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Canoelit #1
BOOKS REVIEWED ON THIS PAGE: My love affair with the Arctic, The Nunavut Handbook, A Guide to Paddling the Stikine River, Canoeing Safety & Rescue, The Wanapitei Canoe Trippers Cookbook II
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COLD COMFORT: MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE ARCTIC
By Graham Rowley
McGill-Queen's University Press
1996. 255 pp. Cdn. $19.95.
ISBN 0-7735-1393-0 (cloth)
ISBN 0-7735-1823-1 (paper)
In two brief sentences, a letter written by the curator of Cambridge University Museum completely changed the course of Graham Rowley's life:
"This is to introduce Mr. Manning with whom, I hope, you will go to the Arctic. He will explain things to you."
Tom Manning had just returned from two years alone on Southampton Island, mapping, making zoological collections and learning to live and travel in the Arctic. In 1935 he was recruiting four other Britons to join him on a scientific expedition to the Eastern Arctic. Rowley was invited to be the archaeologist. The other members were Reynold Bray, ornithologist school friend of Manning, Pat Baird, geologist and botanist, and Peter Bennett, surveyor. Bray and Baird had been on summer expeditions around Ungava and Baffin; Rowley and Bennett with only a passing interest in polar regions had never been north. Tom Manning was the expert.
In the 1930s Oxford and Cambridge mounted expeditions to Spitsbergen, Greenland, Iceland and the Canadian Arctic but this particular British Canadian Arctic Expedition seems to have been more loosely organized than most.
After a difficult late autumn trip from Churchill north to winter quarters at Repulse Bay in Manning's cranky, 'uncomfortable boat, Polecat, the group began work on their own projects. Rowley and Bray chose to make a winter trip to Igloolik. Halfway there, they fell in with Inuit and discovered the comfort and interest of native travel.
In a model of understatement, Manning is described as a superb traveller who "found contentment in hardship, making him a less than easy man to live or travel with". Manning did not resent their leaving his expedition and undoubtedly preferred to work alone. Bray proved to be the perfect companion, and he and Rowley wintered in Igloolik with Inuit and continued in the spring to Piling to complete the map of the west coast of Baffin Island. They were adopted into Inuit homes and found Inuit who were willing to go with them to Piling.
The comfort and pleasure that Rowley and Bray find in their total immersion in Inuit life and culture make this book a joy to read. Their journeys around Foxe Basin and, for Rowley, around much of North Baffin are recounted with the simple directness of one who is living the experience.
In the second year, when travelling separately, Bray was drowned in a storm near Igloolik and Rowley's repeat of the route that he and Bray had travelled together has a quietly elegiac quality, the writing gracefully understated.
The survey of unmapped regions and the exploration of Dorset culture was the result of Rowley's two years in the North. Even greater was his understanding and love of the people and their life which he was later to put to use in government service. The outbound ship brought news of the outbreak of war and Rowley went south to join the Canadian Army. His experience of Arctic travel and Inuit life could never to be repeated. This book is a wonderful record of a time and a people changed forever.
-- reviewed by Gwyneth Hoyle.
THE NUNAVUT HANDBOOK
Travelling in Canada's Arctic
Nortext Multimedia, Iqaluit, NT
1999 413pp. C$29.95 US$21.50
ISBN 1-55036-587-8
Well, what can you say about a book that has been praised by The Sunday Times, New York Times and various papers around the world? That they were wrong? Not very likely.
The Nunavut Handbook, in its 1999 Commemorative edition, is every inch what it should be-the factual source for all things Nunavut. The people at Nortext have been churning out superior products from Iqaluit for years. From their weekly newspaper the Nunatsiaq News, to numerous guides and printing and web services, Nortext are second to none in producing a quality product.
The Nunavut Handbook pulls the nice double play - it is good and it looks good. There's a chapter on each of the new territory's towns with contact names and numbers for a variety of services. This is the kind of stuff that was gold to those of us planning northern trips a decade or more ago.
There are also chapters on the Inuit culture and the workings of Nunavut, that plus all the typical tourist stuff with a few surprises thrown in for those of us who thought we knew a lot. For example, did you know there was a Bloody Falls Territorial Park at the site of the famous last rapid on the Coppermine River? I didn't. They say you can walk the 10 miles from the town - for hardy and fit people surely. You can also rent an ATV which is the way the locals move around.
