writer and tracker tom brown had tremendous respect for the wisdom and skill of his mentor, stalking wolf, who he referred to by the respectful title of grandfather. he is no longer alive but i was inspired to ask him to be my spirit guide on this journey. at first i was not sure if it was just my imagination but i came to trust that by calling on grandfather i could effectively access information that i did not consciously know. sometimes in asking for help the result was too immediate to be mere coincidence. i was enchanted by the song of a solitary loon. i got out my recorder and microphone and immediately stopped and remained silent. i asked grandfather to tickle his throat to make him sing. within moments five loons flew overhead, calling. (loons calling) there are two options for getting up a rapid. portaging and lining. lining is flying the canoe like a kite out in the stream while walking up the bank. the first two rapids i lined were near disaster. i had too much weight in the bow of the canoe, and instead of aligning with the current the bow buried and pulled me into the river.