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Every step of the way Canol Youth Leadership Hike reaches seven yearsPaul Bickford Northern News Services Published Monday, Aug 27, 2012 Erb, who is now 22, said he went on the first hike as a teenager just to explore the Mackenzie Mountains on the other side of the Mackenzie River from his hometown of Norman Wells.
"What keeps me going back is I just love the program," he said. "I love the wilderness out there. I learn something every time I go."
Learning was one of the ideas behind the creation of the hike by Sahtu MLA Norman Yakeleya.
The hike is designed to develop leadership skills among youth aged 14 to 22, and show them how to work together and instill an appreciation of the natural world, while teaching about the history of the Canol Road and aboriginal people's role in its construction.
The Canol Trail stretches 355 km from Norman Wells through the Mackenzie Mountains to the Yukon border, and follows the route of the Canol Road.
Yakeleya noted the road and a pipeline were built by the U.S. Army in 1943-44 during the Second World War to bring oil and supplies from Norman Wells to a refinery in Whitehorse.
"They needed the help of the native people up in the Sahtu region who helped them and guided the military's 30,000 men through the Mackenzie Mountains," he said, noting the pipeline brought fuel for aircraft and ships in Alaska. "My relatives were involved in that effort and my grandmother talked many times about walking in the mountains and living out there. Basically, that was their home."
There are still remnants of the construction, such as barrels and old campsites, along the trail, and Yakeleya said the old pipeline can even be seen in the ground.
Seven years ago, Yakeleya happened to mention to then-premier Joe Handley that he would like to walk the Canol Trail, and Handley also said he would like to go.
"At the same time, I said I'd like to start taking young people out to have them experience one week of their life in a year how it was to live in the mountains as their grandparents did and, at the same time, learn about themselves and about living in the old ways," Yakeleya recalled.
In seven years, 43 hikers have gone on the journey. Almost all have come from the five communities of the Sahtu region, with the occasional hiker from Yellowknife.
From Aug. 10 to 15 participants from Fort Good Hope, Tulita and Norman Wells hiked the trail.
"In various areas, we walked about 12 miles within the five days," Yakeleya said.
Erb said he would recommend the hike to any young person to learn about the history of the region and the heritage of the Dene people.
However, he warned the hike can be tough, noting some participants have quit over the years because it was too difficult.
Yakeleya said youth are chosen for the hike based on their willingness to carry 21 to 25 kg in backpacks, walk up to 16 km, go through creeks, cross beaver dams, help around the camp, and learn about the history of the Sahtu's Dene and Metis people.
"This is considered in the hikers' magazines as one of the world's toughest hikes," he noted. "This is no picnic."
Yakeleya said he has organized the hike since the beginning with the help of volunteers, including Erb.
"He walked the trail with me for seven years, so now I'm going to be pushing him to start co-ordinating it," the MLA said.
Erb, who helps lead the hikers on the trail, appears more than willing to become co-ordinator next year, in addition to his job with the recreation department of the Town of Norman Wells.
"I just want to take more of an administrative role," he said. "I want to become more of a leader inside the program."
However, Yakeleya said turning over the lead role to Erb will not mean he intends to stop going on the hike every year. "It gives me an opportunity to reflect on the things I do as an MLA or as a father or as a husband, and to appreciate all that we have in our own backyard and sit back and marvel at the wonder of the mountains and know that the land, water, air is so important."
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