My Yukon Canoeing Trip

On this trip I learned how to tie bowlines and thieves’ knots and trucker’s hitches. I learned how to set up a tarp in pouring rain and how to make a tent work with two less poles than it was initially designed to have. I saw firsthand how sometimes people get along and sometimes they don’t. I learned that with a hand-sized stove and a bottle of (jet) fuel, a culinary world lies at your fingertips. I made great friendships and I learned about myself.

It is easy to get down on yourself at the Academy. It is easy to feel like an irrelevant piece of stardust whose existence in the grand scheme of the universe means quite literally nothing. But, surrounded by valleys and mountains and mélanges and green, it is easy to reconcile this feeling with an overwhelming sense of tranquility. It is true, that without a blade of grass a mountain range would function just the same and just as well. And it is just as true that without seven billion blades of grass, a mountain would still for the most part serve its greater purpose. And yet, how much more beautiful does a mountain look, green and healthy and laden with grass? This, in essence is how I like to look at the world. Sure, our individual lives may at times seem insignificant and irrelevant to the world on a larger scale. But in fact, if we are truly able to comprehend the gravity and humility that comes with this we are able to live more full and wholehearted lives.

I am by no means a religious person. But I appreciate the message that Judaism teaches through תיקון עולם (tikkun olam). In this, it is each of our responsibilities to make the world a better place than when we found it. We contribute to the world by improving it daily. By making others smile. By planting trees. By being happy and by making others happy. By singing. By living as selflessly as we can. By contributing to the greater good of every institution we are apart of. Maybe that’s your family, maybe it’s your neighborhood, maybe it’s your school.

For 21 days, it was only the 16 of us out in nature. And though we came across elk and moose and beavers and bears, not once did we cross paths with another human. And so, for those 21 days we were our own society and we learned how to work effectively as such. When we were chosen to be designated leaders, it was our jobs to make lives easier for our followers. On the days where we were simply followers, we recognized that our job was to remain active and to make our leader’s lives as easy as we could.

I am grateful to my parents and to the Naval Academy for having provided me with such an incredible opportunity and I am grateful to the NOLS program for recognizing a dearth in outdoor education in 1965 and for striving to fill it ever since. I hope this provides insight into how we were able to travel over 285 kilometers through mountains, swamps, and rivers while learning leadership skills that should last a lifetime. Following this is the journal I kept throughout the trip with a few pictures of each day. Enjoy!

— SF

June 27, 2016

I’ve been in Whitehorse, Yukon since Saturday. NOLS picked us up yesterday and we spent all day packing up our gear. At night we went for a short hike to discuss the expectations of the course and sat on a cliff facing a wide valley. The instructors soon left us and the Midshipmen seemed like puppies dragging their leashes around, unsure of what to do with all of this newfound freedom. Within the next half hour we saw 2, maybe 3 bears within a mile or two of our campsite. That sure got our attention. We rushed back to camp not really believing what we saw. The staff seems very relaxed and cool and so for the most part so do the people. I can already see my personality fitting well into this group. I want to work on my sarcastic comments and try to smile more and be more helpful. I want to be a better and kinder team player. Can’t wait for tomorrow!

June 28, 2016

After a six-hour drive we were dropped into the wilderness today. We’ve just finished dinner at our first campsite and were asked to spend some time reflecting on the reason we are here. It’s been pretty cool so far. I’m here because I want to work on my social and leadership skills and because I want to meet new people. I want to be challenged physically and mentally and to learn about the beautiful world we are so fortunate to inhabit. I am also here to increase my confidence and self-esteem. A firstie (or senior) in my company had told me that doing NOLS was what gave her the confidence she needed to both jump off the 10 meter (a feat I will complete this fall) and to succeed at the Academy overall. I am here to learn peer leadership and to try something new. We each stood and gave reasons for being there. Some people had had rough plebe years and needed this escape to rebuild their self-confidence and self-worth. Others discussed needing a break from the every day rush of Academy life. I’m excited to see what the trip has in store.

