Neils Christensen
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 01/03) - The Army Cadets are preparing to re-live part of the Sir John Franklin Expedition of 1821.

The group consists of 25 cadets from all across Canada, including one from the North. For nine days they will canoe 260 kilometres, which is a small portion of Franklin's journey in the North.

Sgt. David Sanguez, from Hay River, said he is looking forward to the trip.

"It's going to be a great adventure," he said.

"I've already met a lot of great people," he added.

The group was in Yellowknife Aug. 22-27, preparing and training in canoes for their journey.

"This weekend has gone by so fast. It's hard to believe that we will be leaving soon. It's been a lot of work," said Sanguez.

As part of their training the cadets learned canoeing techniques, basic outdoor survival and dealing with wild animals.

Amanda Stanley, a cadet from Manuels, Nfld., said the training has been a big learning experience for her. The most important thing she's learned is working as a team.

"If you don't all work together, you all suffer," she said.

A challenge the cadets are facing is transporting all their equipment down the river. The teams are split up into three groups and each group is self-contained with food and equipment to last them the entire journey.

"There's a lot of stuff we have to pack. We have to make sure we have everything we need," said cadet Matthew Dumas, from Winnipeg.

"This expedition has been a lot of mental preparation," he added.

The trip is not only an adventure for the youth, but it is also be a learning experience for the group.

On Aug. 27 they started at Greenstocking Lake and are making their way down the Yellowknife River to Prosperous Lake.

One of the essentials of the trip is Franklin's journals. They will use the journals to learn about the history of the area during their trek.

"This is going to be a great experience for the kids," said major, Steven Daniel, officer in charge of the expedition.