Shaun Newman Podcast - #595 - Calem Watson

Episode Date: March 4, 2024

The 24 year old Sask boy spent this past summer canoeing the North West Territories which saw him spend 122 days paddling 3,000 kilometres completely alone. SNP Presents returns April 27th Tickets Below:https://www.showpass.com/cornerstone/ Let me know what you think. Text me 587-217-8500 Substack:https://open.substack.com/pub/shaunnewmanpodcastE-transfer here: [e-mail] Website: https://silvergoldbull.ca/ Email: [e-mail] Phone [phone] – general sales line, ask for Grahame and be sure to let us know you’re an SNP listener

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He's a 24-year-old Regina man who spent 122 days alone paddling over 3,000 kilometers in the Northwest Territories. I'm talking about Kalem Watson. So buckle up, here we go. Welcome to the show. on a new moot podcast this is going to be a lot of fun uh it's it's been a while since i've had an adventure on the on the podcast and uh well i i'm fascinated by um well i'm fascinated by anyone who goes out of their comfort zone to do something kind of something extraordinary and you're

asking you know i haven't really heard much about who i am well back in 2006 a brother and i biked across canada so uh when i when i read a bit about your story i'm like oh man this is this is going to be something, right? Because there's just part of my, I don't know, is it my soul that just longs to go do things like you've done. But that's, that's, you know, that's a little bit about just a little piece of where I come at from this. Tell me, tell me a little bit about yourself. And thanks for coming to the studio to do this, because this is way better in person. Oh yeah, yeah, thanks so much for having me. And yeah, that's a really cool, really cool trip biking across Canada. That's awesome. I can definitely, definitely attest to having that, uh, you're in a,

for adventure within me for sure so where are you from tell tell us a little who who is canel so i'm i'm originally from uh regina saskatchewan i was we won't we won't hold that again okay thank you yeah so i was born and raised there and uh after high school i guess i was uh i was originally in university for biology but then i uh i got a job as a fly-in fishing guide in uh way northern Saskatchewan, actually, Inola Lake Lodge. And where, where is that? It's kind of north of Lake Athabasca. It's like the very northern, very northwest corner of Saskatchewan.

So, yeah, I went up there. And from that first float plane ride, I kind of just absolutely fell in love with that, uh, outdoor lifestyle and all that. And that was kind of the point where I guess I decided to, I didn't really have to pursue like a normal career, I guess, or a normal job. So I started doing that working as a flying fishing guide in the summers. And then I actually met my girlfriend up there at the lodge. She was a guide too.

And then we started, she had been doing this commercial winter fishing for a while before. So then we started doing that in the winters. So it was kind of a great seasonal winter fishing. What is that? Yeah. I mean, it kind of makes sense, but at the same time I have no idea what you're talking about. Yeah, it's kind of a, well, they're using. to be commercial fishing industry in Alberta, I believe, but it was kind of the government

shut it down. I'm not sure exactly how long ago, but in Manitoba, it's still like very alive and well on kind of the big lakes there. There's like Winnipeg, Manitoba and Lake Winnipegosa, kind of like three almost inland seas kind of their very big lakes. But yeah, commercial winter fishing is basically you're just setting nets kind of under the ice type thing. You're setting nets under the ice? Yeah. Yeah. So I had done that, we had done that together for... That may be the most Canadian thing I've ever heard.

Yeah, it was pretty Canadian for sure. Like, I must sound like a complete nutter moron, and I apologize to all the fishermen out there. But how do you set, like, are you breaking ice and then setting a net, or is it, like, how are you setting a net out under the ice? Yeah, so you basically, you like, it's kind of a process, but you basically start, you drill a hole, and then once you have your hole drilled,

Well, I guess first off, you got to find what they call good ice, I guess. You want like smooth, clear ice on those big lakes. Sometimes ice gets all heaved and rough and broken, so you don't want that. But you went good clear ice, and then you drill a hole. Then you've got this device that's called a jigger. And it's basically like a, there's like old school ones that are like wooden, and there's new ones that have a little electric motor. But it's basically a contraption that it kind of crawls along the bottom of the ice away from your hole.

and you have it crawl out however far you want by like kind of you pull this rope on it and it's got a pick that digs into the ice and it kind of jigs along is what you call it and then your rope has a little mark at about 100 yards there's the length of the net so once you hit 100 yards you stop and you got to go find this thing under the ice and once you find it you drill another hole and then you've got that jigger has pulled that rope between the two holes so then you hook the rope up and you have the rope out of both holes then one person will pull the rope on the one end while the other person kind of feeds the net into the hole and then it kind of stretches the net underneath the ice who's the brilliant person who thought of that uh yeah like the well i guess

that would be the indigenous peoples yeah have been setting nets have been doing have been doing ice fishing for like it yeah a long time you let it jig out 100 yards and then you just got to go find it underneath the ice is like man alive yeah we live in a uh a crazy place do we not oh for sure yeah yeah there's so many different uh different ways to make living it's pretty much endless so you go do all this and you fall in love with the outdoors were you were you a city uh before this were you just like a city kid and it wasn't a you know like did you grow up right in regina yeah like i grew up in the city but I was fortunate enough my parents really got us outside. They took us on a lot of camping trips in the summers and stuff like that,

and I think that's kind of where my kind of love of being outside really developed. And you go to the northern part of Saskatchewan, which probably very few people from Saskatchewan have even been, too. Yeah, oh yeah, for sure. Very few people. It's been a while, but the Newman men once upon a time took a flying fishing trip up into the middle of nowhere. Oh, cool.

Awesome. And then my dad is like old school, loves the outdoors. And he showed us the way of jumping beaver dams with the old Tim boat. So we got up into a lake that nobody was around. And that's a, well, you're like, basically, it doesn't matter what the world's doing. I wouldn't have any clue if it was going on or not. There's no self-service. There's just nothing.

There's not a sound to go around other than wildlife. And the fishing was, you know, I want to make. is very clear. I'm no expert fishermen, but the fishing was surreal. Throw a line and catch something. Is that your experience up in northern Saskatchewan as well? Yeah, the fishing is pretty much almost everywhere you go up north to fishing is just really incredible. So you come home, you got a girlfriend now, your parents are like, of course, you go up to the middle of nowhere, you find a girl, fair enough. Where does the idea for this 3,000 kilometer solo canoe trip come from.

I guess so that would have started, obviously we had the whole COVID and all those lockdowns and everything. So like when that happened, the fly and fishing industry was kind of like just shut right down. I guess like nobody was allowed to go up to those lodges at all. So it was kind of just like, you know, nobody could really go up and work at those lodges. So we were kind of, you know,

really looking forward to going up north for the summer. but then this happened, so there wasn't a way to get up north. So we decided, you know, we still want to get up to what we call like floatplane country, but this time we can't take a plane. So we actually bought a canoe and went on a trip. You and your girlfriend? Yeah, yeah, up in northern Manitoba, we went on this 20-day canoe trip. And it was, yeah, just as soon as I did that, I was just like kind of had this dream that, you know, one day I want to do like a whole summer, like from spring to fall canoe trip. and can I safely assume you're still with your girlfriend?

Yes. Okay, because I'm going to, if there's anything to put a relationship to the test, it's a 20-day canoe trip. Yeah, yeah, oh yeah, like the fact that you can, yeah, because when you're on a 20-day canoe trip, yeah, you're spending all your time together and challenges, portages, and bugs and, you know, all sorts of stresses. And yeah, you really get to learn a lot about each other for sure.

When you, you know, when you're just talking about the 20-day trip, you say yeah there's lots of stresses I don't think my brain computes what some of the stresses you're talking about are when you look back just on that trip what are some of the stresses you face that you just like I had no idea

that would be a stress yeah like on that very first trip yeah that was our first first ever canoe trip and we decided to at the time I didn't really want to jump in with a big crazy trip I almost wanted to do like a small trip to start

but my girlfriend was really set like we're going to we're going to do this big crazy trip to start so i was kind of like okay but so i had picked this route out and uh the start of the root had this like long three long portages right at the start and right at the start you know you have the most food so everything's the heaviest right and we really had no idea like how difficult these portchages were going to be but uh so we get there and yeah these portchares are just they're terrible like they're long and they're just what's long? Like, it was about, the three in total was about five kilometers in total. And then when you do the portage, we had to do two trips.