June 29, 2016

Today was an interesting day. We got up at 7ish and were done bringing down our tents, cooking breakfast, and packing up by 9. We learned a few paddling techniques like a draw and a pry. But the paddling didn’t last too long. Soon we were dragging the canoes upstream in an ice-cold mountain stream. The rocks were mossy and slippery. After a few hours the stream grew too narrow to continue and we were forced to begin what would become our first portage. I didn’t know what this mean till I watched a canoe be dragged through the trees up a steep steep incline. It also entailed entirely emptying the canoes of our personal items and rations, which we keep in about 17 barrels. Watching all of this be pulled up the mossy slope was a little eye-opening. Then we carried the stuff in about 2–3 trips per person approximately three kilometers. At this point it was about 4pm so we decided to set up camp and debrief since it was only our first day and we didn’t want to push too far. We practiced our speech skills by having to sell a book to the group. It was funny. We went for a swim in the cold creek water because we found a part deep enough to cannon ball in. So far things are swell and morale is high.

July 1, 2016

For the last three days we have portaged through marsh. My shoes have come off in knee-deep mud and I’ve had to dig through the mud for them a few times. Needless to say, there’s mud pretty deeply embedded into my cuticles and my hair is trashed. But we made it to our goal so I’m pretty happy. Each day we establish distance goals which allow us to push ourselves as far as we think is safe. Of course, we could portage through the night but considering the consequence of even a sprained ankle is pretty high there’s really no point in taking unnecessary risks. I’ve helped Andrew carry a canoe a few times. I’m pretty proud of that. A few people have carried them on their own and that’s pretty damn impressive too. It may not seem like that difficult of a task to carry a 60–80lb canoe through the woods but in knee-deep marsh and mud and through thick trees and foliage, the sheer length and shape of the object makes it a difficult feat. It’s a little hard to believe that this is supposed to be a canoe trip at this point. Hopefully we make it to our first river soon. G-d, will paddling feel good. J

Saturday, July 2, 2016

Today was awesome. I didn’t sleep very well and I dreamed that one of my high school friend’s Dad was involved in some sort of corporate conspiracy and was suddenly murdered. Weird. ANYWAYS, we woke up around 7 and Gab made awesome oatmeal with brown sugar and cranberries. Our stove has been pretty shitty these past few days and we’ve barely been able to boil hot water for each meal so this oatmeal to us is phenomenal. At 9 we finished packing up our tent, eating, cleaning, pooping (it’s a whole process with leaves and shovels out here and we’ve all become oddly comfortable with discussing bowel movements), and purifying some water for the days work. We began by finishing the portage from yesterday so we walked back a kilometer or two to get all of our stuff together before beginning on the day’s journey. We then portaged to the middle of a huge marsh in the middle of a valley. Thinking we were almost to the river, we were incredibly motivated to move quickly. We stopped and took a quick food and water break. Then morale seemed to drop as we were made aware of how much further we actually had to go. By the end of the day we would actually have scaled the entire Pelee Mountain Range (which is kind of freaking awesome). We carried the canoes and barrels another ½ kilometer and put the canoes into a narrow creek and loaded them up. When I say narrow think, barely wide enough to even fit the width of the canoe. We spent the next two hours pushing and pulling and shoving and praying and cursing and coaxing the canoes through the narrow stream and all its nasty twists and bends. Me and Monica were partners and we crushed it. We then pulled the canoes out of the water and into the thick foliage of the valley where we began to push them like sleds (they were still loaded at this point) down a hill until we reached a wider part of the creek. It took 4 or 5 people of our 16 person group to push each canoe as they were extremely heavy and the terrain was far from flat or conducive to pushing canoes down it (imagine that). After getting the canoes back into the water and further manhandling them for another hour we FINALLY REACHED THE FIRST RIVER. Though we’d all been waist-deep in water all day, we all jumped in upon reaching the MacNeil that afternoon. We instantly regretted it as the sun hid behind a cloud and our goose bumps from the chilly water reminded us that we were in Northern Canada. But it was such an awesome feeling. Me and Gab changed and started setting up our tent but it swiftly proceeded to downpour. Soaking both of us as well as the dry clothes we’d just put on and the interior of the tent we had just installed. Pissed and dripping wet we made our way over to the tarp to be surprised by Annie’s abnormally positive demeanor. Annie then proceeded to make the best meal we’d had up to that point, cheesy hot dog quesadillas. We ate all of our chocolate for the ration too. We were so happy. We had done it! We accomplished our first real task. Paddling lay ahead! This campsite is beautiful and the weather is cooperating to create for a cool and mosquito-light evening. I had my first mentor meeting with Dale and we talked about how I internalize things too much and want to work on my confidence. He and I talked about girls and women and cyber and lots of other things. He seems like a really cool guy. I am inspired by his passion to help people. I hope to see a lot of personal growth these next few weeks. When I got back Lael and Maddie were singing a duet from Frozen and I can’t help but smile. It’s gotten a little chillier out but there’s no rain or mosquitoes so we’re happy. Tonight at the debrief we talked about communication and how people perceive things differently. I love it out here. I close my eyes and hear birds and a running RIVER. Tomorrow we are having a canoeing lesson and an easy day. I can’t wait.

