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PostPosted: January 4th, 2013, 2:34 pm 
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littleredcanoe wrote:
Hiker Neil wrote:
Anyone else read "Land of Feast and Famine"? Excellent book.

And its about?

It's about a guy traveling around the Canadian North via canoe and dog team, living off the land essentially and forming ties with the natives. I particularly appreciated the window the author, who lived and hunted with natives, provided into the hunter-gatherer life and mind. A life and mind very tightly focused on hunting meat and living in the present. Not many hunter-gatherers around today.
jmc wrote:
Hiker Neil -

I also enjoyed the “Land of Feast and Famine”, Helge Ingstad’s story of his years trapping and travelling southeast of Great Slave Lake. I would have enjoyed it even more if it included a decent map – it was difficult to understand (at least to me) the first canoe route he and his partner followed inland from Great Slave Lake to “Ingstad Creek”.

Agreed. I used Google maps and Mapsource to follow him around.

Would anyone consider Conrad's Heart of Darkness to be a wilderness read?


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PostPosted: January 4th, 2013, 7:05 pm 
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Hi,
I need a couple of good reads- stuff based on outdoor explorations, adventures, fiction, fact, survival, pocket book/novel size.... So has anyone read anything worth reporting that has been published say within the past 4years or so? If your familiar with it, I loved 'Born To Run'- a beautiful weave of fact and fiction!
Thanks for any suggestions-Melissa


Last edited by Barbara on January 4th, 2013, 8:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
merged with the most recent thread


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PostPosted: January 4th, 2013, 8:02 pm 
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Read this recent forum post. Lots of good book recommendations.

http://www.myccr.com/phpbbforum/viewtop ... 90&t=40793

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PostPosted: January 5th, 2013, 10:58 am 
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Not from the Canadian north, nothing to do with canoeing, but a fantastic story of survival is
"Endurance: Shakleton's Incredible Voyage", by Alfred Lansing. Not sure if it is still in print but many libraries will have it>

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PostPosted: January 5th, 2013, 11:59 am 
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For anybody with an e reader (Kobo, Sony, Kindle etc) this site gets you to lots of free books that have passed into the public domain and are downloadable and free -

http://archive.org/index.php

It has a pretty decent search engine. I use words like canoe or snowshoe and it get's you to books like -

http://archive.org/details/cihm_25057

Presently have a lot of reading to get through over the winter 8) Cheers.

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PostPosted: January 5th, 2013, 2:34 pm 
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If you want to appreciate our wilderness, read "A Boat in our Baggage: Around the World in a Kayak", by Maria Coffey. They paddled in the Solomon Islands; down the Ganges River in India; Lake ? in Africa (I lent out my book and I cannot remember the name of the lake); part of the Danube River in Europe and part of the coast of Ireland.

During a 20 minute paddling period on the Ganges, they counted 12 human bodies floating in the river.

I was envious that they could hang out at the local village pub when windbound on the Irish shoreline.

A common element no matter where they paddled was the hospitality of the local residents - even if they were poor and had little to eat (according to our First World standards).


Last edited by JCooper on January 5th, 2013, 11:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: January 5th, 2013, 3:10 pm 
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Tough to pick a top 5 all time....there are so many "sub-catagories" to attract the wilderness fan. If I I was forced to, however, I would say a good top 5 would include: (in no specific order)

1) Tales of an Empty Cabin (Grey Owl/ArchieBelaney)


"Tales of An Empty Cabin" is the most beloved collection of stories written by Grey Owl. Originally published in 1936, this classic collection harkens to a simpler time, a time when we were closer to the natural world around us. This book is a celebration of the pure delight of storytelling and of the bounty of the land.


2) Goodbye to a River (John Graves)

Goodbye to a River is a book by John Graves, published in 1960.[1] It is a "semi-historical" account of a canoe trip made by the author during the fall of 1957 down a stretch of the Brazos River in North Central Texas, between Possum Kingdom Dam and Lake Whitney. The book presents both the author's account of the trip itself and numerous stories about the history and settlement of the area around the river and of North Central Texas. The title refers to Graves' childhood association with the river and the country surrounding it, and his fear of the "drowning" effect that a proposed series of flood-control dams (most notably, Lake Granbury) would have on the river.

3) Great Heart (James West Davidson and John Rugge)

In 1903 Leonidas Hubbard was commissioned by an outdoors magazine to explore Labrador by canoe. Joined by his best friend, Dillon Wallace, and a Scots-Cree guide, George Elson, Hubbard hoped to make a name for himself as an adventurer. But plagued by poor judgment and bad luck, his party turned back and Hubbard died of starvation just thirty miles from camp. Two years later, Hubbard's widow, Mina, and Wallace returned to Labrador, leading rival expeditions to complete the original trek and fix blame for the earlier failure. Their race made headlines from New York to Nova Scotia-and it makes fascinating reading today in this widely acclaimed reconstruction of the epic saga. The authors draw on contemporary accounts and their own journeys in Labrador to evoke the intense drama to men and women pushed beyond the limits of endurance in one of the great true adventures of our century.


