The expedition will begin in Prince Rupert along the Northen British Columbia coast. The first few days will consist of coastal paddling before heading inland at Kemano Beach. This will be followed by a lengthy portage of 51 kilometers to the waters of the Nechako Reservoir...Ootsa Lake, Tahtsa Lake, the Cheslatta River and the Nechako River enroute to the Fraser River and the city of Prince George.
Past Prince George is the 11 kilometer Giscome portage towards Summit Lake. After Summit Lake the Crooked River will take me to Williston Lake, a huge manmade reservoir created by the construction of the WAC Bennet Dam and Peace Canyon Dam near the town of Hudson Hope.
I'll portage around the Dams, resupply in Hudson Hope and continue on, paddling the full length of the Peace River enroute to Lake Athabasca in Northen Alberta. Upon reaching Lake Athabasca, I'll be turning onto the Athabsca River for several days of upriver paddling against the currents of the Athabsca. At Fort MacMurray, I'll turn east onto the Clearwater River for more upriver paddling and numerous portages to Whitemud Falls and the start of the grueling 19 kilometer Methye Portage.
The Methye portage will take me through to the headwaters of the Churchill River system in Saskatchewan beginning at Lac La Loche. The Churchill River system will take me through numerous lakes and river sections, through dozens of portages and past rapids of up to Class 5! Yikes!!
Near the Saskatchewan/ Maintoba border, I'l paddle 7 portage my way across from the Churchill River system and into the Saskatchewan River system as I head into the province of Manitoba.
My route across Manitoba will see me through Cedar Lake, Grand Rapids portage, into Lake Winnipeg for some big open water paddling and eventually onto the Winnipeg River (Back to upriver paddling) as I head further eastwards and into Ontario.
Some parts of the Ontario section of the route after the Winnipeg River include Lake of the Woods, Rainy Lake, Rainy River, Namakan Lake, Namakan River and numerous other lakes & portages on my way to the 13.6 kilometer Grand portage into Lake Superior...the largest lake in the world!
I'll paddle along the northern coast of Lake Superior, eventually into Georgian Bay on Lake Huron and up the French River to Lake Nippising. Next is the Mattawa River followed by the Ottawa River before entering into the mighty St. Lawrence River.
Past Montreal I'll continue to make my way down the St. Lawrence River, eventually either rounding the Gaspe Peninsula and making my way across to New Brunsiwck and on to Nova Scotia OR...at Riviere Du Loup, I could make a HUGE portage (roughly 100 kilometers) overland which would take me towards the St. John River in Northern New Brunswick. From there I'd paddle down the St. John River, head out into the Bay Of Fundy...home of the highest tides in the world...which I most recently paddled back in 2001. Upon entering the Bay Of Fundy, I'd be just a short paddle of a week or so to my finish in either downtown Moncton New Brunswick or just outside my hometown of Amherst Nova Scotia.
Either way, it promises to be an amzing trip full of challenges amazing memories to last a lifetime! |
