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