Dan and Alice met just before Dan headed into the winter
wilds for the Coast Range traverse. After cervical fusion sur- gery and recovery from the accident, the couple dropped off the radar for seven months of hiking and climbing in Austra- lia, New Zealand and China. Like many wilderness-loving couples, Alice and Dan forged
their relationship in the delights and trials that wilderness trips and travel provide. They didn’t see why this should change with children. When Koby was only three months old, the new threesome
stepped out on their first family adventure, a 10-day backpack trip across the Arctic Circle on Baffin Island. The heavy loads caused Dan and Alice to recognize what many canoeists know
It wasn’t all wilderness, as it turned out. Three weeks in,
the family portaged a long section of rapids by car to Fort McMurray, where they encountered the savaged landscape of Alberta’s tar sands developments. A master of understatement, Dan says that “paddling
through the tar sands development was an eye opener.” The family resorted to bailing rainwater from the canoe to drink, as the river was too dirty. In the film, the tar sands move five-year-old Koby to break
our collective wild hearts with an earnest conversation with the sky, as the canoe floats through murky brown, foam-cov- ered waters under a belching Gotham-like tar refinery at the river’s edge. “Clouds! Clouds! Clouds!” he implores, “can you
Escaping the wind meant dreamy 4 a.m. paddles on a glassy Great Slave Lake, as the kids slumbered in their cockpits.
to be fact: hikes are just one long portage. Inspiration for a dif- ferent type of trip came in the form of the documentary Find- ing Farley, in which a young family travels across the continent, much of it by canoe, through landscapes that inspired the work of famous writer and environmentalist Farley Mowat. With their canoe, the Young-Clark family was able to
disappear to more remote regions, and for longer periods, on their wilderness adventures. After paddling the coast of Alaska and the Yukon River, they wanted more. A full sum- mer on the water seemed like a real possibility. As a teacher, Dan was able to negotiate a leave-of-absence to extend his summer holidays. Alice, a Doctor of Chinese Medicine, hung a “gone paddling” sign on her practice. After months of plan- ning, the family nosed a fully loaded Hellman Cruiser into the Athabasca River near Jasper, the southernmost point from which they could safely paddle with kids, and headed downstream for 100 days of family camping in the wilder- ness. Or so they thought.
38 SUMMER/FALL 2013
come and sponge away the smell of gloppity glop in the air?” Their journey is full of quintessential summer camping
scenes: bare bums in frigid water, kids squealing with delight on a mosquito-clouded beach and a third birthday party cel- ebrated inside a screened shelter with full bug suits. “Leaving Fort Smith we encountered the worst bugs of the
trip,” explains Dan, “but amazingly the kids hardly seemed to notice them, they went about their play at each campsite.” “Being together was soothing through the challenging
times,” adds Alice. “Being unplugged and connected 24/7— without the distractions of town—everything in nature be- comes a treasure. The kids just loved finding treasure.” Nat- ural discoveries, such as rocks, feathers, bones and sticks, trump iPods every time. While many parents fear taking young ones on long pad-
dles, canoe time for the kids was a combination of naps, playtime and helping with paddling, when they wanted. The canoe provided the space for the kids to spread out and cre-
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