MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Summer 2019

114 BACK PAGE words & photo :: Colin Field One e-mail, two phone calls and multiple rounds of high-fives concluded the planning stages of our 2018 Dad Trip. Three dads, six kids, three canoes and three paddleboards would spend four days and three nights paddling down the French River. What could go wrong? On the drive to the put-in, hours after passing the last bastion of civilization, conversation went something like this: “Do we really have enough food for nine people? Maybe. Is there enough stove fuel? Hopefully. Did we pack sunscreen? I think so, but I’m not sure where it is. Do we have enough beer? For sure. Definitely.” Once we were on the water, committed to being out in the wild and heading downstream, there were some inevitable hiccups. Like when one of the dads cracked a hole in his canoe down the very first set of rapids. Or when that same dad realized he hadn’t brought the tent that was supposed to sleep five of the trippers. There was the inflatable paddleboard, an essential part of our flotilla, that had a hole in it. Or there were the Big Pine Rapids that held each and every one of us underwater for about 15 seconds longer than we were comfortable with. There was the jar of salsa that was accidentally used as spaghetti sauce (surprisingly gross). And there was our stick of butter: a melted pile of goo at the bottom of an old bread bag. We used filthy fingers as butter knives. Plus there was the time six children witnessed the brutal murder of two fish under the unskilled hands of one of the dads (they still talk about it to this day). The kids were pretty good at keeping tally of these mishaps. “That’s seven strikes Daddio,” they would yell happily. I can’t remember what number they got to. But you know what? I’ve rarely had so much fun. We played in the rapids, had campfires, jumped off cliffs, and dozed in the sun. It was the purest, honest-to-goodness most wholesome fun you can imagine. For everyone. The kids laughed and played all day long. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: kids thrive in nature. Throw them in it for a couple straight days and you’ll see the grumpiest kid come to life. You’ll watch them make new friends, be helpful, kind and generous. You’ll see them behave like good human beings. It’s fantastic. Pretty much the same thing happened to the dads too; we forgot about daily responsibilities, honey-do lists and financial struggles. We simply spent time with our friends and our kids and focused on the task at hand. On the moment. What did the kids learn from these parental shenanigans? I’m not sure. They learned Tuck Tape will fix a broken canoe. They learned that salsa is not a substitute for spaghetti sauce. But I think the most important lesson they learned was that the wilderness is not out to get you. If anything, it’s the exact opposite; the wilderness provides challenges and solutions. It provides peace-of-mind, an escape from the digital world and a chance to reconnect. It’s like a reset button for all of us. And as the dad trip of 2018 proved, you don’t even need to be prepared to get out into the wild; you just always need a Plan B. And a Plan C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K... THE APPEAL OF THE “DAD TRIP” Throw them in nature for a couple straight days and you’ll see the grumpiest kid come to life.