Twenty-three canoes including those of the five local bands, Adams Lake, Neskonlith, Splats’in, Little Shuswap and Kamloops, along with guests including Shuswap MLA Greg Kyllo, pictured in the canoe above, left Mara Lake Saturday morning on a 15-kilometre trip to Old Town Bay for the first leg in the 2013 Pulling Together Canoe Journey. This floating cultural exchange will end Friday when the canoes travel from Pritchard to Kamloops, where they will be part of the Grand Entry at the Kamloops Pow Wow.