ODDS ‘N’ SODS — That sinking feeling

Back in the 1950s, when we were kids in the northern Ontario mining town of Chaput Hughes, near Kirkland Lake, we spent more time roaming the local woods than we spent at home.

We could be found either fishing in the Amacougami River or building cabins in the bush. The locations of the cabins were well-Chosen so that rival games could not find them. They were our meeting places and our refuge in the wilderness, and we felt safe there (from what, I don’t know).

One day, my brother, a friend and I decided to go fishing at the dam way up on the Amacougami. Instead of taking our bicycles, we decided to hoof it out there, crossing the slimes at the Macassa gold mine en route. The bush trail we followed was actually a short cut, as we could make good time travelling through the woods.

Everything went well until the weather started turning ugly. We decided to get ourselves back home as soon as possible. We didn’t make it, however, and the rain was soon coming down like nobody’s business. We backtracked along the trail until we returned to the Macassa.

The rain was coming down hard, and we figured that we should take an even quicker shortcut through the small slimes area, which was situated next to the mine buildings. That decision, it would later turn out, was a big mistake.

Since my brother was the youngest and lightest of the three of us, he took off across the slimes first, with myself and our friend following behind.

Before having gone too far, however, my brother and I started sinking. Our friend was able to crawl to safety and ran toward the mine buildings to look for help.

Before long, some miners came to our rescue, using boards to get us out of a delicate situation. They then hoisted us onto their backs and took us to the mine dry. From there, we were taken to the shower area to wash the slime from our clothes, as well as ourselves. We had to shower with the rest of the miners and, not having had such a “revealing” experience before, I never wanted to leave anyplace as badly as I wanted to leave there.

The next time we went fishing at the dam, we took our bikes and rode the long way around.

— The author, a mining consultant, resides in Beloeil, Que.