You'd go there, back, and there. So in the end, it ends up being about 15 kilometers. But then when you add in, like, you know, having the canoe on your back and then your big heavy packs and your paddles and fishing rods and chairs, because we really weren't packed too well for this first trip, like we had a lot of bulky stuff. So it was just a, yeah, it was a pretty rude awakening. I remember we were in these bogs. And it was a really high water year. So the bogs, you know, be walking through these bogs and the water is like above your knees and stuff.

And there's just hordes and mosquitoes. And we're just like, oh, my God, what have we got ourselves into? Did you at any point go, let's just turn around and go home? I think it was probably both on our minds, but I think we're both just too stubborn to have turned around on pretty much the second. day. And I would, I don't know, from where I stand and some of the things I've done in life, once you push through some of those things, A, you're learning, maybe I don't need all this bulky stuff because I assume the next time you go, you're like, we're going to pack super

smart and efficient and everything else. But it also probably affirmed your resolve. Listen, there's going to be bad days. There's going to be good days. There's going to be spots that really suck. and if you push through it, you know, you're learning a whole lot about yourself, not to mention your partner. Yeah.

Oh, yeah, for sure. Like, after that, like, after we had made it through, like, the fact that our first portage was, like, one of, like, the worst portages there is, right? It just was, like, you know, making it through that makes every other one seem, like, easier, I guess. When you say worst partage is ever, I assume, like, that's like a, there's, like, a trifecta in there. Distance, ground, when you're, you.

You're talking about boggy and then weight. Wait. And then also I'd throw in bugs probably would be another factor. Oh, yeah. The number four. The number four. You know, I tree planted as a as a younger guy. Oh, yeah.

Yes. I'm sure you know. I've freaking hated that job. Not because of the heavy, you know, like not because of the work because of the bugs. The black flies drove me absolutely insane. I don't know. Like, you know, if you could have had a film crew on me, every second day, you would have saw a shot and running buck naked and jumping in a lake to get away from the bugs.

That's a long story in a different day. But like the bug, they just went for the corners. Everything was a corner. It just, I'd swear I'd go home at night. And I could still feel them crawling on me and there'd be nothing there, you know? Like, just like that level in insanity when it came to bugs. So bugs, oh man, I don't know. That's, yeah, that's a lot of stress.

Yeah, yeah, like those usually, yeah. And the port-hage is usually the worst bugs. Anytime you're in that swampy areas or boggy areas or dense forest is usually when the bugs are out there. worst. You know, when we were biking, we used to have these spots that we just loved, and it was the chain up areas. There'd be a sign, check your chains. We're like, oh, my God, downhill's coming. Thank you. When you're, when you're off on a canoe trip, what is that moment where you're like, oh, yes, here we go, you know, like, what is the, what is the bright spot in the day? Like for, like, yeah, for, so say, yeah, say you've got a whole, you've been doing a whole bunch

little portages, then all of a sudden you get to a big lake where you can paddle for 50 to 100 kilometers without a portage, or you've been doing a bunch of portages, and then you get to a long stretch of river with no big rapids so you can just, you know, paddle down it. That would be probably the equivalent. Just 100 kilometers of paddling, folks. But it's nice when you get, when you get like a stretch, you know, a long stretch without portaging and just, it makes it, it makes it all so much easier. Yeah, I could, I, it does make sense. Although it's like foreign to me because I'm like, man, I can, like 100 kilometers.

I've done 20, I think we did 20 miles in a canoe trip. This is summers ago. My wife and I, I don't know, were we married? We might have been married. I think we were maybe married. It doesn't matter. We did it on the North Saskatchewan River here. And it was 20 miles.

And by the end of that, I was like, oh my God. You know, like, I don't know if I'm designed for, for the boat. you know where so you do the 20 day at what point you're like you know what i really want to do i want to do how many days was it 100 and the big one was 122 days oh so you have another one in between how many how many of these are you done canoe trips in total probably i guess i would have been my seventh this big one would have been my seventh canoe trip i guess so you've done the 20 days your first yeah is this your first is this your first soul this big one was my first time yeah going solo so the first six you're doing with somebody else yeah all

with my girlfriend yeah why do you go i want to try something solo and and just from my vantage point you picked the edge of the world which is super cool by the way but you also picked like when i look at i'm like man if there's ever risk you know being by yourself on the edge of the world far from civil as it on and on and on it goes. I go, this, this is, this is a juggernaut.

So what was it that, that drew you towards that, you know, when you, after your 6th one, you're like, this is where I'm going next. Yeah,

I guess like, originally I wasn't really planning as a solo. I guess it was kind of just, I guess, I don't know if my girlfriend was really wanting to go for that long. Like, we had done those,

like, 20-day ones, but I think the, the full, like, four-month one, I don't know if she was, fully on board with it and it's maybe something where like maybe i could have done a better job of

you know encouraging her to go i guess but it's kind of just at the same time like you know you don't want to force someone to go on this big undertaking if they're not you know a hundred percent in it i guess so i guess yeah so it was something i didn't really plan to do alone but it was kind of just one of those things where like i felt like if i didn't do it i'd probably never end up doing it and then it's like, you know, it's just always going to be in the back of your head, like, what if I would have done that, you know, kind of thing? So I just felt like I, I just had to do it while I could, I guess. Did you follow somebody who was doing this before? You know, like, had you followed a couple adventures and you're like, oh, man, that sounds cool. Maybe they'd done it in a different part of the

world. Maybe they'd done the exact same tour, I don't know. But, or was this like, just something like, man, I just want to go canoeing for the entire summer and go see what the world's got to offer? Yeah, like on that first trip is probably when I really wanted to, yeah, just spend, because Canada is so interconnected with waterways. It's like the canoe is like the perfect way to experience the wilderness up there. But then also, yeah, there is quite a few guys that have done some amazing trips in the past. So I like to read a lot of books about canoeing and there's some guys on, say, YouTube and stuff that do big trips. But yeah, there's all sorts of, all sorts of big trips that have been done in Canada.

So do you drive up there? Is that what you did? Yes, we actually, my dad and grandpa went with me, and we drove to Fort Smith is kind of the end of the road at the southern part of the territories. So we started from there in Fort Smith. I remember when we were talking. I apologize.

I apologize. I'm just going to, it doesn't matter. I'm going to talk about biking Canada a lot here. I remember when we were talking about this idea. And everybody thought we were insane. you're insane. I remember that. I remember people taking bets

on whether we'd make it and all these different things. Your family drives you up there. At any point where people like, you shouldn't do this? I was probably like in the months before was when people were kind of like,

are you sure you should do this alone? Like, you know, you're not supposed to really go on a wilderness trip alone. So there was a whole bunch of, yeah, people or family kind of, you know, trying to maybe steer me away from it at the start but uh once i kind of you know made it clear to them that like i was you know doing this no matter what then they kind of got more on board and then uh as i went along the trip they

they got more and more interested as i went i guess and and really supportive as i kind of how are you sending updates or were you sending uh yeah i have one of those uh those garment in reach it's like a satellite messenger so you can just uh type a message and it goes to somebody's cell phone if you have their number. Really? Yeah, it's kind of some incredible technology nowadays. You can really be so you were texting your, I'm just assuming your parents and your girlfriend the entire time you're going on. Hey, made it here okay. Yeah, not the whole time. I would usually like I would check in my kind of plan was I would check in every morning after I woke up and then I would check in at night as soon as I had stopped and you know, was done for the night done paddling. So I'd usually try and check in those

twice a day, I guess. You know, when I think about this, Mike, you know, when we bike Canada, I didn't have a cell phone. You know, in today's world, you're like, you didn't have a cell phone. Like, that makes, how are you doing? There was no Twitter.

