The School of Wendigo Lake Expeditions

It took about 20 years to pull-off a recent trip to Wendigo Lake Expeditions.  On Tuesday March 21 I traveled there with six students and 2 friends.  The story started way back.

I was teaching at Regina Pacis Catholic Secondary school in Toronto--about 20 years ago.  My friend Bernie Zweerman and I were asked by the principal to bring a group of kids to Bark Lake for a week.  I jumped at the chance.  Bark Lake at the time, it has since been privatized, was a government outdoor education facility.  This was my first introduction to adventure based counseling and the use of the wilderness and various physical obstacles such as a high-ropes course to teach and improve or support therapy.  I've been working at it ever since.

On Tuesday I visited Wendigo for a day-program with six students and two friends.  Eric Crowther and Marg Goodwin are two Masters Level therapists (they work with HANDS) run a cognitive behavioural therapy program for anxious teens.  Two years ago they invited me to join their group and help out with the adventure activities and pedagogy of teaching cbt to teens.  They are two fantastic people.

This event was special for me.  I have known for quite some time that experiential education and adventure therapy are effective in creating positive relationships between teachers and students and fosters an environment where learning happens.  It is difficult to bring adventure into a traditional classroom and be effective.  You can go on a hike, but what is really happening?  To be effective the activity has to have a lot of intentional programming involved, and that takes time, talent and a team of people to carry the load.

Working with Eric and Marg has been the coolest thing I have done in a while.  They are talented.  They know their stuff.  Their cbt group lasts for 18 weeks--time enough to work with the kids.  After our first year together we agreed that year 2 would start with an adventure and end with an adventure.  Day 1 was a hike to the Canadore Trail system, and the last day was our trip to Wendigo.  We shared our ideas at the Canadian Adventure Therapy Symposium this past October.

I have had the pleasure and honour really, to bring students to Wendigo for about 15 years.  I have brought numerous high school and university students to Wendigo for outdoor adventures.  Steve Glass runs the show and he has been generous and helpful in helping me learn about what his company does so well.  The two staff assigned to work with us on this trip were Jason Prichard and Jeremie Carreau.  They are rock stars.  "They were brilliant.  They listened, were empathetic, and integrated the FEAR plan," said Eric.

The day was perfect.  The weather was sunny and warm--about 23 degrees.  We met in North Bay and travelled down in two vehicles.  The ride in was spectacular.  Fog rolled in across the road in seveal places.  We arrived at 10 am right on time.  Jason and Jeremie were ready for us.  We started with setting goals for the day and a few ice-breakers for fun.  The kids were awesome.  We progressed through some trust activites and worked our way across the low-ropes and eventually the high-ropes course.  The day ended with a terrific dinner, a cake to celebrate and a cool debrief.  Everyone was awesome.

Finally.  A super team made up of 1 teacher, 2 therapists, 2 facilitators, fantastic research-based programming, the wilderness, adventure activities, and a group of kids (some earning a high school credit using the provincial eLearning system).

That is school.

Ice-Fishing, Lac Desert (Mar 15 - 18)

I'm not one to describe myself as an ice-fisherman.  I've gone ice-fishing a number of times--always had fun, but I wouldn't say it is an activity on my winter "to do" list.

It is now.

Lac Desert is east of North Bay and a little north.  It's geography and topography is similar to the Pine, Turtle, Talon lakes area.  There are several beaches along its shoreline, there are also cliffs to jump off--which makes for great swimming and shoreline lunch adventures in the summer.

My brother Kelly came up with the idea to put a trip together to Lac Desert where brother Dennis and cousin Bob Milling have cottages.  It is an isolated area and the tall Pine trees and geography remind me of Lake Temagami and more locally Pine, Turtle, and Talon lakes.  A trip in the winter to Lac Desert was not a new idea, but it was an idea from the Captain and he came up with it while at the funeral for Mike O.  "What are we waiting for--let's do this."

Not long after the date was set, Kelly and I started searching for snowmobiles.  The trek in from the logging road is about 12 k and Bob's 4-wheeler on tracks was necessary but not sufficient.  After carefully talking it over with our spouses, we settled on two economical and rational machines.  Enough said.

