Drag, Drag, Drag Your Canoe
By Megan Uribe, Hannah Bennett, & Clara Locke
September 2, 2024
After a long summer of anticipation for the Adirondack Semester, the first day finally came on a hot August Sunday afternoon. The sunlight reflected off Saranac Lake as the new faces of Arcadia rolled in.
When we all finally arrived at Canaras, the excitement and mystery buzzed through the air. We were a small bunch of people with no idea of what challenges lay ahead or the intimacy of the coming adventure. As we prepared for our seven-day canoeing expedition, tension and anxiousness arose as our strengths and weaknesses would soon come to light.
As we left Canaras and the technological world behind, the stormy clouds began to roll over us as if they were washing away the worries and troubles of modern society. It was a rainy first two days for us Arcadians as we settled into what our new norms would look like. We began with the splitting up of our cooking crews and tent mates. These groups later led to intimate chats by WhisperLite stove fires to late night conversations in our tents before bed.
Our long-awaited adventure had finally begun. We “rafted up” in our canoes and awaited the instruction of our leaders for the day. These leaders had a special name that represented and spelled out their responsibilities: the GIVERS. This stood for goals, itinerary, vibes, energy, and route. Our first GIVERS, Roy and Callie, set the tone with excitement and enthusiasm as we began to get deeper into our adventure. The days grew hotter and hotter, forcing us to distract ourselves with conversation and song. As Arcadian Kaya Williams said, “We must put value into the groups we were put into.” Almost perfect symmetry occurred as the skies cleared up and the sunshine began to reveal the hidden beauty and bright colors all around. When the sun finally graced us with its presence and positive energy, the sounds of laughter and relief abounded as we began to create the foundation of our society.
Beginning our journey as Arcadians with a week-long canoe expedition was one of the best ways to create this strong society. Creating a strong and positive group dynamic requires a high level of comfort and connectedness, a process greatly expedited by a week in a canoe in the backcountry.
Paddling a canoe with a partner is one of those experiences that forces you to create a strong bond with your partner. On our trip, we had a new canoe partner each day. Every morning, the GIVERS of the day would create a fun game to decide partners. This mandatory one-on-one time allowed people to connect on an individual level. In a canoe you no longer move alone, you can only move together, two people as one. This time also allows for deep conversation as well as comfortable silence. At any moment on one of our paddles, one could hear our group pouring out our life stories, discussing the perfect poop consistency, or sharing our top five worries and top five things in life.
Canoeing for many hours a day with no distractions and no music also provides the perfect opportunity to create one’s own music. By day five, our group had become much more comfortable with one another, and as we paddled down the Raquette River, we broke out into (slightly) harmonious song. When asked about this moment, fellow Arcadian Rachel Pelletier described it as a strong bonding moment: “Being able to belt out song with a new group of people takes a lot of vulnerability.” This vulnerability is imperative to becoming comfortable with one another and building that strong group dynamic.
On our last night of the canoe trip, we all collected around the campfire in our pajamas with Crazy Creeks for chairs and began the evening meeting. We had evening meetings each night of our trip, which was our time to reflect on the day, discuss the next, voice our needs, and give appreciations for one another. On this night, our last night, we also reflected on our time together so far. As we sat, faces illuminated by moonlight and firelight, there was a strong feeling of connectedness as well as a feeling of trepidation for our future. As close as we had become over the past six days, there was still growth that needed to happen.
The very next day, this fresh and fragile group dynamic was greatly tested and grown by the infamous Dead Creek. On the map, Dead Creek appears as a small squiggle in the grand scheme of our seven-day canoe expedition. In reality, calling it a “creek” feels like a slight exaggeration. Terms such as maze, time warp, or fire swamp (in reference to a group favorite, The Princess Bride) feel more fitting to describe the conditions of our six-hour paddle. But “paddle” doesn’t seem to be an accurate term either, as the majority of those hours were spent out of the boat, dragging our canoes over beaver dams, navigating narrow turns with brush encroaching from all angles, and swimming the canoes through tricky sections via rope. And perhaps an even more important descriptive detail: the creek wasn’t the only thing creaking that day. Our joints and sore muscles mimicked our environment.
After our drag through Dead Creek left us dead legged, we still had a two-and-a-half-mile portage awaiting, the threat of sunset looming in the near future. Yet despite our struggle and frustration, or rather, because of our struggle and frustration, our relentless work was paralleled with relentless optimism. In the words of Arcadian Roy Duffy, “These are the experiences we live for.” A true adventure comes with struggle. We struggled through the squiggle and came out the other end with a story. And lots of scrapes, bruises, and bug bites to prove it.
After our march through the dark woods, holding up our canoes and each other, a glimmering point of light could be spotted across Lake Massawepie, a symbolic indication of our lives to come in the yurt village, Arcadia. A chorus of guitars and the voices of Arcadians from the past reverberated across the water, and our paddling quickened following the sweet sound.
Our arrival was welcomed with open arms and excessive amounts of fresh watermelon provided by our predecessors, a nourishing snack for both the body and soul after the day we had just had. Juice still dripping from our mouths, we were ushered into the warm kitchen cabin where a full table of tacos awaited us. Our first taste of kitchen table chaos ensued as we sat down and began passing around plates, pots, and pans with no particular coordination. Reflecting on the spiritual experience that took place on his plate that night, Arcadian Riley Gale called it the best meal he’s had in “like five years.” Assistant Director Nate Trachte’s instinctual efforts to keep us safe in the backcountry didn’t stop after we pulled our canoes onto shore, and upon noticing Riley’s hundred-yard stare while shoveling down a burrito, Nate gently reminded him to remember to breathe. This comment, of course, made it difficult for the rest of us to breathe as we shared our first laugh of many to come at our kitchen table.
Thank you to the ADK kids of 2023 for the scrumptious meal and words of wisdom to mark the end of the canoe trip and the beginning of our lives in Arcadia. We write this while sitting on the same dock we arrived on that night. Sounds of gentle wind in the pines and a guitar being strummed in the kitchen encircle us, and just like those tacos, we are savoring every bit of it.