There was no, like, updating as you go. So we used to find, like, what were they called? Coffee bars? Like, where they had internet. Internet bars? Internet cafes, I think. And we'd find, or we'd go into a local library.

We'd use their computers because you could, and we type off an email, right? And we'd send an email off to a group or whatever. And we'd do it once every, I don't know, three days. Sometimes it'd be back to back. Sometimes you go in a stretch where it didn't happen. And I think back to that and I'm like, man, there's just no way to do that anymore.

Here you are, you know, off in the wilderness and you're doing it. Like, I can just imagine your parents sitting there. Have you got the text yet? Oh, there it is. Okay, he's in for the night. Okay, good. Yeah. Yeah, it's really crazy.

The technology is, yeah, really, no matter where you are, now you can be connected, which is a great thing, but at the same time, it's kind of a, it's kind of, yeah, crazy that you're, like, it's only, really only, I don't know, I don't know how long satellite phones have been around for, but I mean, really, the only, like, 30 or 40 years ago, if you were to do a trip of that nature, like, you'd be just, you know, unconnected until you came to, like, a little settlement or something, but, so it's really crazy how that communication has evolved. Did it take time to adjust to being that disconnected? Yeah, like spending time alone was definitely probably the number one thing to get used to on this trip.

Like when you're on a canoe trip with two people, you know, you can, you split up all the chores from paddling the canoe. You got two paddles when you make your camp. One person can, you know, put the tent up and everything while the other person cooks the food. So you kind of got a really good system with two people or with one person, I guess it's kind of, you really got to multitask, all that stuff in camp. And it's, you know, you can't, can't go as fast every day or it can't go as far. So you kind of have to adjust to all that. Was it difficult being by your, being alone with your thoughts for that long? Yeah, like, there's definitely some times where, yeah, you get pretty lonely, I'd say, for sure.

But then, you know, when you have that you do, because you can connect with that messenger and stuff, that definitely, definitely helps a lot. What do you, what do you think you, like, I don't know. you leave for three months, right? Everybody knows the person that left. Then you go on this crazy journey. And then you come back. I assume a different person. Yeah, I'd like to think I came back a better person.

Like there's a lot of, yeah, time to think. And when you're alone too, like you really, you don't have anybody else to rely on or like if something goes bad, you can't like blame it on someone else. I guess you really kind of learn stuff. about yourself for sure and like some good lessons from this trip which i'm trying to implement more in my life such as what like well first off i guess when you spend that that much time alone you

know you really gain a appreciation for all your loved ones and family members and partner you know it really uh really makes you realize like how important they are and you know how important they are to happiness and everything and then also i would say just I did meet some people along the way on this journey. There is, I mean, obviously people that live up in the Northwest Territory despite being remote. And the people I met up there were all just incredibly kind. And, you know, anytime I did come to a community,

you know, people are just kind of doing whatever they could to help me out in any way they could. So that kind of really makes me want to be a better person too. It would be pretty, I don't know, maybe I don't mean to put words in your mouth, but almost surreal to come up. on a little community and then have them treat you like family. Oh, yeah, for sure.

Yeah, and they do. Is there, you know, I've read parts of your story and I don't want to jump. I want you to tell the entire thing. And so if I'm jumping, let's go back to the start, right? If you want to start from day one and kind of walk me through how the days go, I'm totally good with that. Or if you're like, you know, let's talk. with some of the people I met along the way. I'm good with that too. I don't know which way is better.

Yeah, it's it's totally up to you whichever way, whichever way you want to go. Dang it, Kalam, you're supposed to be the... Well, then, I'm curious about the people along the way because, you know, I think society, you know, like what creates a good community and all the people within it and how they treat one another and you get up in the middle of nowhere. And I've read part of the story about, like, how your foot, like, you just, you know, and you're in bad, in bad, tough ways. And you come to a community. and they go all out for you.

And, you know, like half the time we can't be bothered to do, you know, something that takes 10 seconds of work, you know? And I'm even talking about myself, nobody else right now, right? Oh, yeah. So I don't know. To me, I find that very fascinating, like being up in the Northwest Territories, and certainly there are people up there. It's just not, like, going to Eminton.

Yeah, exactly. Or, you know, like Calgary or Saskatoon Regina, right? It's just different, different pace of life, different everything. Walk us through what goes on with your foot and how the people, well, how they rally around you. Yeah, so I ended up getting this infection in my two big toes underneath the toenails. I woke up to one day and they were just filled with pus. So I had this infection and I was kind of treating it with what I had. So I have a take a pretty decent, I mean, I take a good first aid kit, like a well-planned-out first aid kit,

but you know when you're on a trip like that obviously you can't have everything in the world right you can only take so much but uh so it's kind of treating it the best i could with uh antiseptic and polysporin and just soaking it in warm water but uh it was kind of holding it at bay i'd say like the pus was kind of clearing up but there'd still be a little bit and it's kind of something where you know until it's totally cleared up you know i wouldn't feel like safe to say i had it under control right but uh so as i was doing, you know, once I discovered this, I had kind of reached out to my dad with my Garmin and I just said, like, you know, if I, if I can't get this under control, like, we might have to look at a way to maybe, like, somebody can bring me some antibiotics or something,

like maybe we can get a small, like the smallest, most inexpensive plane to charter and they could maybe, you know, land and give me some antibiotics or something. And then there's also, I was on Great Bear Lake at the time. And so after I had said, that my dad had kind of got to work behind the scenes. I kind of call him the expedition coordinator. He does a really great job behind the scenes on my journey. Like if I'm ever needing a question about anything or like in this case, you know, he's kind of the guy that I rely on in these situations.

But he actually reached out to the people in Delaney, which is the only community on Great Bear Lake. and so when he reached out to them he talked to her name's sire and the government there the deline government they have like a self-government and she basically said that the elders will find a way to get him help because their elders are kind of their leaders and their their culture kind of so anyways he had talked to them and then kind of relayed that information to me and that said that they were going to try and you know send a boat out or something but but it was a really long ways because where i was was about probably two weeks at least two weeks of paddling to get there that's considering you know

there's a lot of days where you're going to get wind on a big lake like great bear because it is the largest lake entirely within canada's borders how how big are we talking like it's the it's the eighth largest lake in the world so it'd be bigger than it's bigger than say lake erie and it's bigger than Lake Ontario. So it's basically a great lake. Okay. Yeah, that isn't like you're just hop, skip, and a jump, I guess. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And then, like, as the, as the, from where I was, as the crow flies or as, like, a boat drives, it was about 300 kilometers. Then I, but I had to paddle way into this bay to avoid, like, crossing, like, big open water and stuff like that. But, uh, anyways, a couple days later, I get a message on my garment from a Bruce Kenyon. Is someone I've

never met before, a complete stranger. and he just says, hey, we're going to come out and check on you. And at first I was kind of like sending you a bunch of messages like, well, just wait. Maybe this will get better. Like I didn't want him to, you know, come all this way just for me, I guess. So I was trying to, you know, convince him to maybe just wait and hopefully this would clear up. But now that I've met Bruce, like his character is just incredible. So I know why he came because he's just a really selfless person and just really does whatever he can to help others.

but Bruce and Peter and Jory from Delaney they ended up coming in their boat I think it was about on his GPS I think it's at about 300 kilometer boat drive. One way? One way, yeah. So it's about 600 kilometers round trip on a huge lake. So it's a big undertaking even in a

even in a boat? Even in a boat? Yeah, like you need a ton like a whole bunch of jerry cans of gas to get there and back and then if the wind comes up even a big boat, you know, has to wait it out. So, yeah. And then I think it was two days later, they arrived and they came up and yeah, they brought me some medical supplies and they gave me a big fish they had gotten a net and they were just really kind, really generous and just really awesome people. And they even took, Bruce even took a video of me just to, you know, send to my family members to let them know that I was okay. So it was. So it was a good. So it was a

It was really awesome, really heartwarming to see somebody go, you know, that far out of their way for a complete stranger. So it's pretty incredible. How bad was your foot? Like, I wouldn't, like, it was definitely an infection. Like, I wouldn't say, like, at that point, I wasn't worried about losing my foot, I guess, which is, you know, why I was kind of, but with an infection, obviously, like, you know, at any moment, you know, it could really get worse, right, I guess is the thing. But it definitely was, like, infected, like, yellow pus under my nails and then kind of, like, red on the edges and sore. But it was kind of sort of getting a little bit better, but not, I wouldn't say it was cured. But then once I got this medical supplies from Bruce and them, probably about four, five days later, I'd say it was pretty much, pretty much cleared up.

