The river was magnificent when all thirteen of us set out for our first day, and everyone was excited. Kids were not catered to on this trip, they were integral members of the team with jobs and tasks to do to help set up and take down camp every day, and they were also our navigators. It was so fun to watch them study the map each morning and learn what to pay attention to. We had five youngsters with us, ranging 5 to 13 years old: Emerys, Tobias, Tyler and Matisse, four boys and one spirited girl, Arianna, who was always ready for action. She reminded me of me, many moons ago.
As it was Misha's first trip on this northern section of the river, and the map was not always accurate, finding established group campsites proved challenging, and it added another bonding and self discovery opportunity for our group. Arrival at camp was rhythmed by unloading as a team, free play for the kids while we were unpacking, firewood gathering and processing, kitchen, tents and toilet setting up, followed by meal prep. There are so many invisible small and big decisions to make quickly in the bush, and experience is a big time saver, especially when one arrives late at camp, or when it starts pouring and thundering, and a fire and dry gathering space needs to be set up.
What is the best wood to pick to build a fire in the wild? How do you choose a place to set up camp? How can you predict the weather is about to change? How can you leave no trace, or better, leave a little helpful gift for the next voyager who will come after you? How can you trust kids to learn from you, teach each other and show you what they are capable of? Through our experiences together we learned all this and more.
During our expedition we did not eat any prepackaged food but rather delicious and hearty meals prepared over a Norwegian firebox designed for efficient campfire cooking. A pasta dish the first night, a Quebecois ragoût the second, a soup from scratch the next with campfire stick baguettes, and delicious fish more than once. Pike, walleye and wananish fish swim and jump in the currents of the Ashuapmushuan. Following Mathias' guidance, I prepared a freshly caught pike for one of our suppers, it made me feel so alive and grateful that my whole body was buzzing.
Our nomadic days would start with stretching, singing and eating breakfast, forest playing or map reading, followed by packing and taking down the camp, a process that gained in fluidity and speed as time passed. It felt so easy to live together with strangers in such close quarters, building a tribe as we paddled, swam, talked, laughed, worked, sang, ate, and slept alongside each other. One of the best binding agents I know between humans is gratitude, and sharing gratitudes with each other definitely deepened our connections. The balance of challenges and good fortune that graced our adventure made for a truly enjoyable and fortifying backcountry voyage with little ones. As the Finnish would say, this experience definitely built our sisu to get ready for a northern fall and winter. I could say so much more but some essential elements of this experience are truly beyond words. I will let your imagination guide you to Ashuapmushuan. All I can add is that a part of me is still there and is not about to come back.
Atshuku, merci, pasiba, gracias, thank you to each member of our multicultural, multigenerational travelling tribe, it was memorable to journey by your side. Hopefully we will meet again around the bend.
