Recently I attended a 30 year high school graduation reunion in Salmon Arm. For some this would be an iconic nostalgic event, but not for me. High School was not awful but uneventful, and in no way do I look back at those days with fondness. Even after all these years there is a palatable sense of relief that high school is over. The event was certainly a lot more fun then even the very best moments of high school. I met with a friend I had not seen for a number of years that had come into town to visit family and attend the reunion. She had her copy of the high school year book and brought to my attention some of my literary contributions. There was one piece I had always liked as it was written about a boating trip during the summer I turned sixteen. My own daughter just turned 16 this summer so reflecting on this trip had a certain poignancy to it. There were many events that unfolded during this one night camping trip and I am left with the feeling of wonder at our absoute freedom. Thinking of this trip leads me to remember many other boating adventures during my teen years; sunburns, boats threatening to blow up, being rescued by house boaters. My own children have only boated around the corner to cliff jump, and I was nervous about that, certain that they would be injured or at my worst, drown. I really can't imagine giving my children the liberty that I had as a child.
The same Frontiersman canoe 32 years later transporting a boat load of children to the jumping cliffs.
Marble point is the location of one of the few pictograph sites on Shuswap Lake. Pictographs, or rock paintings, were created by the aboriginal people to record significant events such as a battle or treaty. They also depict the spiritual beliefs of the people at that time. I have always been profoundly moved by pictographs, and most poignantly the ones on Shuswap Lake as it is my home too. I understand the desire to record events as it is the same motivation that makes me write this blog week after week as it may have been for the people that painted the stones all these years ago. I think it is a common human trait to want to communicate a story.
The following is the piece that was published in the Salmon Arm yearbook in 1982 that told the story of cliff jumping during the camping trip at Marble Point in the summer of 1980:
The Braves
The trip I wrote about all these years ago took place with two canoes and a small motor boat. One of the travellers decided that we had too much gear to transport to use only the canoes so she volunteered herself to pilot the motor boat. The rest of us piled into the canoes and we set forth to Marble Point. This is not very far, but given the attention span of teenagers it probably took a few hours to reach our destination.
1980, preparing for departure.
The beauty of Shuswap Lake, 1980.
Enroute
Marble point is the location of one of the few pictograph sites on Shuswap Lake. Pictographs, or rock paintings, were created by the aboriginal people to record significant events such as a battle or treaty. They also depict the spiritual beliefs of the people at that time. I have always been profoundly moved by pictographs, and most poignantly the ones on Shuswap Lake as it is my home too. I understand the desire to record events as it is the same motivation that makes me write this blog week after week as it may have been for the people that painted the stones all these years ago. I think it is a common human trait to want to communicate a story.
The following is the piece that was published in the Salmon Arm yearbook in 1982 that told the story of cliff jumping during the camping trip at Marble Point in the summer of 1980:
The Braves
The afternoon sun glares upon the ancient Indian paintings on the rugged cliff, as a group of children stare down at the water far below, respecting the sacred place. It is a beautiful spot, shimmering blue water, dancing sun, warming rocks, swaying tall tres. There is a dull murmur from the group as they inspect their surroundings; laughing, teasing, and finally they all stand in a row on the cliff's edgue. Apprehension is on the faces of the gathered group, regarding with fear their mission, as the height is high enough to ice over the noblest heart, and the group is silent with this thought. Suddenly with a cry of "Yee Haw" the first is gone, with that another, screaming with terror, as the rest go, yelling, giving themselves to air and water. Six triumphant heads appeared on the surface of the lake, eyes gleaming, faces glowing, shining from the moment of bravery.
A cliff jumper from the rocks on our property, summer 2010.
There were 7 people on the trip in 1980, but only 6 "triumphant heads appeared on the surface of the lake" as my cousin was unable to jump and instead crawled her way down the cliff front, which I think required more bravery than jumping.
The pictographs at Marble Point. A very dramatic backdrop for cliff jumping.
There were 7 people on the trip in 1980, but only 6 "triumphant heads appeared on the surface of the lake" as my cousin was unable to jump and instead crawled her way down the cliff front, which I think required more bravery than jumping.
The pictographs at Marble Point. A very dramatic backdrop for cliff jumping.
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