Issue date: 11/20/08 Section: Student Life

Lindfors paddles along the Black River in the Nunavut Province in Canada. Lindfors had to learn a new terminology in order to make her trip successful.

After coming back from her 50-day, 500-mile canoe trip to the Back River in the Nunavut province of Canada, sophomore pre-nursing major Anne Lindfors said she went to her local mall and was nauseated by a pair of pre-teen girls.

"They were freaking out and one said to the other 'you can't buy that top because I want that top,'" Lindfors said.

The emotion the two girls raised in Lindfors was a result of what her summer 2006 trip had taught her. Having worn the same outfit everyday and not having access to showers or bathrooms, Lindfors said she came to realize how appreciative people should be for the things they don't necessarily need and how often material goods are taken for granted.

The saga begins

The journey to this realization began when she was born, Lindfors said. She entered a family that loved the outdoors. Her father was actively involved in YMCA camps and had taken similar trips numerous times. Her older sister and brother also were active once they were old enough, becoming camp counselors and taking trips too.

"We could go to camp and if we liked it we could go back," said Lindfors. "But we didn't have to go if we didn't want to … it was very much an individual choice."

When she was 13 years old, Lindfors took an 11-day summer canoe trip. During the next two summers she went on a 14-day and 21-day trip. After putting in her time she was invited to go on a 30-day trip to the Northwestern province of Canada. Shortly after a group of counselors met to discuss who they felt should be invited on a 50-day trip to the Back River and who had proven they were ready to take on the demands of the trip. Lindfors, along with five other girls and a female counselor, was invited to be the first all female group to take the trip.

"You have to prove yourself on the trips that you can handle it," Lindfors said. "You have to be able to carry heavy packs and paddle a canoe all day but also prove in difficult situations you won't freak out and are able to handle yourself."

The spring break before the summer of 2006, Lindfors took a weekend to go down a river and learn all the strokes she would need on the upcoming trip. Additionally she learned the art form of the technical terms that would be used on the trip, as well as how to analyze a river and navigate it safely.

"The Back River is the furthest river north and most white water intensive," Lindfors said. "It's very realistic if you tip over you'll lose your stuff and won't find it and the temperatures will make you get hypothermia … help was six hours away … so we needed to learn."

Carry onward way

Lindfors met up with the group of girls she would be taking the trip with at a camp based out of Grand Mariais, Minn. This is where they packed their food and other accessories while getting acquainted. Lindfors said she knew some of the girls, whether it was from going on past trips with them or just having met briefly at a camp.

The group was then sent in vans on a four day drive to Yellowknife, Canada where the group met up with a float plane that eventually took them on a three hour ride to the Bailey River where the trip began, Lindfors said.

The first week was hard on everyone's body Lindfors said. First, everyone was getting used to their new diet, consisting of dehydrated foods due to the cold weather they would be experiencing. Root vegetables, cheese, salami, cans of chicken, rice, tortillas, hummus and dehydrated foods the group had made on their own were the only items they took on the trip.

Then, their bodies were not used to carrying such heavy packs. Between the seven girls, Lindfors said, they were carrying a total of 1,000 pounds of food, equipment, clothes and the canoes, among other things.

Another challenge for the girls was the fact that it never got dark where they were. The sun always shined, forcing the group to adapt to what their bodies were telling them in regards to sleep patterns.

"The last night on the trip we actually got two hours of darkness," Lindfors said. "It freaked us out and we were all like 'what is this?'"

Lindfors, however, said she came to appreciate being off time and not looking at her watch which along with the other girls' watches had been given to the camp counselor.

"We went to bed when we were tired, we ate when we were hungry," Lindfors said. "We acted based on what we felt our body needed … you don't have the constant worry of time and you can just go with the flow."

While supplies, food and clothing were limited by how much the group could feasibly carry, they were able to have an abundance of two things - time and bugs.

