These are excerpts from a few of the unsolicited letters that participants on our wilderness adventure trips sent to us after their trips.
Wilderness Adventures.CA
I believe I was provided with the best guidance, instruction and equipment available. I also feel that I could not have been in safer hands nor have been given a better opportunity to achieve new canoeing and camping skills. You created the opportunity and means for us to challenge ourselves and inspired the desire and effort required to succeed at many tasks and burdens that may have been a bit more difficult that expected.
It was a pleasure spending those few days with you and the others.
I am seriously considering the 3 day Georgian Bay Kayak excursion for next year – without the fishing rod.
Thanks again
experience. Our guide was a wonderful resource of knowledge, skills, strenght and devotion. Truly someone we could count on and look to for guidance and everything else we needed. She made our trip. I want to thank you also for providing the food and equipment which were very much appreciated. Your organization seems to have thought of every detail.
Now, we’re interested in doing another canoe trip (Algonquin Park) with you..
The best thing about tomorrow is telling my friends about the wonderful time had on this trip.
This was the first time that my whole family (my wife, 17 year old daughter and 15 year old son) went camping together. In the past, I have always found the thought of getting everything organized to be too daunting. Thanks to your experience and organization, all we had to do was show up with our bedrolls and enthusiasm.
We also enjoyed our group, especially the guide who had just the right attributes to keep everyone happy. He was great with the teenagers (not an easy task) and kept them engaged throughout the trip. Without our blackberries, cell phones and video games, we all managed to relax and take great satisfaction from the outdoor life. The entire experience was regenerative for everyone.
I am interested in signing up again this year for the 6 day Algonquin Park trip starting on August 19.
We also extend our gratitude to you who makes this all happen and your team and for all of their hard work and delicious lunch. Please extend our thanks to all of them.
We will recommend your expedition to all and hope to participate again next year.
You are such a wonderful guide that made me feel safe as well as your fascinating knowledge about nature and camping have kept me alive and enthusiastic throughout the trip. Therefore, the extraordinary three days of my life was due to the unleashing unexpected side of me which I know that I have always had.
I would also like to express my appreciation for the vast amount of knowledge that you bestowed upon your students. I thoroughly enjoyed not only learning about kayaking, but the information about the tents, sleeping bags, hoisting of edible products, and the wildlife.
Despite the fact that you are a visual teacher, and I am an auditory/kinesthetic learner it was still a memorable experience for me, and again I would like to reiterate that I appreciate your patience. I gleaned far more knowledge than I had anticipated.
You have wet my appetite with this wilderness adventure and it is an experience I hope to repeat in the near future.
Regards,
Jeff, our guide, was instrumental in making this trip the huge success that it was. He worked tirelessly from morning to night, cooking, cleaning, setting up pulleys, planning meals, patiently teaching us how to survive in the wild, teaching us to paddle and portage, repeatedly answering the same questions, taking the time to demonstrate and explain. He is an exceptional young man with great leadership, wisdom and patience. I wanted to send a special thank you to Jeff and to let him know that I am grateful to him for helping me to accomplish one of my life goals. I know that I could not have done it without his encouragement and guidance.
Regards,
Please keep sending us updates on the tours that you are organizing: I am sure we will participate again, hopefully very soon!
By the way, I must say that I was very surprised to see this type of knife in a canoe trip in the Algonquin: this brand is very old and is from the French Alps and I did not know this type of knifes even made it out of the France… I am glad to see they made it to “Wilderness Adventures” !!!
Thank you again for a great trip
The location was very attractive and the campsites well chosen. Sites had jumping rocks for swimming, beaches, lots of room for all five tents rare in other parts of the park. The layover day at Misty Lake was good for lessons. We lucked into good weather too. Sighting the moose and a calf, hawks, ravens, herons, snapping turtle, and muskrat added to the new experience for the international visitor. You can’t guarantee it but again the choice of location sure helps.
The equipment was excellent, top of the line tents easy to assemble, light kevlar canoes and the air mattress idea worked better than I expected. The dry bags worked well and the barrels kept our food cool with the wet towel method. Some of the food selected was perfect providing a balanced meal for a variety of international tastes.
I want to emphasize I really enjoyed the trip, and realize there are some logistics which make the trip the challenge it is. Barry contributed significantly in all our canoe tripping knowledge and paddling technique and I am sure he will be a great asset in the future.
Thanks again for providing a fun summer escape.
