Al Stirt, Wendy Scott and Friends: Canoe Tripping in Northern Quebec and Labrador

 

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About Our Canoe Trips and Traveling Companions.

(Continued from Home page.)

Since that first trip, we have paddled and portaged our way through some of the most beautiful and remote areas of the provinces to our north.  By utilizing road, railroad and commercial flights to get to our jumping-off places, we have been able with a modest budget to reach truly isolated areas.

Almost every year, we've been able to spend a month to six weeks or more on the land. Our routes take us on saltwater, up and down rivers and streams, and cross country through small ponds and large lakes and over heights of land.

The primary value of these trips for me is spiritual rather than recreational. I enjoy counting the number of portages completed and the miles of rapids run or windy lakes crossed, but the most important part of any trip is spending time on the land. It is in these wild places that one can imagine the Earth being born.

An increasing amount of development is happening in the north. Mining and hydro activity and the concurrent building of roads and other infrastructure will change the area profoundly in the coming years.  We feel incredibly lucky that we've been able to travel through this country while it is still wild.

We also feel lucky that we have been able to find traveling companions who love the north as we do.  We've done more than 20 trips with Dave Brown and Ann Ingerson, who have been loyal friends through all sorts of adventures. Sometimes we have to run to keep up with them on the portages.

Dick Irwin has been another longtime traveling friend who, in addition to being an indefatigable canoe companion, introduced us to winter camping. We also have to work pretty hard to keep up with him.

I've only done two trips with Bob Kimber (Wendy's been on three) but if I had a choice, I'd rather go with Bob than with myself.

Dawn Morgan and Rick Morrill, although relatively inexperienced, were brave enough to embark on a trip with us that began by paddling 75 miles up Hudson Bay before heading inland to go up the Wiatchuan River and down the Clearwater.

In the early 1980s, Jim Higgins and Dave Boedy introduced me to the railroad from Sept Iles to the interior: the QNS&L.

Alexandra Conover, my partner on the Nastapoka trip in 2008, was a terrific canoeing partner and a great addition to our group.

Eric Nuse was my partner on the Whale River trip and proved to be a tireless paddler and portager.

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