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As
you can judge by the Winter Packet letters, there
was no shortage of thoughtful responses to an essay in this
space in Outfit 114 on the loss of two canoeists in northern
Labrador last summer.
Daniel Pauzé and Susan Barnes
never returned from their trip down the Korok River or from
the slopes of Mt. Caubvick in the Torngat Mountains. I tried,
in that piece, to convey some sense of what it felt like to
have advised the pair on their first major northern trip. I
was gratified by the response of those, who in many cases,
lead such trips and take inexperienced people into the wilds.
Amazingly, and apparently
unrelated, I received this e-mail from a man looking to head
up to northern Quebec next year in a similar journey - with
his two sons. Here’s some of the text of his e-mail:
“Me and my
two boys (aged 7 & 9) are planning to do the Caniapiscau River
from Schefferville to Kuujjuaq in the summer of 2005. We have
canoed together since each of them was 3 - 4. . . . This year
I am enrolling them into a whitewater kayak course (too small
yet to handle canoe by themselves). I am trying to gather as
much information on the Caniapiscau as I can. Do you know of
anyone that has done it or knows about it? Also, I am looking
for an ultralight 16’ whitewater/tripping canoe (and deck) any
suggestions where to look?. . . Finally, any suggestions for
getting sponsorship for wilderness trips and what angle can I
take for this ie. kids?”
Given recent
events I was somewhat taken aback at this message especially
the suggestion of somehow exploiting his kids as an angle for
getting sponsorship. But I stayed calm and replied;
“Thanks for
your e-mail. I have not done the Caniapisau and since it has a
dam at its outlet, it is not a popular route. Hydro-Quebec
releases water from the top occasionally - you may remember
the drowning of 10,000 caribou 20 years ago from such a
release.
“My
conscience urges me to be blunt and say that I do not consider
it a wise idea to take kids that young on a trip as isolated
as Ungava. I believe it borders on the foolhardy to do it with
only one boat and one adult. We have done seven trips in the
region so I have some idea of the area. Also considering the
last people to ask my help on an Ungava trip this past summer
- never came back from it - I am particularly touchy on this
subject. Also my brother’s father-in-law drowned on the
Tatshenshini when paddling with his son.
“It is a
wonderful and challenging area for experienced northern
canoeists. I suggest to find some to share this adventure
with.”
In light of
last summer’s events, I was more blunt than usual, something
my conscience urged me to do. I was not going to be in a
position of second-guessing myself again. Incredibly, this is
the response I received from that e-mail.
“Thanks. I am
truly foolhardy! You make it more exciting! I will contact
Quebec-Hydro and do some research in this area. I am getting
the topos within a week and will be studying the river hard!
The remoteness and potential danger is why I am planning this
trip for the summer of 2005 (almost two years in advance). I
did believe it would take a lot of planning and research and
this is definitely turning out to be true. I have done a lot
of northern wilderness trips solo (eg. Fawn River to Severn to
Fort Severn, Little Abitibi, virtually all of Temagami before
I was 25, etc.), but the opportunity to get my kids involved
is exciting! I am now 50 and need to get theses trips done
before my body doesn’t allow it any more.”
Wow. And no,
I am not making this up. It’s too far-fetched to be made up.
It reads like one of those exercises you do in preparedness
training or in an ethics course. In truth, I actually thought
it was a joke and not a very funny one. How could any father
of young sons display such a cavalier and reckless attitude?
My wife’s immediate thought was; does the mother know about
these plans?
As for
sponsors, any ones I know, and I know a few, would run
screaming from this potential tragedy and public relations
disaster.
I partly
blame it on the X-culture of TV. The extreme thrill shows that
dominate much of the media seem to convince people that such
risk is acceptable. It’s all crap. A few idiots or Jackasses,
as the movie of the same name indicates, want to risk life and
limb purely for the ego-boosting thrill of being on TV or
fighting a severe mid-life crisis.
Now canoeing
the north with your kids is a great idea and done very
successfully by many. But the idea of two young kids with one
adult in a 16-foot boat in Ungava makes me very nervous. I
would not do it, which doesn’t mean it couldn’t be done -
safely. My brother Geoffrey would be a perfect candidate to
lead such a trip. Why, because he’s done a wealth of northern
tripping in a leadership position and always displayed an
unerring sense of what to do - and when. This guy may be a
superb paddler but we wont know until he’s done some true
northern trips.
I hope that’s
the last time I ever see his name in print (which of course I
can’t reveal). Because I would dread reading it in a newspaper
story next year.
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