Put three canoeists in a room to discuss footwear and you’ll get four different opinions. It’s a controversial topic, to be sure. My own opinions have been shaped by mistakes made while canoeing, wading and portaging during decades of doing longer expeditions in the remote North in Alaska, the Yukon, NWT, Nunavut, and northern Saskatchewan, […]
I think most people reading this will agree that being out in nature is usually deeply calming. There’s a Japanese term that describes this phenomenon called Shinrin-yoku, or “forest bathing”. This term was coined in the early 1980s by Japanese government official Tomohide Akiyama, who was trying to promote the value of forests to the Japanese […]
Spray decks are fitted covers made of waterproof cloth that stretch across the deck of your canoe to to prevent accidents and ensure safer and more enjoyable paddling. They are essential for difficult northern expeditions, especially if you’re going to be heading out onto large lakes or into rough or windy conditions. I’ve used a […]
Many years ago, I was out on a lake with my girlfriend in her parents’ motorboat. An Ontario Provincial Police patrol motored up and asked to see our required safety equipment, including PFDs, a heaving line, an anchor and a bailer. We had the first three items, but we didn’t have a bailer. Finally, my […]
CIRCUMNAVIGATE (cir·cum·nav·i·gate ˌsər-kəm-ˈna-və-ˌgāt)“To go completely around especially by water” The Canadian Shield is a land of undulating rock, endless lakes, a stark beauty that is difficult to find elsewhere. And one of the most fabled areas on the Shield is the East Arm of Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. On Great Slave Lake the […]
All my expeditions over the past few years (my 1000-Mile Solo, the Seal River, the Nahanni, the Lost in the Barrens Expedition) have been fuelled by two basic dinners. This wasn’t as boring as it sounds because each of these two meals actually has four or more different variations, so you’re eating a different meal […]
In the summer of 2024 I undertook a difficult solo canoe expedition that went deep into the Canadian tundra down the Thlewiaza River, from Nueltin Lake down to Hudson Bay. Below is a day-by-day video journal from the 19 day trip. Videos are from the Essential Wilderness YouTube channel. Enjoy! Day 1 – Flying Into […]
It was a warm June day, and I was in the hospital. The gurney rumbled through the holding area on its way to the operating theatre. The IV bag swayed above me, and all around, other patients prepared for their own imminent surgeries. Two large doors swung open, and we wheeled into the surgery. Masked […]
Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how I built the most comfortable custom padded canoe portaging yoke ever. No more bouncing the damn boat up and down on my cervical vertebrae…
On a longer canoe trip it’s not a question of whether your equipment is going to break but rather when it’s going to break. That’s why it’s not unusual to spend about an hour a day fixing packs, tents, clothing and gear after you’ve been travelling in the wilderness for a week or two. A lot of canoeists bring […]