July 3, 2016

Today we started canoeing. Annie made us bean and hashbrown tacos this morning. They were pretty good. We smelled awful, we decided it was definitely a night to brave the cold river water and take a makeshift shower. We started the day with a safety brief on paddling then hit the river. I was partners with Stephen and we were super frustrated at first with the shallowness of the water. At one point we hit a tree and even tipped over. It was hard work and I’m a little sore. Tonight for dinner I made salmon, sunflower seeds, and garlic pasta. Then we used some cream cheese and cornflakes (aka Vector) to make a kind of cheesecake for dessert. OH!! And when me and Stephen tipped, my shoe came off but A.P. and Eric found it and my paddle and he’s my hero for the day. We saved him some of our cheesecake. Serious tears would have been shed had the shoe not been found holy-moly. We just had our debrief and Lael was on the hotseat. Tomorrow is the 4th of July!! Dale says it’s funny because in Canada it is also called “The 4th of July”. LOL. Austin’s reading said to think less and to smile more because attitude is everything. I liked that.

July 4, 2016

Today we paddled all day. Me and A.P. were partners. In the very beginning we flipped and it sucked. I could see his morale drop and especially since his stuff wasn’t super water-proofed and one of his back-up chargers got pretty wet. After that though, things got a lot better. I told him I was willing to accept any feedback that could make me or us as a team better. We started communicating more and I got quicker at making decisions about how to paddle. We crushed all of the rapids at the end. At night, the campsite was nice but super buggy. We had our last meal together as a cook group so we made lentil quinoa and corn couscous and then tried to make chocolate cake on our burner (update to this journal entry, it was actually protein powder and whoever labeled them at our base camp had mixed the two up). It tasted bitter but fine and we were way too proud of it to care. We baked it by setting the pan on the tin foil tent and building a twiggy fire (a fire of twigs) on the top. I’m the beach boss tomorrow so hopefully that goes well. Making the new cook groups was a rough process but we think they look okay.

July 7, 2016

Today I was the leader. I got to make a lot of decisions. We made it a group PR of 28km today that got us off of map 2 and we made it all the way to Moss Lake. It was beautiful. The reflection of the landscape was like glass on the water. Yesterday I saw a beaver and today I saw a moose drinking from the river as we paddled along and then two sweet duck families. My constructive feedback was to organize my thoughts better and to not feel pressure because of time constraints. Overall though it was mostly positive and I was happy. I had been a little scared but I think the day went well overall. Our new cook group is awesome, everyone is super nice and helpful and our stove works!!