Kelly and I left North Bay on Thursday morning at 7 am.  The weather was mild--a little drizzle.  It had been raining for a couple of days so the snow was nearly gone.  The snow slowly disappeared as we moved east and then north.

The Gatineau River as we headed north on Hwy 105.  There were ice bergs floating down stream.

We arrived at the pick-up point around 1:20 pm.  Bob was there to meet us.  He had his four-wheeler connected to a sleigh and loaded with fishing gear and equipment.  We loaded up Kelly's sleigh and headed off to Lac Larche for our first fishing adventure.

A: Pick-up point, B: Lac Larche fishing hole 1, C: Lac Larche fishing hole 2,  D: the cottage, E: original planned location for fishing, cancelled due to ice conditions. 

The snow on the trail was about a foot deep in some places but it was granular and slippery.  This made for tricky sledding on the trail.  There was no snow on the lakes, and the shoreline was slush or thin ice.  On the way in, Kelly's sled--towing a heavy sleigh got stuck.  Bob was able to winch him out and we made our way to Lac Larche.

We fished at two locations. Point B was 20 metres from the trail.  The ice was about 8 inches thick and there was about 3 feet of slush near the shore.  No problem for the "Plow King's" atv or the sleds.

While Bob and I cut holes Kelly set-up some lines.  We were fishing in minutes.  Not long after, Bob scouted down the shore and came back and suggested we try further down (Point C on the Map).  Here the ice was about 1.5 feet thick.  We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery.

Around 4:30 pm the clouds started getting darker and we decided to pack up and head to Bob's cottage.  The trail from the edge of the lake rises steeply in a short distance--about 15 m then turns sharply to the left.  Kelly was able to get up and out with his sled and sleigh, but Bob ground-in part way up the trail. He was pulling a heavy sleigh.  We disconnected it and we were able to connect his winch to a tree and he hauled himself up and out.  Once turned around, he connected to the sleigh and hauled it up.  We were then on our way.  During the 30 minute delay, the warm rain began and stayed with us on the 10 k ride to the cottage.

A comfortable evening at Loon Lodge.

The cottage was warm, dry, and comfortable.  Soon a roaring fire was burning and plans were under way for dinner.

A view from the porch with Arrow in the foreground.

The main beach at Lac Desert.

Friday morning started with hot coffee and a delicious breakfast.  Plans were underway to meet Brad and Dennis at the pick up point.  We loaded up the sleighs and started down the trail with Arrow for another day of ice-fishing.

Dennis and Bradley arrive around 10:30 am.  We were concerned that they might not make it through the mud at the beginning of the road, but the Mercedes had no trouble.  We celebrated with a ham and cheese and started to our next lake for fishing--Lac Poeil.

Bradley and Ardie, "Is this the way to the cottage?"

"... whose idea... onto the ice?"

The Captain checks the ice, Bob du Lac hauls the sleigh.

Bobbie showing how it is done.

B and the Captain, hauling out.

My snowshoes helped keep my feet dry on the ice.  Nice colours in the photo.

The trail back to the cottage was traversed by a stream being held back by a beaver dam.

Back at the cottage and time to relax.

Chill'n on Bob's porch.

Dennis

The Captain

Bradley

Bob du Lac

Arrow, Smooch, Ardie.

Fantastic dinners at Loon Lodge.

Luke and Gabe's cabin.

Sun in the Pines.

The main lodge.

Dennis, Smooch, and Arrow enjoy the view from Pine Lodge.

First fire of the year at Pine.

The boys doing breakfast.

Spring is around the corner. 

Clockwise from the red hat.  The Captain, Bob du Lac, B, Dennis, The Teacher.

On the final day out we loaded everyone and everything and three dogs into and onto the 2 sleds, atv and 2 sleighs.  It took about 70 minutes to cover the apx 12 k to the road.  A beautiful warm day--about 17.  Fantastic journey out and a great ride home with Kelly.

Special thanks to cousin Bob Milling--the ultimate host.  He shared his cottage, atv, fishing gear, food, and stories about family and friends.  

Looking forward to my next trip to Lac Desert.

Kelly has already began scouting out a sled route from here to there.

All good.