Just, it's a super cool, like, super cool. story to like, A, what human beings will do for one another, right? You know, we always hear about the awfulness in the world, never, you know? Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah, and this is kind of just like, if it bleeds, it leads, you know, like dirty laundry, I think of Don Henley and, and, you know, just like people want to want that type of story, but like what you're talking about is pretty incredible. Yeah, and it's like, and like everywhere in the Northwest Territories, these people were just so kind and it just like really reminds me that you know there's way more no matter what the other media wants to tell you about how bad you know everybody is but there really is more good

people than bad for sure so they hang out with you for a day or did they just stop and go actually where i was was like i was on this kind of a i was on this kind of a a shoal so it was kind of a it was all shallow so they couldn't bring their their boat into land and then at first First, I didn't, I didn't, Bruce had actually sent me a message just before he showed up saying like, hey, we want to stop and have lunch, but I hadn't received it yet. So when I paddled out to them, I didn't know that they wanted to land, but they kind of did, I guess. But I went out there and so I kind of just was like, just, you know, in my canoe beside their boat chatting with them for, we probably talked for at least an hour probably or so. And then, yeah, then they ended up taking off. But had I got that text earlier, I would have, you know, more.

Have you been to their community? Well, then, yeah, the other thing was that I was, I was planning to pass by Delaney on the way. Because Delaney is right where it's called Delaney. And I guess it translates to like where the water begins to flow because it's right where the Great Bear River leaves Great Bear Lake. So that was, I was planning to get there. And I ended up, I did end up getting there about, think about 20 days. after I met Bruce, I made it to Delaney. And then, yeah, Bruce and his wife, Furner, were just incredibly kind.

And, like, when you said, treated me like family, like, they totally did. They let me stay at their place. And they were, you know, including me in these community events. And they kind of had this festival going on. So there was people were bringing me all this food and trying to fill me up with food and stuff. And everyone was just super kind there. So it was a really, really incredible place. And it's a huge thank you to Bruce.

and his wife Furnah. When you talk about a festival up north, what does that look like? I guess they have this, it was kind of perfect timing. I showed up right in the mid, like they have a kind of a once a year festival, I guess, where they all kind of gather up and they have that kind of, I guess you'd call it, potluck style meals, like they'll do a breakfast, a lunch, and a supper. And then they have like these religious kind of ceremonies too. And then they have like what they call a drum dance,

which is like another ceremony. And then they, you know, community events and everybody's kind of, everybody's together and talking and hanging out. So it was really a great time to arrive there for sure. Do you ever plan on going back? I do, I do really want to go back for sure. I will definitely, I don't know when, but I will definitely be back 100%. To visit that specific community, I assume?

Yes. Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah. I feel like that's kind of like, that feels like, you know, when you tell the story, it just feels like probably a strong bond made there. And it's, you know, like you could probably show back up there anytime and, and enjoy your, you know, enjoy your state. You've found a hidden gem on the planet, you know?

Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah, like they're so kind and friendly that for sure. And yeah, we keep, I keep in touch with Bruce and Vernon. And even my whole family, they even, uh, keep in touch with them now, uh, follow them on, like, Facebook and stuff like that. so yeah so we kind of a kind of almost the power of the internet yeah a bond of a bond between two families but even though we're kind of you know way far apart but it's yeah really really neat did you keep track of how so i assume you kept track of like how many kilometers you paddled did you keep track

of how many kilometers you had to you know traverse like carrying a canoe and everything like what are the stats on what you did i didn't actually measure the total distance to the portages like on this trip was kind of uh for like so this trip was kind of the the start was like all on big rivers and lakes and no portages then the middle was like lots of portages and then the finish was the same thing big lake and then big rivers and no portages but so the middle so probably from day 30 to day 70 maybe or or maybe not quite day seven or day 30 to day 60 guess was kind of portaging daily type thing only 40 days of portaging it's not a big deal yeah yeah did you lose track of days um did you lose track of time like i mean all you're doing is literally

getting in a canoe paddling for how how what was the average day how many how many kilometers were you roughly going on an average day it really varied like if i was on the the big lakes like great slave and great bear i think i probably averaged out 25 kilometers but that's counting for days when you can't paddle. And then on the portaging days, you know, I probably averaged 15 to 20 with some days where you might only go, you know, five to 10 because there's so much portaging. And then on the big river at the end, the McKenzie,

that's when I, you know, average the most distance, probably more like 50 kilometers a day averaged. So it kind of varied with the different terrain. Walk me through, you know, walk me through a day, in a life of canoeing for a hundred and what did you say 135 22 22 22 I don't know why I got 135 mad 122 for 122 days of being gone you wake up at X you do what next you do what next walk me through a day yeah so first the the wake up time was like always different because up well up there first off it's like the land of the midnight sun in the summer right so you know from

around the end of May till about the middle of August. What day did you leave? I left about May 18th. Okay, sorry, from May to whenever land of the midnight sun, didn't mean the interrupt. Yeah, so the first couple days in May, it was getting dark, but about the end of May is when it kind of, that's when the, you know, getting close enough to the solstice or whatever that it never gets dark at night. Like it kind of just gets like, like maybe a little bit before sunset.

you know how it's kind of like it's it's dimmer but it's not dark right like you don't need a flashlight or anything but yeah from about the middle of may till about the middle of august it was it's light enough that you don't need like a flashlight or anything to be up all night so because of that like on the big lakes like great slave and great bear i would almost be like no i was pretty much nocturnal like i'd almost kind of sleep during the day when it was windy and then i'd be up and kind of paddle through the night when it was calm it was kind of my way to uh Was that your plan or did you adjust as you got going? It was something I had thought of.

It was something I had thought of doing and yeah, it ended up being definitely the best way like on those big lakes because generally, you know, the wind calms down in the evening. And on those big lakes, you know, if you get any amount of wind during the day, it doesn't take much to stir up some pretty big waves for a canoe. So yeah, on those big lakes I was pretty nocturnal. Unless it was a really nice calm day, then I would paddle during the day. but it was kind of always changing. If I got up and it was windy or wavy and I got up, then I'd kind of just nap around for the day or try some fishing or do some cooking and stuff

and then just wait for it to calm in the evening and then I'd kind of paddle through the night. So it was kind of a pretty different. I was really, yeah, like when you talk about losing sense of time, I really had not much any sense of time at all. It was kind of just, you know, going with when the weather was good. and resting when it was bad. So you started at what time?

