The Inside Passage.
Photo: dave aharonian
plaCes By conor Mihell
A Midwinter Night’s Dream
BeaT The winTer BlUeS By PlanninG a BiG exPediTion.
FOuR SuMMeR-LONG TRIPS To STreTch yoUr iMaGinaTion.
1. Go around the Rock 3. Paddle an Inland Ocean
Newfoundland escaped the radar of most ex- In 2003, Nancy Uschold, co-owner of Mar-
pedition kayakers until recently. Wendy Killor- quette, Michigan’s Sea Kayak Specialists, took
an became the first woman to circumnavigate the summer off to paddle around the lake
the Rock in 2006, and last summer Greg Sta- that sits at her doorstep. Her 1,820-kilometre
mer planned a “fast and exciting” trip around journey around Lake Superior linked some of
North America’s easternmost landmass. After her favourite paddling destinations, like the
paddling the 2,100 kilometres in a rocket-fast isolated beaches of Ontario’s Pukaskwa Na-
44 days, Stamer reflected, “I’m not sure what tional Park and the oxidized cliffs of Pictured
was most impressive, the coastline and wild- Rocks National Lakeshore. “I was lucky to
life...or the hospitality of the Newfoundland- have a summer that, though cold, foggy and
ers.” Expect big water crossings, Norway-like rainy early on, had very few storms,” Uschold
fjords and copious amounts of granite—but wrote. “I only took one weather day in 10
also sweeping sand beaches and some of the weeks—unheard of on Lake Superior!”
friendliest people on earth.
get insPired: Superior: Journeys on an
get insPired: gregstamer.com
Inland Sea, by Gary and Joanie McGuffin.
Boston Mills Press, 1995.
2. Circumnavigate the Sunshine State
“If you want to test yourself against everything
4. explore a Watery eden
Mother Nature has to throw at you, you have
The roots of North American sea kayaking can
found the way.” So begins the description of
be traced to the Inside Passage from Alaska’s
the Ultimate Florida Challenge, a 1,920-ki-
Glacier Bay to Seattle. Mountainous islands
lometre race around Florida that’s organized
scrape the sky and shield paddlers from Pacific
by WaterTribe, a speed-crazed small-boat
swells but also create tricky currents and gusty
marathon outfit. For mere mortals, it’s pos-
winds. Orca whales mark the top of one of the
sible to sea kayak Florida’s diverse coastline of
world’s most productive marine food chains
mangroves, manatees, beaches and paradisia-
and grace the totem poles of a rich First Na-
cal islands with far less suffering. The 26-seg-
tion seafaring culture. Since the early 1970s,
ment, 2,350-kilometre-long Florida Saltwater
the 2,000-kilometre route has become a rite of
Paddling Trail runs from Pensacola to Fort
passage for countless paddlers. Most inspiring
Clinch on the Georgia border, and includes
is Audrey Sutherland, a grandmother who has
the Florida Keys.
logged thousands of Inside Passage miles. Her
get insPired: floridapaddlingtrails.com
motto: “go simple, go solo, go now.”
get insPired: Kayaking the Inside Passage,
by Robert Miller. Countryman Press, 2005.
events
Feb 14–15 March 3–15 March 27–29
outdoor adventure show canoecopia southwest kayak symposium
Vancouver, BC Madison, WI San Diego, CA
Official Ride and
outdooradventureshow.ca rutabaga.com/canoecopia aqua-adventures.com
exclusive spOnsOR
Feb 20–22 March 27–29 April 17–19
outdoor adventure show paddlesport expo east coast canoe & kayak Festival
Toronto, ON Somerset, NJ Charleston, SC
outdooradventureshow.ca jerseypaddler.com ccprc.com
www.adventurekayakmag.com 15
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