I am not a paddler or an outdoor person. My idea of a great vacation is sitting by a pool reading a book. So you might wonder how I found myself on a canoe trip with my daughter and nine other women, a 402-kilometre journey down the Yukon River.
As we arrived in Carmacks with five canoes and enough gear for eight nights of camping, I wondered the same thing myself.
My daughter and my husband are in Scouts together. They hike and camp and do outdoor things.
I stay home with the dog.
So why lean into this adventure?
This is my daughter’s last summer before she graduates high school. I know there will not be many more opportunities for adventures that are just the two of us. She needed an adventurous journey to complete the requirements for the Duke of Edinburgh Gold program.
We could have made it a family trip. But I knew that would be too easy – for me. My husband would have taken care of me. He would have put up the tent, carried the heavy gear and made tea in the morning.
I wanted to show my daughter, and probably myself, that we could do this together. I wanted at least one of her experiences conquering the outdoors to be with me.
I had also never been to the Yukon, and it was part of Canada I wanted to see.
We signed up for the Artemis program with Fireside Adventures, a new program designed around women’s empowerment. As an introvert, spending eight days in the wilderness with a group of strangers is not something I normally seek out. Yet there I was, trusting that 11 women, ranging in age from 17 to 60, with very different levels of paddling experience, were somehow going to make it to Dawson City together.
Once we pushed off, there was no popping into a store because I had forgotten something. I had to trust I had what I needed. Thanks to a very comprehensive packing list, and considerable help from my husband, I did.
It was an impressive group of women. Our backgrounds and experiences were varied, but for those eight days we became our own little team. There was something powerful about women from different generations and different parts of the country figuring out how to do this together.
Three of us were moms travelling with our daughters. Let’s face it: no matter how good your relationship is, eight days together in a canoe and a tent is a lot of mother-daughter time. We all had our moments.
What I particularly appreciated was that nobody had to contribute exactly the same thing every day. We each did what we could with the energy we had, and somehow, over the course of the trip, it balanced out.
And the Yukon did not disappoint.
We had sunny skies for almost the entire journey. We saw bears and mountain goats. There were also bugs and a particularly memorable afternoon trying to stay ahead of fork lightning. The rain came with one of the most spectacular double rainbows I have ever seen.
It was amazing and it was hard.
Some days I discovered that my mental resilience ran out before my physical strength did. But the next morning, we got up, packed the canoes and did it all over again.
And what I will remember most is doing it with my daughter.
We hoisted bags together. We put up and took down our tent. We paddled together, hour after hour. I watched her become stronger and more confident as the days went on. I watched her engage with women of different ages and backgrounds. And I got to hear her laugh – really laugh.
Those are moments I will treasure.
My body, however, has a slightly different assessment of the experience. I got through it but the older I get, the less my body allows that much change to my routine without consequences.
But getting older has made me think about something else too.
My dad died relatively young, and so much of what I have left of him lives in memories. It has made me conscious of taking the time to create memories with the people I love.
I wanted to create a big one with my daughter.
I wanted us to do something that required courage from both of us – to step outside our comfort zones, work together differently and achieve something meaningful.
Did paddling 402 kilometres together change our relationship forever?
No.
But it gave us something that belongs to the two of us.
I am thankful for this trip.
Not because it turned me into a paddler. It didn’t.
But because I will cherish this memory with my daughter and hope she will do the same.
Kendra MacDonald
