Canoeing the Suwannee River is Life-changing for Camp Duncan's Girls

It all starts with an idea. Then every plan made begins to feed the dream. The excitement grows as the time draws near to the long-awaited excursion—canoeing the Suwannee.

The girls at Camp Duncan chose to paddle 225 miles down the Suwannee River. Trips present amazing opportunities for Chiefs and campers alike. Of course, there are some doubts such as:

“Can I handle being so far away from my family?”“Will I be able to paddle all those miles?”“How can I trust God to help us stay sane or help me treat my group well?”

What we often don’t ask ourselves is:

“How will I grow on this trip?”“Who will I be when it is completed?”

One never thinks about planning ways to grow in life, especially when life is hard and uncomfortable. At Camp, tears are shed, laughs are shared, and hard conversations undertaken while humbly surrendering to growth. It is about character building.

How much time goes into being ready for such an excursion? For some, it has been months, some several weeks, and for a few it will take actually living out the experience on the river. God gracefully puts us in certain situations only when we are ready to endure the challenge. When His time is right, even when we are not always excited about the possibilities, we face the transformation He desires for us.

Trip Purpose and Preparation

The first thing the campers and Chiefs do when planning a trip such as this is write good goals. It can be hard. The goals take shape and the trip is driven by purpose:

“To take initiative to learn about the trees around us, to become more united as a group, and to learn how to put ourselves under our authorities.”

The Suwannee River is “The River” at Camp. It is a river that many campers and chiefs have paddled and all love to share stories about. It is probably due to all the springs on the river. While the river starts in the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia, there are many springs. The stories of clear springs draw many groups back to the Suwannee every few years.

This year, the Pioneer Group decided they would take their paddles to the task in February and early March, an outlier to the norm of paddling it in the summer.

By the time a group begins the journey, they are ready. They have practiced skills and taken shorter river trips. They have researched about the river, planned meals, made lists for gear to pack. They are ready to begin paddling. The group isn’t just doing this trip for fun, it has taken hard work and they have purpose and goals.

Challenges and Encounters

The Suwannee is not just popular at Camp. Some say it is Florida’s best-known river. Even with its popularity, it is still a wild river. While houses are along the banks at points, you are in your own world floating along the river. There are a few river camps along the river that have showers and restrooms. The rest of the trip is camping on sandbars and public land along its banks.

“Wow!”“That’s amazing!”“What an adventure!”

People we meet along the way are always amazed at the distance our group paddles. Paddling more than two hundred miles in 21 days with six teenage girls ages 14–16 is a large undertaking. The trip is a great time to be an ambassador for Camp Duncan.

There are questions as the group meets people along the trip. They are curious about the goals and the extent of the trip. Sometimes it is a quick response of “cool” and “great job.” Other times, there are deeper conversations.

One of those interactions was with Mr. Rob. He first complimented how we tied in the group’s gear. The gear is very important and it takes hard work to tie it in well so we will not lose any of it along the river. To have a seasoned river man notice the gear was high praise.

The group bumped into him again and were able to share a little about the trip and the goal to paddle it all. He shared a copy of his personal notes on the river. Unlike our information, his map was a list of landmarks with mileage markers. His knowledge of the history of the river added to the group’s excitement as we continued paddling. His knowledge of sandbars and safe places for the group to camp became vital. Without his instructions and help, the group could have easily passed good camping spots.

Lessons in Growth and Faith

The trip creates great memories while everyone involved grows. Trips highlight areas of weakness in everyone and provide opportunities for change in those areas. The trip reminds us just how much we need each other—short term, long term, and throughout life. Even Chiefs use the trip as an opportunity to continue growing alongside the campers.

The experience also reminds us that God’s people find comfort with Him. We read in the Bible how He was with the Hebrews—and we learned on the trip He was with us. We are dependent on God every day. But on a trip, you can’t forget that He is your provider.

“If you feel stuck,” Chief Paul would say,“The solution is to move.”

If you want to sprinkle some miracle grow on your life, I think a trip could be just what you need. If you don’t have the ability or opportunity for a trip, get out of your comfort zone and dive into what God has for your life wherever you are.

Trips are one way the girls and Chiefs do it at Camp Duncan.

Written by Danielle Brown, Camp Duncan Group Work Supervisor; Hannah Tepes, Camp Duncan Group Chief