Eb's Source for Adventure

Paddling My Own Canoe, The Story Of Algonquin Park’s First Female Guide, pub 2003 : by Esther S Keyser.

Paddling My Own Canoe captures one woman’s passion for exploring wilderness, in her canoe. Born in 1915, Esther was introduced to paddling as a girl of 10 at Camp Newatah, Algonquin park, Ontario. With her camp experience and involvement in girl scouts, the fuse is lit and she spends the next 75 years paddling as a girl, as a guide, as a mom raising her family to share her passions, and well into her later years. Despite living in New York State she makes the pilgrimage year after year up to the Algonquin, eventually leasing property on Smoke Lake to develop a family cabin as a base to which she would retreat to for a lifetime.

There are several lines of interest to this book. One narrative is that of a young woman who knows her capabilities (thank goodness for the camp and scouts for educating young women to their capabilities) and her own mind. As a young lady of 19 she starts guiding trips in the Algonquin for a number of seasons. Bowing to family pressure to follow norms and be respectable, she accepts a marital match. But her husband has no patience for her summer disappearance to the north - she should be an ornament to his arm on business socials. She realizes that this is no life for her and separates from him at the age of 23, causing much family concern and disapproval. But despite her personal misgivings - she makes the break and then lives a fulfilling life as a result. Esther finds a partner/soul mate who is enraptured with wilderness life as she is, and they spend their lifetime raising a family where summers are all about life experiencing the outdoors.

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