April 2007 – Campbell River Mirror
If you live, work or play along the B.C. Coast from Quadra Island to Bella Coola, keep a watch for a red 18 foot canoe with canoeacrosscanada.ca displayed on its sides in bold white decals. It will be paddle-powered by Pamela Harrison MacDonald and husband Geoff MacDonald, with their Alaskan Malamute dog Taq sitting in the middle.
Headed for St. John’s Newfoundland, the couple launched in Victoria on March 22 and have worked their way, between bouts of bad weather, along Vancouver Island’s eastern coast, leaving the Comox area on April 14th. By the time this article goes to press the hardy travellers will have crossed over to Quadra Island and plan to travel up Johnstone Strait, ducking into Havannah Channel before emerging in the vicinity of Minstrel Island.
Their route is to then paddle through parts of the Broughton Archipelago and up to Bella Coola for re-provisioning, before heading further up the Dean Channel to the journey’s first serious portage of 50 kilometres, taking them into the mountains of the Coast Range and onward through the Rockies.
Pam and Geoff have a strong love of nature and of Canada, and welcome the opportunity to share their experiences with all Canadians and others who would like to follow their 3 to 4 year expedition.
To learn more about the trip and sign up for a free newsletter to follow their progress, go to their website at https://www.canoeacrosscanada.ca or phone the website sponsors, Glenn or Mary Fidler (250-339-7788 or toll free at 1-866-422-1003) at Regenesis Holistic Inc., a Comox online health store.
Click here to see their current location