Vermillion Chutes. PHOTO: MAX FINKELSTEIN


At peace on the Peace. PHOTO: MAX FINKELSTEIN


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When Alexander Mackenzie paddled the Peace River in 1793, he described its shores as hav- ing “the most beautiful scenery [he] had ever beheld.” Tese are not words to be taken lightly coming from the explorer who criss-crossed Canada by canoe several times while seeking canoe routes to the Arctic and Pacific oceans. Mackenzie was the first European to paddle


the 2,000-kilometre Peace River. His crew of six wintered in Fort Fork, near the present- day town of Peace River, before continuing up- stream against the Peace’s steady current in a reinforced, 25-foot birchbark canoe. When they ran out of river they portaged 14 kilometres over the Rockies and pushed on to the Pacific tidewater near Bella Coola, British Columbia. In 1968, the W.A.C. Bennett Dam created


Williston Lake—the largest in British Colum- bia—and manhandled the upper portion of the


PEACE RIVER • British Columbia and Alberta MAPS: Topographic 94-A/4, INFO: www.abcanoekayak.org


river. But below Hudson’s Hope the Peace River remains much the same as when Mackenzie paddled it more than two centuries ago. Between Hudson’s Hope and the Alberta bor-


der the Peace is a prairie river, cutting a wind- ing course through 270-metre-high banks of silt and clay, its flow augmented by hundreds of ice-cold, mineral-rich springs. Mackenzie called this section of river “a magnificent theatre of nature [that] has all the decoration which the trees and animals of the country can afford it.” To rediscover Mackenzie’s Peace River, put


in at Hudson’s Hope, British Columbia, on Highway 29, and float just over 200 kilometres downstream and across the provincial border to Dunvegan, Alberta, on Highway 2. As long as you can handle easy whitewater, this section of river is portage-free and takes five to seven days to paddle comfortably.


94-A/3, 94-A/2, 94-A/1, 84-D/6, 84-D/4, 84-D/3, 84-D/2.*


OUTFITTERS: North Base Outdoors, Peace River, 866-406-6784


READING: Voyages from Montreal, Alexander Mackenzie’s account of canoeing up the Peace River to cross the Rockies and wade in the Pacific near Bella Coola was published in 1801, and remains an inspiring read today.


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EXPLOITS RIVER • Newfoundland


Te Exploits River was once the main trans- portation artery for Newfoundland’s Beothuk. Like most aboriginal bands, the Beothuk were often on the move. Tey paddled 14- to 20-foot birchbark canoes up and down a 120-kilometre stretch of the Exploits to travel from their win- ter homes around Red Indian Lake in Newfound- land’s wildlife-rich interior to the Atlantic coast of Notre Dame Bay, where they spent their sum- mers fishing. But the Beothuk were more reclusive than


other aboriginal bands when it came to dealing with Europeans. Rather than trading directly, they picked up discarded metal goods at aban- doned European settlements, and altered their traditional routes to avoid encounters. Misun- derstandings led to violent conflicts and their population plummeted. Te last known Beothuk, named Shanawdithit, was captured in 1828. She died in St. John’s in 1829. In addition to the attributes that made it ap-


Less traffic. PHOTO: KEVIN REDMOND CANOE ROOTS n 37


pealing to its first paddlers—ample wildlife and a direct route from the interior to the coast—the Exploits makes for good day- and multi-day trip- ping for paddlers comfortable paddling in or portaging around class I to III whitewater. Te


Exploits holds its water well throughout the summer and parts of it see less traffic today than they did in the time of the Beothuk. Te best paddling on the Exploits is upstream


of the Abitibi pulp mill in Grand Falls-Windsor. Beothuk Park, located in town on the Trans-Can- ada Highway, makes a good take-out. For a day trip, shuttle 20 kilometres upstream to Aspen Brook. Put in further upstream at Badger for an overnight trip or at Buchans for a four-day trip.


MAPS: Topographic 2-D/13, 12-A/15, 12-A/16.* INFO:www.explorenewfoundlandandlabrador.com


OUTFITTERS: Red Indian Adventures, Grand Falls-Windsor, www.redindianadventures.com, 719-486-0892


READING: The River Thieves, a novel by Michael Crummey, describes winter expeditions on the Exploits River led by British naval officer David Buchans in the 1810s. The story pits John Peyton Sr., a notorious persecutor of the Beothuk, against his son John Jr., who sympathizes with their plight.


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