Nahanni

For the past seven summers I have gone to camp in July the camp is in Haliburton and it is a very special place to me, here is one of the multiple reasons.  Ever since my first year I have always gone on a canoe trip.  My first year the trip was to a campsite close to the camp for one night and every year after the trips got longer and longer.  This summer however I went on a Hiking trip in British Columbia that was run by the camp.  The trip was two weeks long and it entailed hiking for eleven days to the Pacific Ocean and then sea kayaking for four days.  The trip was unlike anything I had done before and it was truly an amazing experience it was a time that I changed as a person and it put things in perspective such as the insignificance of phones and social media, how positivity can get you through almost any situation and that with the help of friends anything is possible.

The trip started with a long drive into the mountain range to camp on an abandoned logging/mining road at the start of the trail.  The next day we traveled approximately six hundred meters in elevation alone just to where we ate lunch (about half way).  Going into this tip not knowing anything about the land I wasn’t sure what to expect.  For me the first day was one of the hardest days but the campsite we arrived at (“paradise lake”) was worth it, the campsite was at the base of Mount Tom Taylor (1789m) and a lake of pure glacier run off was right beside it.  Due to the fact the lake was comprised of runoff water only the water was crystal clear.  Never before had I seen something like it I couldn’t help but stare at the lake for a few minutes.  Staring out at something as extraordinary as this was when I realized that we get so wrapped up in our Instagram posts and snapchat stories that we could be missing something as beautiful and amazing as this.

As amazing as this trip was not all of it was lollipops and rainbows, days 4,5 and 6 were nonstop rain all day and as everyone was suffering from tent fever (supposed to be cabin fever) we still remained positive and we knew that we would get through it and everything would be fine.  The positivity that got us through those days was unique to say the least; as we were all huddled around the stove standing under the tarp listening to the pitter patter of rain, cracking jokes and playing card games one of my best friends Simon (who is known to always be smiling) was sure enough smiling.  Everything we had to wear, our test, shoes and ourselves were soaking wet but through all of that Simon was smiling, I genuinely believe that Simon smiling is what sparked the positivity throughout our group and kept us going on the hardest of days even when you couldn’t feel your feet anymore or your back was in agony from the pack, everyone was still smiling.  I think that I learned a lot from this trip that no amount of texting or sitting around at home playing NBA 2K could ever possibly teach and that is the beauty of camp.

Liam Keane
2016