Canoeing’s Greatest misadventures
And you thought your trip was a disaster by Kevin Callan
illustrations by Paul Mason Splattered Sputnik
Arctic ecologist Christopher Norment and five partners expected to leave behind the more alienating aspects of modern technology when they set out in 1977 on a two- year canoe trip from the Yukon to Hudson Bay. They were wintering along the Thelon River when
their romantic notions came crashing down to earth along with the wreckage of the Cosmos 954 nuclear satellite. With the fiery debris smoking at the nearby crash site, the group experienced a rude re-entry into civiliza- tion when military types dressed like storm troopers swooped down in helicopters and hustled them off to Edmonton where they were incarcerated and tested for radiation poisoning.
Thanks, but no thanks
Sometimes too much of a bad thing can be a good thing. George Back encountered so much calamity while fol- lowing Sir John Franklin on his first few quests for the Northwest Passage it might just have saved his life. After all, spending 10 months on a ship adrift in pack ice, witnessing starvation, cannibalism, mutiny, murder and the agony of scurvy would be enough to give a man pause to think.
Happily for George Back, he not only survived Sir John Franklin’s leadership style, he had the good sense to decline an invitation to join the nobleman on his final expedition of 1845, from which none returned.
Coles Notes coming soon
In 1903, two writers from New York set off on a trip that would lead to enough suffering, betrayal, rivalry and romance to fill a book store. Leonidas Hubbard, Dillon Wallace and native guide George Elson got lost on their way to an uncharted river
in northern Labrador, ending up on the wrong river where Hubbard died of starvation. Wallace managed to return to New York to pen a book that reflected poorly on his departed partner, infu- riating Hubbard’s widow Mina. When Wallace announced plans to return to Labrador to finish the journey, Mina decided to team up with the original guide Elson and beat Wallace to the punch. In a whirlwind conclusion to the tragically-comedic
romantic thriller, Wallace once again got himself lost while Mina and Elson found what they were looking for, spurred on, it is rumoured, by their illicit love affair.
2005 Annual 17
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