On Monday September 9^th, the 2013-2014 Discovery 10 class embarked on their first of many outdoor trips. To kick off the year, the disco group went on a five-day canoeing trip in the Sayward Loop on Vancouver Island.

After Leaving St. George’s at 1:00 P.M and travelling to the canoe loop, they arrived at Morton Lake, their first camping spot, at around 7:30 P.M. The evening was concluded with setting up tarps for shelter, storing away gear, and dinner.

On the morning of September 10^th, the group met with their instructors to pack up gear and load the canoes. Then they reviewed the paddle strokes that they had learned back in grade nine. With those skills in mind the group left Morton Lake and headed towards Campbell Lake. After a long day of paddling and carrying their packs around, they couldn’t have reached Campbell Lake sooner. Being exhausted, they quickly set up shelter for the night, ate dinner, and fell asleep to the sounds of frogs croaking in the darkness.

At 6:00 A.M on September 11^th, the group was all packed up and eating breakfast. The next stop on their trip was Surprise Lake. The weather was sunny and windy. After paddling all day, 2.3 kilometers remained in their journey as the evening came upon them. It seemed almost impossible for them to carry their canoes out of the water once they arrived at Surprise Lake. It was approximately 8:30 P.M by the time they arrived at the campground. At that point, they quickly set up tarps for the nights.

The next morning was a challenging one for the group. One of their instructors had fallen sick, thus was very weak and needed constant care. After some travelling time, they had reached Twin Lake where they were able to use a satellite phone to organize an evacuation and bring in a replacement instructor. While they waited for aid to arrive, they had lunch, went for a swim in the lake, and relaxed on the beach. Once they got their sick instructor out safely and their replacement in, they decided to have an early dinner at 3:00 and try to cover as much ground as they could while there was still sunlight. They reached their rest stop at 6:15 and fell asleep under the tree branches and the shooting stars.

On the last day of their trip, the group was up at 5:00 A.M. They ate a quick meal, loaded up the canoes and were on the water at 6:20 A.M as the sunlight just began to emerge. They paddled and arrived at their end point at 7:00 A.M.  They boarded the bus and arrived at the ferry terminal at 11:45. They arrived back at the school at around 2:30, they cleaned out equipment and returned signed out gear. They were dismissed at 5:00 and returned home to their comfy beds and their friends and family.