Imagine spending one week with no running water, electricity, or phone service in a tent where civilization is a 14-mile canoe trip away and tell me if you think you’d have fun.
Now imagine doing that for two years and having the responsibility of making maps and journaling about land that has never been touched before, where civilization was non-existent. Lewis and Clark did just that. After my one-week trip fishing and camping with my dad in the Quetico Provincial Park in Canada, where land was already mapped, I felt immense respect for Lewis and Clark and their company that traveled unknown waters and faced true wilderness.
My trip that was relatively short and simple compared to the great expedition that Lewis and Clark undertook was actually fun and very eye-opening. Here’s a taste of what I learned or thought about on my trip:
1. Food is more satisfying when you have to work for it
Dad and I fished for most of our protein. We had some instant pasta meals and PBJ with us in case it was a rainy day, but for the most part, fish was our main meal. Fast food seemed like a crazy concept after my trip.
2. Canoeing as a form of transport became normal
Driving out of Canada in a car going 60 mph was weird since Dad and I had only been going 5 mph every day the past week.
3. The animals became our friends
The eagles, seagulls, moose, turtles, loons, even the water beetles were friendly and fun to watch. There was no TV or people to talk to besides each other, so Dad and I enjoyed the animals in the wilderness.
4. The weather could make or break our day
One of the first things we would do when we woke up was look at the sky and make note of the wind direction. There was no app to check for the weather or a forecast on TV to watch, so the sky was our meteorologist and we planned our day based on the clouds.
5. I liked not caring how I looked every morning
Waking up each morning, not washing my face, knowing I wouldn’t get a hot shower wasn’t the worst thing in the world. I wore a hat every day and never worried about what I looked like because there were no mirrors or people to judge how I looked.
6. Sleeping on a one-inch thick mat in a two-person tent for seven days was harder than I thought (pun intended)
Near the end of our trip, I was very ready to go back to my mattress and a room with four walls that I could change comfortably in. How did Lewis and Clark sleep well for those two years?
7. I thought paddling in a canoe for 14 miles straight to get to our campsite was more difficult than running a 5k
I can’t imagine what it was like for Lewis and Clark and their group to canoe long distances for two years straight.
8. Seeing the sun set was like seeing an award-winning movie
There was nothing more beautiful or more emotional than watching the sunset across the lake with the rugged Canadian tree line silhouetted in the yellow and blue sky. It topped any movie that Brad Pitt or Leonardo DiCaprio has ever starred in.
9. I really missed drinking tap water
Drinking my first bottle of store-bought water when we got back to civilization was like drinking gold. During the week we had to collect lake and rain water and treat it because we found no fresh spring water.
10. A week without a bathroom was interesting
Using a flushing toilet beats using latrines in the wilderness any day.
There's plenty of inconveniences and challenges that come with living in the wilderness, but there's an odd comfort and satisfaction when you are living and breathing the outdoors the way I did for seven days. I really can't imagine what it was like for Lewis and Clark, what sort of good and bad they came across in their uncharted wilderness.
I'm excited to experience all ten of these things I have explained again someday in the future.
Who wants to go with me?
