Temagami Essay Experience

“A change in perspective”
Alisa Jiwani

The 2009 winter Temagami trip was one which provided new experiences for me. I remember when my family and I were talking and planning about how over the long weekend we were going to go somewhere warm and spend time with each other, but instead of sitting in the warm sun, I recall walking around shopping for winter clothing. Who would have guessed? This was my long weekend, shopping for clothes to ‘keep me alive’ in the cold, harsh conditions of winter in negative thirty degree weather.
Initially, before heading off on my trip, I was really excited. I had never been to Temagami in the winter time and I had never build or slept in a quinzhee before. This was something I was really looking forward to. I knew I was ready to go and that the previous weekend’s worth of shopping would do me some good. I remember that whole night, before I left, I couldn’t sleep, even though it was going to be the last night sleeping in my bed for a week, I couldn’t sleep. The bus ride the next morning was approximately six hours or so and yet seeing all the snow and hearing about how cold it was outside and how cold it was going to be up in Temagami, I was still excited.
When I stepped out of the bus I felt the cold chill of the atmosphere as if the wind itself turned and purposely flew towards me. I know by the time we were half way through our ten kilometre walk, my whole perspective changed. I still felt that this experience was going to be a blast being up there and learning new things for winter camping but at that same time I realized that it was going to be a challenge as well.
I’m not the greatest outdoor person and would rarely do these kinds of activities regularly or voluntarily, unless there was a reason. Through the entire trip, I think, overall, we walked over 70 kilometres. We walked an estimate of twelve kilometres a day on the thick, white, bare, frozen ice. This I never thought I could do. Therefore, this was definitely an accomplishment and something I can be proud of.
Throughout the remainder of the trip there were many events which were extremely fun but which brought a challenge to me in many ways. One example, would be building a quinzhee. This was a really fun activity and something I never thought I would enjoy. But, sleeping in a quinzhee for a night was the challenge. Yet, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, who knows when I’ll get an opportunity to do this again. Although I know I didn’t sleep more than half an hour the whole night, this night and trip overall, I will never forget. It was the coldest night I had to sleep through in my life. In the morning, my toes were frozen and trying to keep them warm with my boots was no help at all. My boots were as frozen as miniature icebergs. The challenge after melting the ice and loosening up the frozen bits of the boots, was putting them on in the end.
When I returned home, I realized how much I actually appreciated the challenging parts of the trip. It changed my attitude and as I reminisced about the entire trip, I realized that it made me push myself to my highest limits. I thought I would come back never wanting to live in or be near the winter weather or snowy days again, but on the other hand I think that I might just change my mind once again and look forward to another Temagami trip in the future. The winter Temagami trip 2009 is one I will never forget!