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Follow Will Steger on Garmin/Inreach link

Yes, thanks for the link. I think he is going to be well in advance of break-up for at least the first part of the trip.

wjmc
 
Been checking this daily. Thought he was stuck for a few days there, was wondering if it was due to ice. Weathers gotta be a tad cool up that far north. Looks like he's making some headway now! Haven't followed anything like since Alan Gage took his jaunt!
 
Perhaps he spends one day cutting a slot in the ice, the next day he paddles down the slot, then repeat the process.
 
Been checking this daily. Thought he was stuck for a few days there, was wondering if it was due to ice. Weathers gotta be a tad cool up that far north. Looks like he's making some headway now! Haven't followed anything like since Alan Gage took his jaunt!

-28C with a -38C windchill at the moment
 
Been checking this daily. Thought he was stuck for a few days there, was wondering if it was due to ice.

I doubt ice is stopping him. I believe he uses his canoe as a sled/toboggan and alternates between paddling and pulling. I'm guessing he's mostly pulling now.

A couple older articles about similar trips he started doing in northern MN a couple years ago:

http://www.theadventurepost.com/all-...ed-expedition/

https://www.twincities.com/2015/03/1...n-border-trek/

If I remember correctly on those trips he was using a custom made Northstar Phoenix. The bow stem was ramped rather than curved for better pulling.

Alan
 
In Temagami - A Wilderness Paradise the author Hap Wilson discusses summer trails (onigum) and winter trails (bon-ka-nah), both being part of the traditional Native travel routes (nastawgan). "The bon-ka-nah were often extensions of summer portages that skirted fast current or falls - longer trails that avoided dangerous ice conditions. Break-up and freeze-up were dangerous times, and the Anishinawbeg often pulled their canoes atop sleighs. When the ice gave way, they simply jumped into the canoe and broke a passageway with an axe or paddle." N'Daki Menan and the Natawgan, pg 13 - Temagami - A Wilderness Paradise, Hap Wilson.
 
Seriously guys...he is walking. Winnipeg is frozen solid still and he is way north of us. We still have a couple of feet of ice on the Red and the lakes. Most other years he might have had some open water but not this time...it is hanging on with a vengeance. Bad timing.
 
It was -27 C (- 16 F) last night at Kasba Lodge. At age 72 this guy has to as tough as nails. Not as easy to recover from fatigue at that age as when you are in your 30's. Hope he makes it ok.

Gerald
 
He continues to make steady progress, is today camped just north of the esker on the east shore of Damant Lake, after being re-supplied yesterday (by Dave Olesen, bush pilot) on Jarvis Lake. No paddling yet, but it is warmer now and maybe he will see some short stretches of open rapids below Damant. As well as the Garmin mapping site, he is posting daily audio updates at

https://www.stegerwildernesscenter.org/2018/04/21/barren-lands-day-33/

They make interesting listening. I'm not sure nails are that tough.

wjmc
 
Thanks wjmc. Excellent site and a great way to follow this expedition. I will follow from day 1 now and try to catch up. The first installment has a video demonstrating and explaining his canoe sled arrangement and how it evolved.

ps I've been listening to several of Will's radio broadcasts each day and then zooming in on the topo map to follow along. Tremendous.
 
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