The eleventh year of SHACC has been completed and the canoe voyage to Nistowiak Falls went well. We had 12 youths, 3 guides and 1 junior guide participate in the five day, four night trip but many more families were involved during training sessions through out the month of August.
One of the biggest challenges we faced was a definite gap between the friendships of the young women versus the young men. They seemed to cluster this year, during training, to their same sex friendships. In the sport of canoeing, a group camaraderie is necessary for a smooth function wilderness trip. We made changes and challenged the group to see the importance of a team approach and it went so well. Comments by parents upon return was how tightly bonded this group was versus previous years.
We also had a logistical issue finding an appropriate campsite on night four but the teens pitched in (pun intended) to make good of a tight spot for tents, campfire, gear, canoes, fishing and while it was snug it worked out just fine.
Our outstanding success was a lazy afternoon fishing from Porter Rapids and picking wild cranberries. It was an unintended couple of hours of downtime thanks to a thunderstorm.
Following the guidelines of our risk management strategy turned into a great little adventure as well as ensuring safety.
The Nistowiak Falls are always a highlight for all but this year the trail up to the falls revealed the most spectacular mushroom collection. Just to look at and take a picture of, none touched nor consumed.