10, 9? I know it all depends. But, you know, like, in my brain I'm going, okay. But you're aiming for 9 o'clock at night? You're like, oh, yeah, it's time to get going. Or was it like no more like midnight? No, like I'd say generally maybe around, say, eight, like seven or even six to eight is kind of when

typically maybe you'd see the wind would start to slow down. you'd, you know, start packing your camp up and then, you know, maybe... And your camp consisted of a tent? Yeah, so like basically a tent with a sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and then I had some food barrels. I have this little great thing called a firebox for building a fire in. And I got a, yeah, and then I got a whole bunch of other miscellaneous gear and spare clothing and fishing tackle and solar panels and all sorts of stuff.

solar panels for for that Garmin messenger and then for cameras and stuff like that Oh to charge them Yeah Well I hadn't thought of that Now I mean you wouldn't have to worry about no sunlight Because you'd have sunlight the entire time

And it probably wouldn't take as much power as I think To charge said things But you'd still have to have it there To charge it otherwise you got nothing Did you have any issues with that? For the most part Most of the trip I had two solar panels One was a 20 watt

And one was a 30 watt and then I had a little, kind of a little power box about that big or so. And yeah, just with that, I would usually, as soon as I started paddling, I would lay out the one solar panel just in the canoe, kind of orient it, so it would hit the sun the best, and then just have my power pack hooked up to it. And in a good sunny day, I'd get a full charge on that power box. And then that power box, I would say it would maybe be up to two, days of charge requirements for cameras and gopros and garmin and phone and all that stuff but uh yeah for the

most part i stayed pretty good on charging there was only really only a couple times where i had you know cloudy conditions for too long that i had a lot of stuff you know lose battery but it was a really really dry year up there like there wasn't much rain clouds but there was fires so there was some days where it'd be smoky and really more than clouds is probably the smokey and really more than clouds is probably the which would maybe hamper the charging on some days. Food barrels so that it can keep everything dry? Yeah, so the food barrels, they're kind of like multi-purpose. They're like these big blue barrels.

They're about 60 liters in volume. And they've got a, the lid kind of is a, the lid goes on and then it's got this kind of metal clamp that goes on. And the lid has like kind of an o-ring on it. So it kind of, it all clamps in. So it's fully waterproof floats. And then it also, also supposed to kind of continue. some of the scent so you don't, you know, attract bears.

It kind of helps lock in all that food scent. I don't know if I read it, but I'm thinking, okay, 122 days, you must have fished a lot to catch food. But let's say you went on a stretch where you didn't catch jack squat. I don't know if that happened or not. Or bait or on and on it goes. How did you prepare for 122 days with food? Did you, like, I don't know, where you stopped?

different people stopping in communities, grabbing food from there. You know, like, how did you navigate that? Yeah, so I had, so for food, basically, when I pack my food, because I enjoy fishing and I really count on catching fish. And then, you know, the fish, you know, that's your, your fresh food, right? So I feel like it's a lot more nourishing than just eating dry food the whole time. But when you're packing for a canoe trip, you're mostly trying to bring stuff that's dry. You want to have as little weight as possible.

So stuff like pasta, rice, I take those instant mashed potato packs, stove top stuffing. For the most part, I'm just bringing along dry kind of sides to go along with fish. So I'll catch my fish and then I'll make up a bit of pasta with it or a bit of rice with it. It's kind of typically the meal. And then I'll also bring along a lot of snacks like chocolate bars, beef and venison jerky, nuts, dried fruit, kind of just some high calorie snacks. And then I brought along a lot of called clarified butter or ghee it's called in grocery stores. It's like, I guess, butter that's been, they take the milk parts out of it so it doesn't spoil and it keeps a long time.

So I bring some of that to cook my fish in and then also just to add to my meals kind of to give me some extra, extra fat. Because it's really important to have as much fat as you can because you're burning so many calories. And then I also bring along, for the days when I don't catch fish, I'll bring along some dehydrated ground beef or ground venison is what I had for the days when I wasn't catching fish. So then I, if I didn't catch fish that day, then I would just mix in some of that ground beef with my pasta for supper. Did you lose weight? I didn't. See, I didn't weigh myself before and after. I'm sure I lost somewhere in the neighborhood.

What did your girlfriend say when you came back to the door where she's like, holy crap, you look good? Because I like one of the things about biking was like I came back and my legs looked like they were straight out of like some Marvel comic, right? Like I mean you literally biked across the country. What's doing that? Your legs. And so they were just sheer muscle. I assume your arms and shoulders must have been just like sharp. Yeah.

Like I, you definitely don't get big and bulky from canoeing. But yeah, you're definitely kind of leaned out and tone, I guess. And the biggest transition would just be like a. your skin's just like really tanned would probably be the number one difference. Very tan and hair gets more blonde, I guess, yeah. Because you're out in the sun the entire time. And then I had a fair size beard, I guess, as well, from all summer. So those were the main days.

Did you shave for the 120 days? I didn't, no, no. But I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, my facial hair doesn't really grow that fast, which I think is a good thing for kind of doing big adventures like this because you're not, don't have like a, two foot long beard at the end of it. When you got back to here, what was the thing you're like,

I can't wait for, I don't know. Definitely a rib-eye steak was probably my number one craving. But I can't remember, for whatever reason, I didn't really end up having one until like three or four days after returning civilization. But I think my first real meal back was a burger, I think. But a steak is definitely the thing you're craving out there the most, I would say. You know, you realize you're in like, I don't know how many people have done said thing.

I assume you're not the only one. Did you mean, I guess I should ask, did you meet anyone along the way? You know, one of the things that always shocked me about biking Canada was how many people were doing it. Now, in the grand scheme of things, it's this tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny population of Canada that has done it. Up north, you're canoeing. Did you meet anybody along the way? Yeah, so I, I mean, there is lots people that do, do canoe trips in the Northwest tour is obviously lots is you know put into perspective like it's it's it's more than you think but

i mean but it's still not much like on this trip actually i only ended up seeing one other group of canoes which i thought was uh really really surprising i'm i'm quite surprised that i did only see one group because i'm sure i'm sure other people had paddled those bodies of water this summer but i guess just the way timing worked out i only ever seen one other group of canoes and i actually was I was sleeping on this little island. I was probably, it's probably like noon or something. I'd been up late the night before, so I had just resting. And then I heard, I could hear the sound of like, you know, all the paddles hitting the gunnels of a canoe and so I'm splashing.

So I got up and I was looking around and then I seen these group of paddlers and they were doing this portage and we kind of just waved. And then that was about it. We kind of, they kind of just kept going. but at that point it was only like, oh my God, it's people. And they're leaving. Yeah, right. But I don't blame them because at that point, we were only like probably two or three days paddle from a community, which I'm assuming they had started at that community.

So they were probably in the phase of let's get away from people on the trip where, yeah, so that was probably why. When you look back on it, is there a moment you had out there that was just surreal? Like, you know, like, I can't believe this just happened or, I don't know, like, I have a hard time wrapping my brain around. The sun never going down, you know, it's one of the things I would love to go see, but I feel like it would kind of warp my brain. Is there a point in time in the 122 days where you just have like a moment, you see something, you feel something, whatever you want. When you look back, you go, that was a day. Yeah, like, that's like, that's probably one of the toughest questions to answer is to pick out.

just one thing I guess because for me it was like like the whole trip was just you know the time of a lifetime like from you know even the the very start was just like just in all of this adventure before me and then you know in the midnight sun you know you'd just be you completely alone in the middle of nowhere you know having your frying up your fish at midnight and it's just bright and calm and you're just taking in the scenery and then later on there's some I really enjoy fishing later on I got into some really incredible fishing obviously there's some spectacular fishing up there but catching like yeah some like biggest pike or biggest trout ever and then what's what's the biggest you caught on that trip I caught a I caught a pike that was

