Yellowknife (Sep 12/03) - Cadets who recently completed a nine-day canoeing trip down the Yellowknife River could not contain their enthusiasm while describing their experience.

"It was the rapids, without a doubt," Nathan Deaton of Nova Scotia, said of his favourite part of the journey.

Ryan Vartec of Alberta liked the new friends he made.

"The actual meeting of people from across Canada and being able to bond with people from so far away," he said.

Along with Maj. Steve Daniel and six other officers, 25 senior cadets from coast to coast, age 17 and 18, underwent this training adventure.

"The whole idea is to challenge them both mentally and physically on an outdoor exercise," Daniel said.

Exercise Polaris began in Reindeer Lake, about 220 kilometres north of Yellowknife. They started at 6 a.m. each morning and would not stop until around 9 p.m.

The cadre went back in history to retrace Sir John Franklin's 1821 expedition for about 260 kilometres of his journey.

"Some of the portages we came across were extremely technical and teamwork was essential in order to get through them safely and efficiently," Daniel said.

"You were literally plowing through trees, if you weren't hopping rocks," Deaton said of the challenges the cadre encountered.

Difficult paddle

But that was not all the group faced.

"We had unbelievable tragedies," Janet Gerow, of Cape Breton, laughed.

"We had canoes flip over, we had canoes stuck, we had people slide out of the canoes."

But that did not stop these brave souls from continuing their sojourn down the river.

"The river system is designated as an advanced expert type river," Daniel said.

Evidence of other canoes who have encountered difficulties is prevalent along the river, he noted.

They navigated through Class 5 waterfalls with canyons on either side.

Added to that challenge was the fact the group brought 600 pounds of supplies.

Cadet David Sanguez of Hay River hopes to travel the river again one day.

"This is my sixth year," he said of his cadet training, which he hopes to advance.

The 17 canoes were divided into three brigades when travelling -- for a significant reason.

Because of the rapids, one group could travel through a difficult area, then assist the others.

And what valuable lessons did the group learn from this once-in-a-lifetime experience?

"Don't grab the gunnels," Gerow laughed.

Along the journey, Daniel said the group also found remnants of campsites from non-aboriginals, indicative of the age of potential artifacts found on site.

One metal can the group found could actually have been used by Franklin himself, he said. Its location was marked and relayed to Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre.