Last summer, my five-year-old daughter Kate and I—and Rapid Media TV cameraman, Dan Caldwell—parachuted into a Black Feather Wilderness Programs’ Family French River trip. After 20 years of paddling, it was my first guided trip where I wasn’t the guide. And it was Kate’s first canoe trip with complete strangers.
We met the Black Feather guides and the other families at The Lodge at Pine Cove, 350 kilometers north of Toronto, or a four-hour drive from our home through Algonquin Park.
The historic French River is a 105-kilometer heritage waterway Provincial Park and designated Canadian Heritage River that was once a major fur trade route. The French winds its way from Lake Nipissing to Georgian Bay through a maze of channels and bays in a windswept pines landscape made famous by the Group of Seven.
We were there for four days. We’d packed only the items on Black Feather’s checklist. I didn’t know where we were going, and for the first time in my life, I didn’t care. Somebody else was taking care of all that.
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LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
My wife and I have this running joke, sort of. Whether we’re camping, biking or hiking I often (always, she says) tend to keep going, looking for the better campsite or lunch spot just around the corner. Black Feather has been to the French many times—not only did we eat, sleep and play at the nicest spots, they pointed out the river’s natural and cultural history along the way.
FAMILY TIME
“Family trips have a much slower pace in terms of traveling, and the trips tend to be shorter than our regular trips,” says Quon, one of our guides whose two daughters are helping on the trip. In four days we traveled about as far as I’d normally paddle in a day. We base camped for two nights, allowing time for leisurely breakfasts, afternoon hikes, cliff jumping and blueberry picking. For Kate, and most of the other kids, the canoe gets us to the next campsite and the next playground; it isn’t yet an adventure in itself.
INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE
Marc, Nathalie and their son Ki joined this family canoe trip in the middle of a four-week holiday. The French River fell between eight days relaxing in Cape Cod and a week on a Wyoming dude ranch. Both international litigators based in Zurich, Switzerland, it was their first vacation in 10 years. “We came to Canada to do something we can’t do in Europe,” Marc told me, “At home everything is so close together.” After the Swiss family (not Robinson) dumped their canoe trying to make their way up a slot rapid below our Five Fingers Rapid campsite, Ki decided he’d paddle the rest of the rapids with Kate and I. This gave his mom and dad the freedom to try more challenging sections of whitewater. Ki told me he was more comfortable with us, but added in German, to his dad, “If we were skiing in the mountains I don’t think they could be trusted.”
SAFETY IN NUMBERS
At a set of rapids on the French, the guides discussed the route, the challenges and the consequences with the group. In the end, the kids enjoyed snacks and cheered on their parents from shore. Every boat made it through.
CAMP FRIENDS
Kate’s favorite part of our French River trip, and the reason she wants to return, is the other kids. It was fun to watch them get to know one another, while we parents did the same. By the second day, we all knew one another well enough that group parenting rules were in effect. Running in the pack with Ki and Kate were Toronto-based seven-year-old Kiara and her cousins Milly and Archie visiting from West London. Kate came home with a cute British accent, telling her mummy that she has an invitation to visit Big Ben (whoever he is).
SUMMER SCHOOL
Not confident in your paddling or camping skills? Jumping on a guided trip gets you outdoors now. You’ll learn routes you can return to. On the French, Black Feather provided paddling instruction along the way. There was even an afternoon playing in a class II rapid. Pay attention and you can learn to plan a menu, cook blueberry pancakes on a griddle over a fire and Dutch-oven bake a chocolate cake. Helping in the kitchen is like apprenticing for your next trip, without the risk of being fired.
SILLY GAMES
Who else but river guides would line the bottoms of their canoes with half a dozen one-by-six-inch planks of lumber? On our rest day, Carl, Simon and a motley crew of scallywags lashed together a pirate ship. After attacking the unsuspecting parents with squirt guns, they ran the small rapids out front of our campsite. It ended as you’d suspect, with each pirate taking a turn walking the plank.
MAKING MEMORIES
With our Black Feather guides taking care of all the logistics like route planning, leadership decisions and meal preparation, Kate and I spent our time swimming, reading, fishing, playing and exploring. When I ask what she wants to do this summer she says without hesitation, “Go back to the French River.” Time and money well spent.
This article first appeared in the Early Summer 2012 issue of Canoeroots Magazine. For more great content, subscribe to Canoeroots’print and digital editions here.