46 inches long and I caught a trout that was at least that long too so it was yeah those were the the biggest of those species that ever caught so and I really enjoy fishing so that was a definite highlights of the trip for sure in the canoe or off of uh off the shore the they those are both in the canoe that would have pulled you around a little bit yeah the the big trout probably pulled me i want to say it must have been close definitely over half a kilometer it probably kind of pulled me around was there ever a time where you had it on the line where you're like this could be a poor decision i might be going in the water they're like at first when it did kind of just at first because i was this was on great bear like and i usually try and stay pretty close to the shore because the water

there's like it's like ice cold year round because the ice doesn't really melt till about july and then you know it freezes up in november december so and it's just so big that it never really warms up the water's always ice cold so i always generally try and stay close to the shore because, you know, if you ever were to tip your canoe in that ice cold water, like, you really wouldn't have much time to get to the shore swimming before, like, you know, hypothermia and stuff would take over. But yeah, I'd hook this big fish. And the first thing it did is it just, it turned away from the shore and just ended out. Yeah, so it probably took me, I was probably within, like, I don't know, I was, to be honest, I was probably paddling a little further out than I

should have been just to, you know, get where the deeper water is, where there could be a big fish and then this fish ended up taking me further out from shore so yeah there was a time where i was wondering like like how big is this thing like is it just going to keep pulling you know for till it gets out in the middle of the lake at one point i was thinking but uh eventually it kind of started to instead of pulling me it started to just kind of fight up and down like a lake trout normally does i'd say and then it kind of was just like a tug of war at that point but at first yeah at first when it just started to move the canoe around with ease. I was wondering if this, you know, this is a,

who knows how big this thing is. Did you get it in the canoe? And did you eat it? I did get, that was a, I had, I had had two other, like, really big trout on like that. I had caught lots of trout, but I had,

the time I was there, I had three of these, like, really mega trout on. The first two I had lost, I had lost them both, like, right beside the boat, like, trying to reach out with my net and net them,

but at the same time, you know, not tip the canoe, but then, so this one was like the third. I really want to get you in here, but if I tip the boat, I'm dead. Yeah, yeah, so this was like the third, third really big one and I'm just like, oh, please let me land this one. But, you know, as I'm fighting it, like, I'm really, I'm expecting to lose it after these other two. And I'm kind of just like, honestly, just seeing them in the water is like cool enough. But then I ended up did getting this one in the net. And the big one I did let go just because there is, the fishing there is, you know, really good.

So you can, for the most part, you can always catch smaller fish to eat and the smaller ones maybe taste a little better. But just the big one, I guess. I always let the big fish go. I guess just kind of a, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Cool. Yeah, yeah.

That's, well, it's fascinating to me because, like, you know, like I said, it's like, literally, you got nobody to rely on. So this giant fish, you know, pulls you over. over. Only you got you and your wits to figure that out, right? And nobody's coming to your rescue. So in the back of your brain, you're like, I really want this fish. But on the other side of your brain you're going, but I can't tip this canoe. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. Could you fish off the shore and catch? Or was it? Yeah, you could. It all depend like where like along the trip I was catching lots fish from shore. I guess it all just depends on the, depends on the structure where you are,

I guess like if you, like a lot of places if there's a set of rapids or something, like that's an awesome place to fish from shore. It's honestly a place where I'd probably prefer to fish from shore because I can just, you know, sit there and cast without having to like, you know, hold the canoe in place as I try and fish, right? But yeah, there's a lot of places you can catch fish from shore. Sticking with surreal moments, right, of giant fish is certainly a surreal moment. I didn't mean to point it at one. You can point it at 10 for all I care. Yeah. Because when we talk, you know, when Dustin and I and Lori, for that matter, get talking about

the bike trip, it seemed like every day there was some, you know, it's a wonderful way to live life, you know? Because, you know, you think of most people, we're probably listening to this. They're probably driving to work, driving home from work, same, you know, kind of repetition. Even me now doing this full time. You know, I come in, I sit here, I do this. I look at the day and I go, man, this is going to be an interesting day, though. Look at the people.

But then I got, you know, kids hockey and then this and then laundry and then this. And it's kind of the same repetition. Now, you get in where you're 122 days, you kind of get in the same repetition as well. But every day has so much variation, I would say, that I could see how every day could have a surreal moment. You mentioned the big fish. What else comes to mind? Yeah, for sure, there's kind of every day has its own moments for sure. some other highs like just like a lot of the the beautiful scenery like that Canadian shield country

I really enjoy and especially when you're kind of on those lakes and you have them all to yourself and paddling under the midnight sun was also a really incredible thing it's kind of like the sunset and the sunrise almost kind of stretch into one another it's just really really some incredible evenings up paddling in the midnight sun um I got to see my first ever muscocks those were pretty pretty cool experience for sure they're kind of uh yeah look like they're from the the ice age i would say kind of big horns and long woolly fur so really really neat and then yeah i see wildlife like did you have to take a double take on what the heck is that well when i i remember when i've seen the first one it was quite a ways in the distance

and at first I thought I was a, I just thought I seen dark, so I thought I was a bear. And then as I got closer, I'm sorry, I seen like that light, the light patch from the horns on the dark. So I've seen light on dark. Then I was like, maybe this is not a, or maybe just, you know, a chocolate black bear or something. But then, yeah, sure enough, I got closer and then I kind of registered what it was. But yeah, I did, it was definitely a bit of a double take at first. What other, like when you talk about wildlife, I would think, maybe I'm wrong, you know, because I thought biking, I thought we would have saw all this different wildlife. And it took us until BC. Think about that. We started in Newfoundland. It took us until BC to see her first moose. Actually, I think to see our first bear, if memory serves me correct, I could be wrong on that.

Funny how time goes by and you start to forget things. That's weird. when it comes to wildlife a muscox definitely you know giant fish or fishing every single day did you see anything like I don't even know I have no idea you mentioned bears I just think of like predators was there anything like

cougars or anything that is that would make you kind of go I better be careful where I'm at yeah I guess the main would be bears and then there's wolves up there to it I don't think I don't think the cougars they maybe go a little little bit up there, but I don't think they go, I don't think they go way up there. Did you hear the

wolves at night? There was a couple times I'd hear wolves howl and there was one time I was, I guess, the only wolf I actually seen with my eyes. Again, there's like, I guess there's, there is, you know, wildlife up there, but, you know, the north is kind of like a, there's wildlife up there, but it's not super dense, I guess, right? So I feel like you, you always think you might see a bunch, but sometimes you can go, generally, you might go in a couple days, you know, without seeing any sort of big game, I guess, and you'll see one, and then you might not see him for a couple days. But the wolf, I was on Great Bear Lake, and I was camped on this little rock point.

I always camped on the rock points because they're quite pretty and kind of a little less buggy and stuff. But I was camped there, and it was a windy day, so I was just sitting there and watching the waves, kind of waiting for it to calm down, just resting. And then I heard this little kind of a rustle off to the side of me. and I turned and looked and there was a big white wolf and it was only about, probably only about like 15 or 20 feet away from me and it was kind of crouched down and looking right at me and kind of like pretty much stalking in towards me, I guess.

So I got up and shouted at it and made myself look big and but as soon as I did that, it kind of a coward and turned and ran away, but it was kind of a little spooky to turn around and see that right there kind of coming towards you see a wonder. I wonder, you know, if I didn't, if I didn't hear that little rustle of grass, like, what would have happened there, I guess. Did you have a gun or, I assume you had a knife, but like, did you have something for protection? Yeah, I have a, I bring a shotgun with slugs. That's for bear protection. I usually always keep that pretty close to me.

And then I also have a can of air spray on my belt at all times. And then I do have a knife too, but a knife would definitely be a last resort for sure. I find this fascinating because most of us just don't experience what you've gone through, you know. Did you write about it? Did you have a journal? Did you write every day? Or did you have a way of keeping maybe a voice memo or something? Did you just kind of keep a journal of your thoughts and the days happening?

Yeah, I did have a journal and I tried to journal either every, I tried to write a bit down every night before I was. went to bed just to kind of a recount the day and that's probably that's probably the main reason you don't lose track of the days i guess would be having that journal but yeah i really tried to tried to write about a lot of the you know what i was experiencing or feeling or the best part of the day and stuff like that you're um you're giving i don't know are they talks yeah just like uh presentations because no presentations thank you you're going around giving presentations are you writing a book? I want to eventually, it's just, right now the journal, I've just got my journal all typed up, I guess. But a book would be something that would be definitely a ways down the road,

I would say. You typed up your journal? So you went back through all your days in the journal and typed it out? Yeah. How was that walking back through? It was pretty cool. Like, well, just, not just the journal too, but, you know, going through the photos and videos, I guess, yeah, really kind of uh really takes you back to being there and kind of it's almost like you get to relive it again so it's pretty cool because it you know in the during the trip i was kind of always you know writing all the stuff down or taking all these videos or pictures you're kind of like oh am i taking away from the trip you know putting the time and to do all this stuff but afterwards it's definitely definitely rewarding to have that stuff to kind of look back on for sure are you going

do more? Like are you planning on more solos or or I don't mean that obviously you're not going to just like stop canoeing. Yeah. But you know, it's funny when we did it in 20, 20, 2006, my plan had always been to do more. And then life happens and, you know, I've gotten to, you know, do a couple of fun trips on the bicycle for sure, but nothing that even comes close to Canada anymore, you know, like that's, didn't realize it at the time, but it was, it was really a once in a lifetime trip. And it doesn't mean that it can't happen again. It just, you know, it's been almost 20 years, you know, and I thought, you know, we have big plans to go biking other different places.