The beauty and tranquility of Georgian Bay go a long way to ease the frustrations and tensions of living in an urban setting. I will always miss the Bay –it’s truly a unique environment, and one I feel privileged to have been part of for a week. The knowledge, skills, and many competencies of your guide team made the trip all the more enjoyable. My best wishes to all Wilderness Adventures Canada staff who made my Georgian Bay paddling experience possible.
All the best and thanks again!
Thank you so much for being such a lovely partner during this awesome canoe trip.
I know that we are now in a far better position for our upcoming French River trip than we were before the weekend. This is in terms of our ability to manoeuver in moving water, to read the complexities of a current and also in terms of what type of equipment we should be using for our trip. On top of it all we had a fantastic time.
Thank you very much for making such a great expience available to us.
I specially want to thanks Dave (our guide) for the wonderful days we spend together and all I learn from him. Also I like to let Paul McCormick know what a special guide Dave is, and the great impression and satisfaction I have from your company. Right now I’m planning my next adventure with your company. Hopefully for the summer of 2005.
(Adermin then wrote back after his second trip with us to say):
Just want you to know that the Tatshenshini River Trip was the most incredible and fantastic experience I ever had. Everything was very well organized, the food just impressive and delicious, the guides very well trained and knowledgeable and the fun never ending.
Surely I will be counting with your company for future adventures.
In only a few days, I feel we became good friends. The ORCKA certification was a bonus, and the memories will last a lifetime. I can’t wait until my next kayaking adventure. I know you will be seeing us next year for the 5 day Kayak trip! I want to do the DogSledding with my kids as well – I’ll contact you in the fall.
Yours Truly,
Thanks
The week was so well planned and we felt so well fed (the food was delicious) and comfortable the whole trip! We learnt so much about canoeing and camping and had so much fun along the way!
A great deal of the enjoyment we owe to your guide. He is a genuinely nice guy and was so patient and friendly with us…especially when most of us had never set foot in a canoe before or even put up a tent!! His breakfasts and dinners were delicious and we looked forward to our evening meal and chit chat after a day of canoeing and portage!! 🙂
It was one of our favourite holidays and we would definitely recommend the trip to our friends and family!
Thanks again, and here’s hoping we can come back one day and do another trip.
Thank you as well for beginning to show me the Eskimo rescue.
I will keep you in mind for the spring sessions, and am considering doing one of your dog sled trips this winter (Meg and I have wanted to do this for awhile now)
Meanwhile, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you….Grinning Flatwater Kayaker, Level One. 🙂
I would really enjoy another trip with you next year, and I will highly recommend you to my friends.
Thanks again,
We are now looking to have another canoe trip on the Yukon next year, during our honeymoon in mid August.
That was our first experience (hired more than once), when my son was barely seven years old. I’d recommend his services to anyone who knows value for dollars (Good Value, On Time, High Integrity).”
Our guide was amazing, very personable and did a great job keeping us busy and active. Monica and I had a wonderful time! We were taught many amazing wilderness skills and cant wait to try some ourselves!
The tour was both challenging and fun and the meals were plentiful and delicious !
We had a great time and may try the 6 day trip next!!
Thanks again and keep up the great work!
Thanks again for the trip. Have a great winter, and I hope to see you again..
A major part of the success and enjoyment of the trip was our two guides. They are two knowledgeable, skillful, and joyful individuals who made it their priority that we have a fun and memorable experience of the Yukon. We cannot thank them enough for their warm and professional approach.
The guides were always “on.” Safety was number one, whether it was a bear spray talk before venturing off on a hike or ensuring that we knew how to handle a canoe in fast water. They were extremely organized, from the details of how to prepare for the day’s adventure, to food preparation and cleanup. Every meal was a new idea and delicious. We ate well.
The two guides also brought a level of personal care and familiarity, allowing the eight of us to bond quickly. Their personalities were a great combo: different in nature, always compatible, a terrific balance of humour and complimentary toward each other and their “guests.” It was important to them that each of us was having a good time and getting the most out of the trip. Drifting down the river, rafted together, listening to a reading about the area or some stories about the areas we were passing.
It was a truly wonderful wilderness adventure.
Everything was just awesome!!! It was very enjoyable to get involved into camp live and take care of the dogs, who are so hard working and very loveable creatures. I was quite surprised how much they love to cuddle. We are in fact considering to adopt one of them…
The trip was well organized and food was excellent and plenty at all times. The night in the heated tent was warm and cozy, almost too warm for me at times, but just about right for others;-)
Last but not least the weather was in our favour with cristal blue skies on Saturday, amazing stars at night, best enjoyed from the middle of a frozen lake….
Thanks again and please pass our thanks on to the guide and your team