Madawaska River, ON

When I was young at the river, I lived at a summer camp, and it gave me the opportunity to experience the Madawaska. Well, I didn’t just experience it, it was my source of survival for four days. We used it to drink, wash dishes, and mainly to haul around all of our gear. The truth is we weren't close to hauling the gear as we floated it softly down the river in canoes, peacefully enjoying our surroundings. A good way to describe it would be like we were in a movie. Everything was perfect. No stress, no worries, no bad times.

When I was young at the river, I realized it wasn’t all peaceful and calm. We faced many rapids which were loud, rumbling, and foaming. I say this like they are an obstacle or like we were disappointed to encounter them, but they were, to me, probably the highlight of the trip. Racing down a rapid with a cabin mate is such a thrill and joyride. Even as dangerous as it was, I still had training, a helmet, and a special whitewater paddle.

When I was young at the river, we visited three campsites, one for each night. Once we landed at a campsite, it was then when we got to truly relax and take everything in. I want to emphasize how much it felt as though I'm in a movie or painting. It all seemed unreal or too good to be true. I can still remember hopping out of our canoes, wet as a dog putting all our tents up, putting away all our gear, as fast as the wind.

When I was young at the river, we would set up camp, we would change into dry clothes and make a fire. We would canoe for six hours in one day and to make it worse, my job as a bow was that I would have to hop out of the canoe and get us unstuck from
rocks or weeds in my clothes. Feeling the warmth of the fire was so relieving and always the best way to end a long day to counter the fatigue and the cold and the feeling of being wet from our day canoeing.