"You have a lot of time to just think," Lindfors said. "I would find myself thinking about the same thing for hours and then all of a sudden I would be done for the day."

The tundra was very open and bare upon first glance Lindfors said. But having time to stop and notice things, she realized there was much more going on. Sometimes she said she would just sit and think about herself and where she wanted to go because she was entering her senior year of high school and was getting into the college-planning mode. Additionally, during rough times on the trip, she would look at a picture of her recently born niece and use it as inspiration to get through those times. Homesickness hardly ever crossed her mind though, as too much was going on around her to even stop and think about that.

But one thing people likely don't think of when they hear about a trip occurring six miles from the Arctic circle, is the amount of bugs around. For the first week of the trip, Lindfors said, mosquitoes were typical but not that bad. However, the group was on the lake when the black flies began to hatch.

"We had bug masks," Lindfors said. "But they were everywhere and were constant."

While crossing a nine-mile portage, Lindfors said the hardest part was not carrying the hundred pound packs or canoes for miles, but just the amount of bugs they had to deal with.

And it only got harder. One girl on the trip got an infection on her thumb and couldn't paddle. Lindfors took it upon herself to be like a nurse and helped the counselor out in the situation. The group had a huge medicine kit, with a bottle of Vicodin, several sets of antibiotics besides the basic Tylenol, special antibacterial lotion and microbial swabs.

Then, for a portion of the trip the waves got too high. The group had to wait three days after trying to ride through them for two hours and only going the distance of a quarter mile. Days are built into the trip for rest, bad weather or something bad happening, Lindfors said, but after a while the group began to get worried they were running short on time. But the winds eased up and got better, only to bring in snow on the group in the middle of July. The next week, though, it was sunny and 70 degrees and the group got down into their sports bras and shorts just to stay comfortable.

Toward the end of the trip the group came upon an Inuit city. Essentially, Lindfors said, it was made up of a bunch of shacks, a KFC and a small airport consisting of a building and gravel runway.

"We were the big thing in town," Lindfors said. "Little kids came up wanting to play hide and seek ... everyone was friendly … it was so full of culture … we stayed up until 3 a.m. just sharing experiences and stories with them and that was very rewarding."

All good things must come to an end

Lindfors' transition back to the normal life went well, she said. Attributing this to her personality, Lindfors said she didn't need to stay in her room for any period of time to gather herself but just went back to hanging out with friends. But she said she would never forget the many things she learned on the trip and how it put things into perspective.

"I learned to just never give up with myself in life," Lindfors said. "I'll always be sitting and doing some menial work for a class and I will get so frustrated with not getting it and its like 'if I can survive in the middle of nowhere I can do this.'"

Additionally, Lindfors said she has become more tolerant and respectful of others, she realized there is nothing you do in this world that doesn't affect someone else and that she understands you have to work hard for what you want. Also, she has come to realize the typical standards for viewing people as successful is not accurate.

"My counselor, by American standards, is not successful," Lindfors said. "She never went to college but she has real life experience … if you look at her on paper it would say nothing about her success, but she is still smart, educated and nice and is so happy with life … that's what matters."

The pursuit of happiness

Lindfors is working at Camp Warren in Bloomington, Minn. during the summers and hopes to become a counselor at Menogyn after that.

This past summer, Lindfors led coeds aged 11 to 13 years old on a five-day canoeing trip. She said it was interesting to be in a leading position as compared to being led by a counselor, and trying to take step back and make the campers try new things and learn.

Some of Lindfors' friends think she is insane for doing what she does, she said. A common occurrence when she tells them what she did and what she plans on doing, is they ask "why?" and not in a good way. Sometimes, she said, she doesn't know how to answer because she enjoys it and learns from it.

"I learned more about the world and myself in those 50 days than I think I will in my four years in college," Lindfors said. "It's life experience … I find that more valuable than most things in life …when I get down on myself because I can't remember certain things and how it affects my grade, I can look at myself and know I am strong."

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