First, we chose a route. We expect it to evolve as the trip progresses. Next, we built a budget and saved enough money (we hope!) to finance the trip and our reintegration afterwards. We had to decide on a diet, acquire the right gear and maps, and store everything else that is “us” safely for a few years. Only then can we start.

Patience is our virtue. Experience tells us that in the bush almost anything is possible if you can wait for the right time to do it. Of course some crossings are uncertain, and we may be calling for help to get around them. We won’t sacrifice safety. The straits of Belle Isle are one such obstacle.

The weather is a major factor in route planning. Many thanks to Environment Canada! We’ve been watching the weather along the route daily for the last three years. We’ve plotted historical weather data for the BC coast and from that we know 2006 has been particularly stormy! Environment Canada also provides access to real-time flow data for many rivers we’ll be paddling. We can’t predict Mother Nature, but we can study what she’s done before and know what to expect.

Of all the water in the province of BC, the coast has the best chance of staying open in the winter. That’s why we’ll paddle from Victoria to Bella Coola then. At the head of the Dean Channel is the mouth of the Kimsquit River. That is where we’ll make a grand entrance into the continent-with a 50 km portage. It’s one of the lowest and shortest routes over the Coast Mountains. By then spring will be upon us, with the entire summer to reach the Chinook side of the Rockies. Along the way we’ll face the Fraser, in the wrong direction, from Prince George to Tete Jaune. Giscome Rapids and the Grand Canyon are the most noticeable topographic features along this 500 km climb. Fortunately, there are logging roads and a highway along most of this meandering (but swift) route. If our budgeted three months aren’t enough, we can head to the road and start walking with our canoe in tow.

We expect to spend our second winter somewhere in the front ranges of the Rockies. We’ll pass our time exploring the area; sleeping in our wall tent with our wood stove burning. Walking across the Prairies seems excessively arduous when we can easily cruise the Bow/Saskatchewan watershed to Lake Winnipeg in spring. Once there we’ll paddle along the north and eastern shores to be better prepared against westerly prairie storms.

We enter Ontario by climbing the Bloodvein and Gammon Rivers. From Red Lake we’ll traverse our third height of land, and then follow the Albany River to James Bay.

We believe that by this point we are projecting too far ahead in time to be certain what season it will be. We hope to reach James Bay by winter, advancing by snowshoe with Taq’s help, hauling a sled. Our route continues around the south tip of James Bay and then north along the eastern shore of Hudson Bay. We will resupply at the Northern stores in places like Chisasibi, Kuujjuaraapik, and Umiujaq. We are really looking forward to this beautiful and remote part of the trip. Between the Nastapoka and the Melezes we cross the fourth watershed divide of the trip. This will take us to Kuujjuaq, and Ungava Bay.

From Kuujjuaq we’ll paddle to and up the Koroc River, and cross the Torngat Mountains into Labrador. This will be our fifth and final height-of-land portage. From there, it’s a 2200-mile paddle to a big party in St. Johns where everyone is invited!

Our menu started by using wilderness cookbooks to record recipes into a spreadsheet. We then entered the nutritional content of each ingredient. We know how much to buy, what it will weigh, and that we’ll be adequately nourished. We can carry about 6 weeks of food at any time (without rationing), at an approximate weight of 10-15 lbs of food per person per week. (Coincidently, a 60 L barrel holds 42 days of quality food for an adult Malamute. Taq’s nutrition as a member of our team is important too!)

As you might expect, most recipes require a lot of flour, lentils, oats, rice, and pasta, but not much fruit or meat. For weeks we dehydrated fruit roll-ups and tomato sauces, something Jill Fredston recommended. For meat we cured and smoked our venison, Roger and Val Meilke of Provost were very generous to help us butcher it. Smoking the meat was tricky; in fact we ended up coating it with creosote. In the end we turned back to our dehydrator.

We still fall short of meeting our nutritionist’s recommendations. We have enlisted the help of Regenesis Holistic Resources of Comox, B.C. to supply us with supplements and wholesome ingredients for our recipes. For now, as best we can, we have a tasty and nutritious diet.

Our canoe must be strong, light, and maneuverable on both fast and flat water, and it must have a large capacity. It will be propelled by a sail, and strong, flexible paddles.

We have thousands of maps: topographic maps, park maps, and nautical charts. Google earth was invaluable in calculating distances and honing the route, as was the map library at the University of Waterloo. We carry a GPS and compasses, and a solar-charged satellite telephone for safety.

Barrels and waterproof canoe-packs will hold our things, as well as a homemade Wanigan (until we find someone who’ll part with their waterproof plastic ones.)

In fall, winter, and spring we’ll stay in a wood-heated tent; and in summer our tent will be a small light one. We will sleep in synthetic winter bags on the coast, lightweight down bags in summer, and what we call “chauffadors” (Marmot -40 down bags) in the continental winter. Our kitchen includes a pressure cooker, aluminum Dutch oven, ceramic-coated steel pot, and kettle.

There are two people who deserve particular mention and appreciation when it comes to our gear. Allyson Wong, Pam’s mom, is a genius with a sewing machine. With grace she built cases for our stove and axe, and Gore-Tex bib pants for both of us. These pants are higher quality and more functional than any manufacturer. We also have traditional sealskin Kamiks and Mittens to wear in the continental winter handmade by Elsipee Kunilusie of Pangnirtung. We are truly grateful to Elsipee and Allyson, for the talent, skill and care that went into making these pants and kamiks.

To be sure we haven’t forgotten anything critical we built a mock campsite in the garage. We went over it meticulously to be sure that everything we needed was there, and then we packed it again and again, purging pound after pound of unnecessary items as we went. I hope our decisions are sound!

Finally, we can’t carry everything for 4 years at once! We have separated our maps, food, and specific gear into packages that will be sent to us at various strategic locations along our route.

Fortunately for us, Taq is instinctively a great swimmer. Learning to be calm and casual in the canoe was easy for him too. He is very trusting of us, so coaxing him into the canoe the first time wasn’t too hard. At first, we had him get in and learn where to sit while the canoe was on land. Then we launched it off the end of the dock and he got in without hesitation.

We also taught him how to pull a sleigh. He was born a sled dog, so teaching him when to pull was a lot easier than teaching him when not too!

Taq’s other role is to alert us to danger in our camp. Bear safety is very important to us. Unlike the natural dangers that the weather and waves pose, wildlife is not predictable or avoidable. So far, we’ve been very lucky not to have any problems with bears. We often stop to in the afternoon to cook dinner and then return to the water for a few hours after. That way we don’t have food odours in our camp, and we can photograph a lot of wildlife late in the day when they come to the water’s edge to drink.

Hopefully it won’t be necessary, but if a bear does come into camp we’ll have pepper spray, and a shotgun. The shotgun will be loaded with a blank, a rubber bullet, and then We can’t emphasize enough how much we hope never to need the slugs. But we must prepare for the worst.

During the months leading up to the trip we spent a lot of time with friends and family in Ontario and Alberta, time that we felt necessary because once we embark, our visits with these people will be short and seldom.

A very big thank you to Regenesis