Our office recently took a Friday off to enjoy a 22 km canoe trip down the Grand River, starting at Kaufman Flats and finishing at the Freeport bridge. It was great to become reacquainted with the river, especially considering our work’s relation to the Grand River Watershed.
Just over halfway into the journey, we stopped for a picnic at the Stanley Park Optimist Natural Area, where we enjoyed a potluck of watermelon, charcuterie-style meats, doughnuts, chips and lemonade.
Numerous impressive birds were spotted along the way, including kingfishers, red-tailed hawks, great blue herons and even several great egrets.
The paddle wasn’t without challenges though, as the relatively low water levels left several of us beached on the rocks at a few locations. But with some ingenuity and teamwork, we were always quickly on our way.
Two of our team - Viktoriia and Mitali experienced their first time in a canoe. Here’s what Viktoriia had to say: “What the eyes fear, the hands do. I was prepared to either go overboard or sail backward halfway, but by the end of our trip, I truly felt like a professional, thanks to the friendly river flow, great weather, and the support of my team! I wonder if everyone else enjoyed steering in their dreams afterwards too…"
For fun, we logged the trip on the fitness activity app Strava, which showed that we averaged about 5 km/h for the journey.
It was a Grand adventure.
