Welcome to the Missinaibi (July 2017)

We saw eagles, we followed moose tracks, we portaged through marshes, we navigated through gnarly rapids, we kept campfires going in the rain, we foraged, we fished, we discovered, we carved and crafted, we took turns being leaders, we sat silently along canyon walls, we laughed till we cried, we talked about our poop, we looked up to the Sun to tell the time, we admired ancient pictographs drawn on rocks by the Anishinaabe, we imagined all those who roamed this river corridor before us, we filled the cedar-scented air of our homemade sauna with rolling oms, we invented stories as to why things were the way they were, we struggled, we watched the Perseid Meteor Shower light up the sky as we lay in the sand, we pushed ourselves everyday, feeling the rewards of hard-earned meals and rest...

We became a Wolf Pack, moving downstream. A tribe of River’s apprentices, practising daily to work with her flow. An 8-person family with 8 diverse backgrounds learning to coexist, living all elements of the weather on our bare skin for 3 weeks, connecting ourselves to our environment just like all the plants, animals and rocks around us.

A communal living experience in the remote wilderness is a gift of majestic dimensions.

I will always remember the special way we were greeted to the land, as we were minutes away from our drop-off point to begin our 3-week river journey:

A cougar, crouching low on the road, in stalking mode. Straight ahead of us.

A powerful sight indeed.

“Welcome to the Bush,” I imagined her saying.

Stay Humble.

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Les Voyageurs

21 days on the Missinaibi River

July-August 2017