- Stephan Kesting
- November 1, 2025
The Perfect Bailer
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
- Stephan Kesting
- June 28, 2025
Two Easy Dinners for Canoeing, Hiking and Camping
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
- Stephan Kesting
- December 1, 2024
Lost in the Barrens 2024, Solo Canoe Trip
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
- Stephan Kesting
- September 15, 2024
How to Build the Perfect Yoke for Portaging Your Canoe, Step by Step
Bill Mason said it best, “Portaging is like hitting yourself on the head with a hammer, it feels so good when you stop.” Stumbling across a portage
- Stephan Kesting
- June 16, 2024
Lost in the Barrens, a Solo Canoe Trip on a Remote Arctic River
Trip Overview This is the story of a solo canoe trip into the Barren Lands of Northern Canada that I did in the summer of
- Stephan Kesting
- May 16, 2024
Plastic Welding a Cracked Whitewater Boat
I recently broke my favourite whitewater boat – an Esquif L’Edge Lite – paddling the Capilano River. The river was already at a low level
- Stephan Kesting
- May 7, 2024
What’s Better Against an Aggressive Bear, Bear Spray or a Gun?
I was working as a guide in the Yukon the summer some French tourists went hiking in Kluane National Park, saw a grizzly bear, and
- Stephan Kesting
- March 23, 2024
How to Physically Prepare for a Long Paddling Trip
I’m getting ready for a big Arctic solo canoe expedition this summer, so I was thrilled to talk to my friend Rob Sainsbury (@so_aero on
- Stephan Kesting
- March 12, 2024
Lessons from Low Water Paddling
One of the best things you can do to prepare for wilderness paddling trips is to go playboating, aka fooling around on local rivers in
- Stephan Kesting
- March 6, 2024
Will It Burn: Pringle Chips and Steel Wool?
Any good campfire requires tinder, a fine and easy-to-light material that can then be used to light kindling which in turn is used to light