Do you, do you have, I don't know, summer, spring is coming again, you know, or do you have plans in place? Yeah, I definitely, I have, I haven't made like a concrete plan at this point. I guess at this point I've kind of got, you know, maybe three different options that I've pretty much planned out, you know, these, so it just be the time of, I guess, you know, how much time do I have this summer and I guess how much do I, can I get saved up this winter to afford another one, I guess those would be the main factors. But yeah, I definitely, I definitely do want to do another one for sure, whether that be this coming summer or maybe wait a couple

summers or something. But yeah, I definitely, I definitely do want to do another one. Where's on where's like now that you've, you know, and I don't mean, you know, I don't know, what's the word conquered, got through, passed through, uh, Northwest territories. Where's the next spot that you look at and you go, that would be fun. Yeah, there is. Well, that's the thing about Canada too. Like there's just so much. I mean, there's so much wilderness that like for me, the hardest part of actually planning a trip is probably just deciding between all the possibilities, I guess. Like, uh, I think like at the top of the top of. The top of. The top of. My list probably right now would be like a, like where I paddled, I kind of followed, ended up finishing on the McKenzie. And that's, so that's kind of the northernmost trees in Canada. So there the tree line goes just about to the Arctic Ocean. It falls maybe, I don't know, would it be 50 kilometers short of the ocean along the river. But if you go kind of, you know, straight north of Manitoba or north Saskatchewan, the, the tree line is much further south.

like they have what they call, I guess, the barren lands. So it's kind of, you know, you get out there and eventually you get north and there's no trees at all. So that's kind of probably considered one of the, I don't know what word you use for it, one of the pinnacles of wilderness canoeing, I guess, would be like a trip on the barren lands. So maybe that would be my, that would probably be where I'd, if I do want to do another trip, I'd probably want to experience that country. Oh, man, this has been, this has been interesting. Like, where can people come finding, right?

If they, because you got your presentations, where can they, um, uh, track your schedule. And if they want to come see more here, more, heck, maybe there's some guy out there or girl that's like, oh, I've been thinking about doing this. You just want to get in contact and pick your brain on, you know, like some, some things to remember before you, you, you take it on an adventure like this. Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah. So I'm actually doing, uh, well, I'm in Edmonton this Thursday. So February 22nd, I'm presenting in Edmonton. And then February 23rd, I'm presenting in Calgary.

And actually, this evening, I'm doing a presentation in Vermilion. So those are the- Where are you doing it in Vermillion? There's a local canoe shop there. He just reached out to me. I don't know. I never even really asked him how he got wind of the presentation. I don't know if he's seen one of my ads in Edmonton,

but he asked me to come out there. And I think he's got, I think, 40 people. or so that are willing to come out. So it'll be a, that'll be a good, good night for sure. Kind of an unexpected, unexpected stop, I guess. For the, for the, for the, for the, the, the listener, all these nights will be passed by the time this bloody thing releases. Oh, yeah.

I'm heading on, I'm heading on holidays. So for all the people who are listening, they've already heard that a bunch of times. And so, um, this will come out after that. But we'll see if we can to help promote a few things on social media. That way, uh, oh yeah, thank you. Like, the fact you're going to Vermillion is, you know, like, that's a small world, you know? Like it's just like you're going basically to, you know, 20 minutes down, well, I guess half an hour down the road from here. And to, you know, like, that's interesting, I guess.

I didn't even realize there was a, not that there isn't a canoe place there. Just that, you know, like I get throwing your name and then you're sliding by to, you know, it's a small world. Yeah, just, I don't know, it just, yeah, he reached out to me. And I guess it, yeah, I ended up working out. So it was kind of just a cool little opportunity that I, I didn't plan it. all but it just came to be that's cool man well I appreciate you coming in here yeah thank you so much I don't know you know like it's just you're it reminds me of you know there's this call to adventure and I think most people have it you know

it's just whether you answer the call at times and then go go find out because like this is you know I don't know what it is about the water it scares the living crap out of me but it also is like but it almost like that'd be a lot of fun You know, like, and what you did is, you know, and I never did ask, did you ever have a moment out there where you're like, oh, crap, you know, did you ever take on water? Did you ever capsize or hit the rocks? You know, did you ever have a moment where you got pushed to the brink?

And, well, obviously you survived it, but, I mean, where you, you had that level of, like, fear like, like this could be, oh, this could be real bad. Yeah, the whole trip was, you know, managed to. avoid that the only like in the start of the trip the only times where there would have been that level of fear was on a great slave lake I had to make I had to cross these channels to kind of shave off you know otherwise but I had to go add in a couple hundred kilometers but I would cross these channels so the longest channel was about like a five kilometer channel but the narrowest part was about three

kilometers so and I guess on that on a on a big lake like that though you know going three kilometers out from shore is kind of a always a hazard because if the wind picks up on a lake that size it really doesn't doesn't take long to get big enough waves and it really doesn't take that big of a wave to, you know, tip a canoe. So that was definitely, that was one of the most scary and then at the end, right near the end, I think it was day, day 102 was kind of just like a,

I guess I maybe got a little, little too comfortable at that point, but there's, uh, on the McKenzie, there's only, only two sets of rapids on the entire length of the McKenzie, like major rapids. There's the Sanzo rapids and then the rampart rapids. And I ended up paddling them both in the, in the same day. But I'd done the, the sandal rapids in the morning. And then in the, I got to the ramparts rapids like just before sunset. And this time it is getting, this was in probably, probably, This would have been start of September, just early September. So at this time, it's getting dark.

And I get to this Ramparts Rapids. And from what I had read, it really wasn't anything crazy. Like, I guess I had this, I'd been told by some local people to stay on the right side. And then I had this book that said, The Right Side of the Safest Way, kind of gentle standing waves, I guess was the term that he had used to describe it. but I had stopped at the top of the rapid to like it's a standard procedure like on a canoe trip you stop and you kind of scout scout the rapid but uh the ramparts is quite long like it was about like the swift water is probably a kilometer long so to speak and um so when you say swift water you're just saying fast water like we're not calling this rapids it's just it's moving real fast I'd say it would be like like on the on the left side of the river it's like a big rapid right at the start on the right side where I was it's kind of just what I'd call fast water be just like you know some gentle waves so it's so it's definitely a a small rapid but nothing uh nothing to really worry about

at that point but uh so I'd got out to scout it and kind of so from the top I could see that yeah the left side was definitely a no-go the center of the rapid was uh it just looked like really big waves like you know I could go through there but it's just me like if I tipped out there the middle and keep in mind the mackenzie's like a two mile wide river right so if i tip in the middle you know that's like a mile swim possibly to the shore and cold water so that's uh definitely not a scenario you want to be in but then this right side which i've been told to go it looked like it was all clear but i couldn't really see right to the bottom and then as the rapid goes the ramparts is called the ramparts because it's like these cliffs that rise up so

As the rapids goes, the shore starts to kind of get higher up. So because of that, I didn't really investigate the bottom as good as I should have. I kind of let my guard down. And this happened to be, it was, the McKenzie was at the lowest water in over 30 years. So anytime the river level changes, you know, it's really going to drastically affect a rapid. Like it could make something that's, something that's usually not a rapid at all could become something deadly. and something that's deadly could all of a sudden become just calm water. Yeah, just all depends on the bottom of the river.

