Paddling to Hudson Bay

I'm spending the month of July in the north with three characters by the names of Turbo, Beef, and Perpick. We're loading two canoes and travelling up and down six different rivers to reach the shores of Hudson Bay and Ontario's northernmost community, Fort Severn. We're making a film about the whole adventure and would love for you to watch it some day. Stay tuned. Below are some details about the trip and a rough map of our route.

We start paddling south on the Spruce River, then head upstream for 100km on the Otoskwin River. Then down the technical and portage-laden Pipestone River before jutting west to reach the smaller Ashweig River, which we'll paddle down to reach the height of land that divides the Winisk and Severn Watersheds. From there we'll follow on old trade route through creeks and swamps into Big Trout Lake. From then on we're cruising down the Fawn River and finally the Severn River. Apparently these last two are quite a sight, especially after hanging out in swamps at the height of land. Altough I do have a soft spot for swamps.

We have no re-supply and will carry a month's worth of food with us, and a couple fishing rods.

This is a challenging route and there are some question marks along the way, as some of the creeks we plan to use may be dry as a bone by the time we get there, and some seldom used portage trails may be more clogged up than a public toilet.

We're taking a lot of camera gear and data storage with us and hope to recharge using a voltaic systems solar charger (www.voltaicsystems.com). I have faith.

We're taking a gun on the trip because Polar Bears sometimes get real hungry. We hope not to use it.

When we reach Fort Severn we'll fly back to the community of Pickle Lake with Wasaya Airways, who have generous enough to give us a deal on the flight. I hear their flight attendants are top notch and serve Guinness on tap (www.Wasaya.com).

Last year Turbo and three others tried to paddle this route but were turned back on day 1 due to forest fires. Things look good to go this year.

So, we head north

-Hartman