CANOE ACROSS CANADA
It took 7 years of short Canadian summers, but Pamela and Geoff MacDonald had the adventure of a lifetime when they picked up their paddles and set off across the country. They broke the 7000km route into 6 sections, first paddling up the BC coast from Victoria, then up the Nechako, Fraser, and Columbia Rivers, before doing a massive 100km portage carrying the canoe and all their bags over three mountain ranges to the Rockies and on to the Continental Divide. And that was only the first year: the sprawling Prairies and rugged Canadian Shield and the Great Lakes still spread out before them, feeling like an eternity away.
Inspired by Terry Fox’s cross-country run, the MacDonalds set off in the summer of 2007 with a 20′ canoe and a giant dog, and by the end of the trip they had an extra two children in tow. They travelled a lot of wilderness, requiring them to carry several weeks of supplies at a stretch, and although they set out looking forward to vast stretches of solitude between towns in the end they came to really enjoy the time with people they met along the way — they got to know both the country and the people in it.
For more info on the trip, check out their website canoeacrosscanada.ca