If your planning to head to Nunavut, if your thinking of heading to Nunavut if you'll never go but would like to see what it offers, get this book. You can check out their website at www.arctic-travel.com
STIKINE RIVER
A Guide to Paddling the Great River
By Jennifer Voss.
Rocky Mountain Books, Calgary
1998 224pp.
ISBN 0-921102-57-7
The mighty Stikine in northern BC is a wonderful river that has always maintained a special reputation as a river with something of a split personality.
This 400 mile long wilderness jewel is both a destination for wilderness paddlers and whitewater fanatics but it gives each group a bit too much of the other. The Grand Canyon of the Stikine, located halfway down the river, is a roaring 50 mile long adrenaline rush that has only been done, to borrow that ultimate guide book quote, "by teams of experts under ideal conditions."
The funny thing is that the river both above and below this dangerous stretch is ideal for the paddlers without airbag, kayaks and helmets. The Stikine's Grand Canyon essentially splits the river into upper and lower sections with no real portage in between. The lower river is quite easy and the upper more challenging. The Grand Canyon is out of the question and Voss to her credit, keeps it that way with no paddle routing shown through there. The upper river can begin with a trip to the spectacular Spatsizi Plateau and the river that drains it to join the Stikine.
Your trip can end in Wrangell,Alaska, as the river passes through the panhandle or you can take out just before the border. The historic town of Telegraph Creek is also on the lower river.
Jennifer Voss has done a superb job of creating a river guide that is packed fully of pertinent river info, history, diagrams and photos-though the black and whites don't do the area justice. There are excellent maps showing the river's course. And it is a river guide, done from a paddler's perspective. The book is absolutely essential if you want to tackle the beauty and power of the Stikine.
THE WANAPITEI CANOE TRIPPERS COOKBOOK II
Wilderness Cooking, the Environment and You
By Carol Hodgins.
Highway Book Shop, Cobalt,
1998 101pp. Cdn $10.95
To order:1.800.461.2062 or
E-mail: bookshop@nt.net
Okay, I have to make an admission. Before I begin to tell you about the latest edition of this camp classic, I have to come clean. Our recipe for Hide-Away Canoe Club Chowder is included in this book (page 37) so having said that I'll try to remain objective.
Now the HACC wouldn't cough up our secret recipe to just anyone. But we couldn't resist being included in Carol Hodgin's updating of her venerable 1982 Canoe Tripper's Cookbook, many copies of which have no doubt disintegrated along the trail.
There are some who say a cookbook in the wilds is superfluous since everything tastes great. There's some truth in that but there's something to be said for variety and nutrition in you daily menus. The book is thoughtfully provided with a wirebound spine for laying flat - as it surely will go on many trips and end up covered in a variety of stains.
All this grew out of the traditions of 68-year old Camp Wanapitei on Lake Temagami which was run for many years by Carol and husband Bruce Hodgins. There's a great canoeing history in this family that's now carried on by son Sean who heads up the northern tripping arm.
As with all revised books, there are updated sections and more info on nutrition and environmental concerns including water filters which have improved greatly over the past decade.
And of course there is a large selection of recipes of all types which can be adapted and incorporated into your favourite trail masterpieces. Bon appetit!
CANOEING SAFETY & RESCUE
By Doug McKown
Rocky Mountain Books, London
1992 Revised 1996. 128pp.
ISBN 0-921102-11-9
Doug McKown, who wrote our cover article on the McFarlane River, is a paramedic in western Canada. He sent along a copy of his book which was published and revised a few years ago but contains timeless information.
Canoeing Safety and Rescue is a quite straightforward book on river safety; including rescue techniques, first aid, equipment. The fact so many of our trips end up safely can lull paddlers into a false sense of security, McKown reminds us. It's good advice. And while brushing up on a solid technical manual, can't compare to reading the prose of Sig Olson, it could ensure that you'll be around to enjoy your favourite literature for much longer.
-- reviews by Michael Peake unless otherwise noted
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