For the next three weeks we’re sharing the finalists from the Paddling Kids Story Contest. Read their stories and vote for your favorites to crown a winner! Comment below, or like and comment on Facebook and Instagram to register your support (maximum one comment per week per user). Voting for “First Canoe Camping” is open from now until 5pm ET on Thursday, November 6.
First Canoe Camping
By Owen Morris, age 7, from London, Ontario
Listen to the story here:
Hi, my name is Owen. I’m seven years old and I really like beef stroganoff.
This summer I went on my first canoe trip to Algonquin Park with my grandpa, my sisters Emily and Kaitlyn and my dad. We went on a five-day, four-night trip. It was lots of fun. The only thing I didn’t like about it was the bugs.
We started on Canoe Lake. It was raining a lot, but it got nicer as we paddled. The hard part was getting used to the different strokes. I loved exploring the campsite we stayed at on Tom Thomson Lake.
The next day, we had breakfast sandwiches. Then we got in the canoes again. We portaged into Kooy Pond. It really didn’t have much water in it, so we had to walk around it. So muddy! After getting out of Kooy Pond to get away from the bugs, we decided to have lunch in the canoes in the middle of Willow Lake.
On the second and third night, we stayed on an island at Sunbeam Lake. We saw a bunch of catfish. I got my lure under a rock, but they didn’t go for it. The island was the best. We explored and named parts of it. We had our own little table and benches.
I loved climbing on the rocks. We went and explored a waterfall, then an underwater beach. I was able to walk out so far.
On the fourth day, we paddled through Vanishing Pond. There wasn’t much room to paddle. We crashed the canoe a few times against the edge of the channel.
On the last night we stayed on the east arm of Joe Lake. It was hot, so we swam a lot. The rock in the water was so slippery, but we made it. After dinner, we watched the sunset and the stars.
On the last day, we paddled out and had lunch at the canoe store. I had chocolate milk, a hamburger and ice cream. It was so yummy! Then we drove home. It was so good to sleep in my own bed again.
