A Trip on the Grand

A Trip on the Grand
Cambridge-Dunnville
Brenda Waltham

The weather could not have cooperated more with Dunnville Secondary School’s Wilderness Trailblazers Class last week. The class experienced three perfect days for their last big trip, a kayak down the Grand River from Cambridge to Dunnville.
On Tuesday, May 31, the Trailblazers class took a bus to Cambridge, where they were to be dropped off, but not picked back up. The group was to kayak their way home on the lovely Grand River. They paddled for six hours a day under the hot sun, carrying all necessary equipment for three days. The first day they portaged in the beautiful town of Paris, and then continued on the Grand to their final destination for the day. Their first overnight stop was Brant Conservation Area, part of the G.R.C.A. Because it was a three day trip, the students and teachers had to carry with them their sleeping gear, food, and clothes. Some of the kayakers stayed in tents, others slept outdoors. After six more hours on Wednesday, they came to their second overnight stop at the Caledonia Hunters and Anglers. At night the team set up camp, cooked dinner, and had many laughs and good times around the camp fire. Because the trip was so enduring, Wilderness Trailblazer’s Teacher, Mr. McCormack, gave the class the option to be picked up in Cayuga or to carry on. Only a few stayed to persevere through the slow current from Cayuga to Dunnville. One of those students was Jill Mowat. “I am very glad that I decided to stick with the kayak trip until the end. It is an amazing challenge that I would probably not have done outside of school. It felt great to accomplish such a long and physically demanding journey. I absolutely loved this trip,” Mowat reflected. The small group of kayakers that stuck it out returned Thursday afternoon, tired and burnt, but also appreciative of the trip as a whole.