July 9–10, 2016

Today and yesterday we had to walk upstream something like 18 kilometers. It was awful. I was with Lael and Maddie. The upstream current is strong and the rocks were incredibly mossy and slippery. I fell/slipped/tripped a lot. We stopped every 30 minutes thanks to our awesome CO’s (Commanding Officer’s) Gab and Eric. After Eric’s day we made it to a lake and it was beautiful and awesome to be done walking upstream. They both did a really good job. Stephen made a delicious coconut curry last night and a tuna casserole the next night. We also made an awesome carrot cake.

July 11, 2016

Today we portaged. This was our last official portage. It was about 2 km. Monica was the CO. It was tough but very worth it. Initially Maddie and I had tried to solo a canoe and bring a barrel but it soon became apparent that it would be faster if one of the guys helped us. A.P. was really nice about it. When he first asked to help us it seemed like a potentially huge hit to our pride: Hell, we were girls and we could do this! But he was super cool about it and he said at least 4 times, “I know you guys can do it yourselves, but let me help it’ll be faster and better for the group.” We really appreciated that, and it’s hard to argue with solid logic. Him and Andrew carried it the rest of the way and we helped keep the trail and carry the barrels. The mosquitoes were pretty rough today. Later Annie and I carried a canoe and it was hard and it was awesome. We were super proud of ourselves afterwards. As soon as we finished the 2 kilometers and made it to the lake we loaded the boats and set off only to take a quick break soon after to jump into the water fully clothed. The sun had been beating down hot on our backs and the water was cold and refreshing. We jumped (more like awkwardly squirmed) back into the boats and continued on our way. After a few power 20’s (crew term) with Cat, we were up in the front and it felt awesome. We camped at the no name lake that night and made noodles with sausage and cheese and it was delicious. The campsite was beautiful, right on the lake with the clouds in the water. We used our last chocolate cake mix (this was really cake mix) and made a peanut butter frosting. We swam again later that night and it felt great.

July 12, 2016

Today we walked/paddled downstream all day. We had to saw through a lot of beaver dams and this part of the trip would soon become known as BeaverNam. Our campsite kind of sucks because it’s in the swamp and the forest and it’s super wet. There are mosquitoes everywhere. If you inhale too deeply it’s not unusual to cough a few up. Today’s our last day in this cook group.

July 16, 2016

Today Eric and I were co-leaders. We crushed it. We went about 45km on the river and about 14km as the crow flies. It was awesome. We made it to the Wolf River! It was such a great feeling following the river on the map and then seeing where they collided. It was a long day. We got up at 0530 and paddled from 0800 to 1730. We went long and hard to cover all the distance. At first there was some obstacles but together with Eric, Clara, and Dale we conquered them all in about 2 hours and it was smooth sailing from there. We didn’t get anything significant as far as critical feedback.

July 16–21, 2016

For the rest of the trip I did not keep a journal but I wanted to make sure I filled in the blank space with my recollection of events. We had a lot farther to go after Eric and I’s day as CO’s and each subsequent CO had their work laid out for them. Each day we went more kilometers than the last as we began to realize that our time in the wilderness was coming to an end. One day we would go as far as 57 kilometers! An eventful day occurred when a lot of critical feedback was given to our designated leaders. It seemed that a storm had occurred in the group (which we had previously learned was a healthy part of a group’s growth) and it appeared that we would struggle to move past it. But the next day as we woke early to conquer a day full of class two whitewater and portaging around class four waterfalls, the darkest clouds were behind us and we were forced to continue to persevere as a group in order to achieve our goal. On the 21st of July as we made our way to the First Nation village of Teslin, there was an odd aura about the group. To be fair, it was pouring and we had been on flat-water for much of the morning, (which tires one out far more quickly than running water considering how much more one has to paddle) but there were definitely feelings besides relief as we tugged our boats up to shore. A sense of pride in all that we had accomplished. A sense of disbelief in how we had been capable of completing such a journey. A sense of sadness that never again would we be in the same location with this same group of people. And a sense of happiness that we were about to embark on an even greater adventure.