But as I was going down, all of a sudden, I see there's two ledges going across the river, which is like a, that's like where the water kind of drops over a little ledge, I guess, maybe. I don't know, maybe three or four feet high, but below a ledge is like what's called a hole, I guess. So the water kind of recirculates to some degree. So there's. I think of a dam or something, right? Where it kind of churns? Yeah, so there's the chance that I guess there's the risk that, you know,

maybe if you tip there, would you get stuck in that hole and not be able to fight out that current driver? But anyways, I've seen these two ledges, which is something you always want to avoid in a canoe. But at this point, those kind of cliffs were already about 10 feet high, so there was really no, there was nowhere to, like, escape. Like, I could have made me. Your pot committed.

Yeah, pretty much. I was committed at that point. Like I had started back paddling and looking at the shore. And I was just looking at it. I'm like I could maybe try and climb up that. But my canoe is for sure. There's no way I'm getting my canoe up that. And I don't even think I can climb up that.

So at that point it was just like, well, I guess we're going down these two ledges. So I kind of just right on shore was like looked really bad. Like I definitely was not going to make it through that. So then I kind of just started paddling towards the middle of river, hoping it would get a little bit better. And it got a little bit better, but it was still like a, when I seen those coming, I was like, and oh shit, like, am I going to drown here because I was, you know, foolish not to kind of let my guard down a bit. But I went over that first ledge and I came like super close to tipping.

Like I, if you're, like, if your canoe starts to tip, you do what's called like a brace. Like you kind of push your paddle down on the water to almost to kind of, if that makes sense. You say your canoe is pushing the left, you do a brace on the left, which kind of, you know, pushes yourself back up. So I had almost tipped on. I remember I had all my weight on my paddle to kind of push myself back up. So I made it through that first ledge, and then, but at that point I was, like, so full of water. And then when your canoe is full of water, it's hard to steer and it's incredibly tippy, right? And then I had to go through this next ledge. so I was amazed I was amazed that I had made it through that first one like I was fully expecting like there's no way I was going to make it through that first one without tipping and possibly worse but I made it through that first one and then the second one now I have all this water and I went down the second one but then I got hit by this right right where I went down there happened to be this like wave that was like almost perpendicular to the ledge so it kind of hit me on my side and like it spun my canoe

kind of parallel to the ledge, I guess, and then that recirculating water was like super strong, so it was just pushing me back at that ledge. So I guess if it would have pushed me back, you know, then I probably would have filled with water would be my guess. But somehow I was able to kind of turn myself to point the right way and get out of there. Like it, and when I think about it, like,

it's almost like a weird feeling because it was like, when I think about how I turned the canoe, like with how much water and weight was in the canoe, like I shouldn't have been able to turn it that easy, but somehow like somehow made it through. So I guess I just, and now that community where Bruce is from, they have this saying like, the ancestors were with us. And I just wonder, like, you know, was somebody there in that moment to like almost help me through that moment? Yeah, it was kind of like a strange, strange feeling like I, like I shouldn't have made it through that type thing.

because I'm I paddle a lot, but I'm not like a, I'm not really a whitewater guy. Like I go for the wilderness and the adventure and stuff. You know, some guys, they're going just for that white water, but I'm, that's not really what I'm going for. I mean, I will do it, but it's not my main reason I'm out there. But yeah, it was just kind of a, it was definitely the scariest moment probably would have been that.

Wouldn't I teach you? Definitely not let your card down. Yeah. And always, yeah, like, You really got a respect, respect the river at all times. Like at this point, I guess, it was kind of, you know, late in the day, tired. I'd been told to go on the right side. I had this book, you know, but you know you should, I knew I should never trust.

I knew I should never trust advice, I guess, but kind of, I guess, just let my guard down. But, yeah, it was a good learning lesson for sure. And a mistake I hopefully will never repeat. It's interesting from my eyes where I sit. I've asked a lot of questions today. And the one I almost missed, it's probably something you're going to sit and think. You know, when you use the word strange, weird, that means so many different things. It's just like you can go back to that time.

You can sit and think about that time and you cannot explain it. Yeah, yeah, because it's kind of just like when you're, well, like, because my canoe had, you know, a ton of gear in it already. So it's already, you know, the more weight you have any canoe, the heart. it is to steer and then with like I don't know probably at least eight inches of water in it so that's like a you know that's a lot of weight so it was yeah really a kind of yeah it just felt like when I put the paddle in and to turn like it just felt like you know it shouldn't have been that easy to steer out of there I guess that's a wild story yeah yeah it is kind of a definitely yeah you got any more wild stories hanging over there that I haven't asked about because if if I turn off the mic now that's

probably the most uh like I mean there's always the risk of stuff like that happening on a trip like this but for the most part like to have a successful trip is you know you'll you avoid all those wild moments if I've gotten anything off well I've gotten many things from our chat today but one of the things that I don't know seems evident in talking to is it was very methodical planned like I'm going to mitigate all these risks. I'm not going out to the, I'm not, I'm not paddling across this lake and exposing myself to all these hardships. We're going to be methodical about how we go about things. You had one moment where, you know, whether you let your guard down or you just thought, oh, no, it's not that as bad or whatever. We've all had those moments. And, you know, and you

experience the consequences of that choice. And in, you know, everyday life, for the most part, we don't, it isn't between life or death. With, With you off by yourself all alone, you had this moment where you just like, crap, like, what am I going to do? Yeah. And you scoot through and now you've got to think about it. You know, it's, it's, oh, that's it's an interesting story. Yeah, yeah. It was like in the moment too was like, yeah, because I'm like me not, obviously I'm, you know, I'm, I did this trip obviously.

So I'm not like, I obviously take some risk. But when I'm on a trip like this, like I'm, you know, I'm always. thinking as cautious and as careful as I can be, like almost always, like I'm usually, like I'm very respectful of the water and, you know, usually I'm always super cautious. But yeah, in this one instance, you know, after day 100, you know, of all this trip of being super cautious and doing my best to avoid risk, you know, it really only takes one kind of a slip up and yeah, you can get in a bad situation. What do you miss about being there? Yeah, like when you're up there, it's just like kind of, it's like you're in your own little world, I guess.

Like life is so simple and real when you're on a canoe trip, kind of. Like it's almost like the, it's almost like you're going back in time kind of to when like, you know, life was about like, you know, you catch your fish when you're hungry. You sleep when you're tired. You paddle when it's calm and not windy, right? Like it's really, you're just really connected to nature and it just feels. feels real and it feels like there's consequences and i mean obviously there's consequences in real life too but it just feels that much more real i guess when you're out there in the wilderness i guess that's cool man appreciate you coming and doing this well yeah well thank you so much for having me

i really appreciate it yeah i look forward to uh if you if you do get a if you do release a book you make sure you uh you let us know and we'll have you back on talk but i love nothing more thank you appreciate it anytime i get to meet a fellow event you know when i see started this podcast, you were asking me about, you know, with the, when I first started it, I haven't talked about this in forever. I had three main things I wanted to talk about, sports, history, and adventurous people. Oh, really? That was, that was the main impetus, if you would, on starting this because I, I played my career in hockey, I got my degree in history, and then I bike Canada. I'm like, if I can find more stories like that, you know,

like one of the one of the ones that just fascinating, man, this is going way back, episode one something was Tanya Avi she was 18 when she sailed the entire ocean oh wow in a solo circumnavigated the world in a sailboat and I was just like it terrifies me and yet I'm so captivated yeah because I mean like you've seen things that very few people have seen right like that I have experience you've gone to the edge of the world peaked over and come back to tell us all and not many people get that so anytime I get to to to bring somebody like that especially in studio, man, this has been a good day. I had this one circled.

I'm like, this gives me a lot of fun. So thanks again for coming in. And best of luck with all your talks and presentations. And well, wish you the best of luck with it. And look forward to hopefully seeing a book someday when it's all written. I appreciate that.