A truly incredible thing happened on Planet Arowhon yesterday.
We welcomed back 8 intrepid adventurers from Arowhon’s longest ever canoe trip: 24 days on the Missinaibi River from Missinaibe to Moosonee.
The trip in itself was an incredible feat, but the way it came to be makes it all the more special and impressive.
In October 2 15 year old girls reached out to our Tripping Director asking if we would offer an even longer trip than our normal 10-12 days for seniors. We were excited to hear this, and told them if they could recruit at least 4 other people to do the trip we would run it.
These girls spent the next 6 months on a mission to make the trip happen. People agreed at first, then backed out. No other girls wanted to go so they tried the boys. Not enough campers were into it so they got some LITs on board. Nothing stopped these girls from forging ahead toward the goal they had their eye on.
Yesterday this trip of a lifetime returned, and it’s hard to say whether the waiting camp or the retuning adventures were more proud and excited. Regardless the reception was impressive. But even more impressive to me was the interactions I had with the trip kids throughout the rest of the day.
Each and every one of them came up to me independently at some point thanking me for the wonderful opportunity to do the trip. Each and every one of them had a calmness, confidence, and glow to them that belied their years. It was a true testament to the transformational power of wilderness travel, and even more so to Arowhon campers tenacity and willingness to take on challenges.
Hats off to everyone on the trip, and especially to Alex Roach and Lola Wise – you gals are making Arowhon history!
