Adam Shoalts is a wild man. In this book, he travels 3,400 km over 3 months to see where peregrine falcons nest. He does so on foot, and canoe. Paddling down the great lakes from his house on Lake Erie, past Toronto, up the Saint Lawrence through the many locks, past Montreal and Quebec City, all the way past Tadoussac to Saguenay, where he swaps his canoe for a backpack. He then hikes all the way to Labrador City (which Google maps says takes ~200 hours), where he buys a canoe, to paddles to the arctic to spot a falcon nest. After this, he paddles out to Kangiqsualujjuaq, which is just west of the Torngat Mountains. What sparked this epic journey? Perhaps a fundraiser, or a lifelong goal? It was neither; rather, in 2019 he spotted a peregrine falcon flying past his home, and was inspired to follow this migratory bird to its nesting place in the arctic. He’d have set out in 2020 if it weren’t for the pandemic. As soon as life settled down, he went in 2022.
Adam’s knowledge of the land is second to none. His ability to supplement his food with foraged goods is always impressive, alongside a general knowledge of the history of whatever he comes across. Some of my favourite anecdotes include:
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“I saw an unmistakably ancient-looking windmill, which curiosity compelled me to land at. It turned out it was the Moulin à vent de Grondines: built in 1674, it’s the oldest windmill still standing in all of Canada”
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“by 1763 the British ruled all of ‘Old Canada’ aside form a couple islands, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, off the coast of Newfoundland, which to this day remain part of France”
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“These rugged peaks are part of the Charlevoix region, which has some of eastern Canada’s highest summits. Near their centre lies a massive asteroid crater, which flattened a huge area when it struck three hundred and fifty million years ago. These mountains also happen to be one of Canada’s most earthquake prone regions.”
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“‘arctic’ derives from the Greek word for ‘bear’, a reference to the Great Bear constellation visible in northern skies, so originally arctic was just a vague term for anywhere north”
All in all, it was an enjoyable read for anyone who goes to the backcountry, and has done hikes / canoe trips themselves. The scale and ambition of this trip are worth a read. However, the writing itself could have been improved, making it a bit of a slog to get through.
3/5.