we’ve all become big cinnamon roll fans thanks to Annie).
Then, we switched back into practical mode and carried the canoes to the cars, hauled the barrels, had a delicious and simple tuna wrap lunch, and loaded the barrels into the SÉPAQ trailer to return to Pine Grove.
The hour-and-a-half return trip was electric in the SÉPAQ shuttle: the participants sang non-stop for 90 minutes. Even the driver joined in. When Mathieu asked how the ride had been, he replied, “Nice and quiet” … which we can take as irony, I think.
Jessica, Marie-Ève, Catherine, and I were in the same car upon arrival at Pine Grove and were truly delighted to see the crew get off the shuttle dancing and singing Big Fat Poney, the warm-up game we’d done one morning. They are incredible and full of love!
While waiting for the dinner prepared by the guides, the participants returned the gear borrowed from the Foundation. Then came the moment of the redemptive shower — hot water included. What a joy to put on clean, 100% dry clothes.
We feasted on souvlakis cooked on the camp stoves. Once again, Jessica and her team from Désir de découvrir outdid themselves!
Then it was time to celebrate the end of this amazing journey. Catherine and Marie-Michelle proposed a simple game to close the evening. Each participant had to give their dessert (a wonderful brownie — with ice cream, the one thing we hadn’t yet eaten during the trip…) to another participant and/or team member, naming their strengths or a special moment shared with that person.
One by one, everyone got to share a word or touching story about someone in the group. So many beautiful words were spoken, such meaningful connections made, and oh! how moving it was to be seen and acknowledged. But always with laughter, joy, and a song or two on our lips.
Expedition diplomas were handed out to everyone, and the evening ended with a final moment around the fire — not just to share the warmth of the flames, but the great warmth of human connection.
I can still hear them singing their hearts out. Tonight, we’ll all sleep in the big community room: 17 people in the same space, sharing one last night together. We’ll hear each other snoring, talking in our sleep, farting (yes, yes, after seven days together, we can say that in a blog), and we’ll all wake up tomorrow with our puffy faces.
And I guarantee it’ll be with big smiles, bright and early, to share one last handful of moments — together — for the best, because we’ve all left a bit of our worst behind.
I’ll save the ending for tomorrow, because we still have the road to Montreal ahead. See you soon!
Gabrielle
