2008 Woodie Awards
Against the current
Two MSU freshmen proved doubters wrong during the journey of a lifetime
by Nia Jonesz
Issue date: 8/28/08
Section: Campus News
|
Instead, the 18-year-olds had raging rapids, navigation and polar bears on their minds. Such hazards were real possibilities on the boys' 49-day canoe expedition, which took them from Minneapolis to the Arctic Ocean.
The idea for the adventure came to the boys in seventh grade when they read Eric Sevareid's "Canoeing with the Cree" and decided to follow the explorer's 2,200-mile journey. But it would be years before their dreams were considered anything more serious than youthful optimism.
When Sean's parents initially expressed doubt over his plans, the determined 12-year-old told his parents he would be 18 by the time of the trip, so there was nothing they could do about it. Since then, Sean and Colton have responded to any skeptics with the same steadfast defiance.
"One of the biggest things that fueled us to keep going was people telling us we wouldn't or couldn't do it," Sean said.
The summer after their sophomore year at Chaska High School, the boys set off on a 150-mile practice trip on the Mississippi River. The following summer they took on a 450-mile voyage from the Lake of the Woods to Lake Superior.
The next year, they really got serious.
Sean and Colton took their required classes early to graduate high school a quarter ahead of their classmates. The next few months were spent scrupulously researching, packing and planning for lessons that couldn't be learned in a classroom. As the boys finished preparations, media caught on to their plans and gave the boys a final reason to follow through.
"During our senior year the Chaska Herald got in touch with us and right there it was one of those moments where there was no turning back after somebody had written a story on us," Sean said.
Friends joked the boys were going to die. They were warned of everything from unpredictable weather to polar bears. But on April 18, loved ones were forced to acknowledge the true gravity of a childhood dream.
"We weren't frightened at first because it was like a little kid's plan or dream of what they were going to do," said Colton's mother Cathy. "I thought they'd never follow through."
"Reality set in when the canoe turned the corner down the river."
For the following four weeks, Sean and Colton paddled almost constantly, often for 12 hours a day and stopping only to eat and sleep.
Meanwhile, back at home, the boy's parents found sleep hard to come by.
"They were gone 49 days and I didn't sleep for 49 days," said Cathy. "You couldn't call and say 'how are you?' and even if you could, you couldn't go and fix the problem whatever it was. Being a parent, you want to do that but you can't."
At first the boys kept in contact with the mainland via cell phones that got service in small towns throughout Minnesota and the Dakotas. As they got to Canada, calls to family became increasingly sporadic.
It was in Canada that Sean and Colton faced one of the greatest challenges of the trip-Lake Winnipeg. According to lakewinnipeg.org, the lake is the 10th largest body of freshwater in the world. But it wasn't the size of the lake that frightened the canoe team- it was the conditions.
"We were facing around 500 miles of rapids with absolutely no rapids experience," said Sean. "In some of those rapids we'd be going sideways or backwards in the canoe, barely missing rocks and literally just a few inches from death in freezing water."
Despite the near-death experiences, both boys were quick to credit Lake Winnipeg with providing some of the greatest moments of the trip as well.
"We saw some really great sunsets over the water [on Lake Winnipeg] because it's basically like an ocean and you can only see one shore at a time," Sean said.
Colton admitted the boys didn't spend much time talking during the trip because "you run out of stuff to talk about," but upon finally accomplishing their goal they were truly speechless.
"The most memorable point was the last time we were really on the river," Colton said.
"When we paddled out from behind an island and first saw the ocean it was just overwhelming. I was experiencing so many different emotions at once."
Interest in the boys' trip didn't end with the expedition. The boys came home to interviews with newspapers and television stations, a "welcome home" party sponsored by Recreational Equipment Inc. (attended by more than 350 people), an award from the Chaska mayor and the honor of serving as grand marshals and presenting at Chaska River City Days.
Though it has been barely more than a month since the boys returned, they're already making plans for their next adventure.
Their former expedition was an idea come to life as the result of a book Sean's Dad passed on to him. Their next planned journey comes from an inadvertent mention by Colton's mother.
"We were talking about doing a different trip but in passing my mom mentioned hearing about some race in Alaska," Colton said. "We looked into it and decided to do that instead."
"Some race" turned out to be the Yukon 1000, the longest canoe and kayak race in the world.
The race's Web site, yukon1000.com, boasts 7 to 12 days of 18 hours solid paddling to complete the 1,000 miles. Large black print at the top of the page reads, "Do you really want to do this?"
Sean and Colton's unanimous response; "Why not?"
Nia Jonesz is the Reporter news editor
Be the first to comment on this story