4) Against Straight Lines (Robert Perkins)

A non-fiction account of a solo canoe odyssey through the Torngat Mountains of Northern Labrador.

5) The Singing Wilderness ( Sig Olson)

The Singing Wilderness is to do with the calling of loons, with northern lights, and the great silences of land lying northwest of Lake Superior. It is concerned with the simple joys, the timelessness and perspective found in a way of life which is close to the past. I have heard the singing in many places, but I seem to hear it best in the wilderness lake country of the Quetico-Superior, where travel is still by pack and canoe over the ancient trails of the Indians and voyageurs." Thus the author sets the theme and tone of this enthralling book of discovery about one of the few great primitive areas in our country which have withstood the pressures of civilization. (BWCA and Quetico)

I could go on....as many of you know, I am a "book nut"... Any list should include "Sleeping Island" by PG Downes, or "Desert Solitaire" by Edward Abbey ... for more reviews/wilderness reading, try this old post:

http://www.myccr.com/phpbbforum/viewtop ... t=+reviews

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PostPosted: January 6th, 2013, 2:50 pm 
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I’ve just finished “Death on the Barrens” by Grinnell.
I am quite overwhelmed by it all. Very well written, I could not put it down till finished.

What all will be in store for me as I continue my adventures on the rivers?
I can do nothing but continue to learn....and what a lot to learn!

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PostPosted: January 6th, 2013, 5:25 pm 
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Here are 2 of my favorites. I really like Alan Kesselheim's writing

Water and Sky: Reflections of a Northern Year
Alan S. Kesselheim
“This narrative goes beyond a mere chronicling of miles traveled, of deep-winter hardships, of whitewater challenges and wildlife confrontations. Paralleling the day-by-day account of their wilderness odyssey is the theme of introspective journeying and self-discovery”

Going Inside: A Couple's Journey of Renewal into the North
"Tired of the frantic activity of society, and, more troubling, growing tired of each other (and their inability to have a child), Alan Kesselheim and Marypat Zitzer decide to take unusual steps to avert a crisis in their marriage. They escape on a year-long canoeing expedition.

They begin paddling at Grand Cache, Alberta, on the Smoky River. Following old fur-trade routes, they travel northeast, to the far end of Lake Athabaska. Their first summer’s paddling done, they dig in for a long, lonely winter in a tiny cabin in a deserted fishing camp. It is here that Marypat discovers, against all expectations, that she is pregnant.

When the thaw comes, they resolve to press on into the Northwest Territories, north of the tree line and beyond the reach of medical help, to try to reach Baker Lake – although, assuming all goes well, Marypat will be heavily pregnant by the time they reach their destination…

The heart of Going Inside is not the adventure of white-water rapids or the ferocious storms and numbing cold, but rather Alan Kesselheim’s deep joy at the beauty and healing power of the natural world – discovering fresh wolf tracks, looking an otter in the face, observing the ever-changing character of a river each day, seeing the slow stirring of the natural world as the hard grip of a northern winter begins to ease.

In this environment, what seemed important back in civilization becomes trivial, and the natural cycle, so easily ignored when insulated by modern living, becomes profound.

With rare grace Kesselheim enfolds his reader in this world and portrays the universal drama of two people learning how to get along."

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PostPosted: January 19th, 2013, 9:26 am 
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Watersong wrote:
2) Goodbye to a River (John Graves)

Goodbye to a River is a book by John Graves, published in 1960.[1] It is a "semi-historical" account of a canoe trip made by the author during the fall of 1957 down a stretch of the Brazos River in North Central Texas, between Possum Kingdom Dam and Lake Whitney. The book presents both the author's account of the trip itself and numerous stories about the history and settlement of the area around the river and of North Central Texas. The title refers to Graves' childhood association with the river and the country surrounding it, and his fear of the "drowning" effect that a proposed series of flood-control dams (most notably, Lake Granbury) would have on the river.


more reviews/wilderness reading, try this old post:

http://www.myccr.com/phpbbforum/viewtop ... t=+reviews


I've read that book too and quite enjoyed it. I'm surprised anyone else here had heard of it. I picked mine up in Texas.

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PostPosted: January 19th, 2013, 12:12 pm 
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wotrock wrote:
Watersong wrote:
2) Goodbye to a River (John Graves)



I've read that book too and quite enjoyed it. I'm surprised anyone else here had heard of it. I picked mine up in Texas.


It is the kind of book that all great Canadian Rivers deserve... history, culture, and a canoe. The present, the past and the future all rolled into one.

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PostPosted: January 19th, 2013, 7:46 pm 
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Even better that we don't need to say goodbye to any Canadian rivers.

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PostPosted: March 26th, 2013, 12:15 pm 
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Hi everyone!
I can see that you are talking aboud "The Land of the feast at famine" and i can add some information since a knew Helge Ingstad. (he died few years ago)
The fist year he went along with Hjalmar Dale to a lake they called Moose Lake, nearby Bunting Lake. The family dont want me to give the exact position. Hjalmar and Helge wanted to go to Snowdrift River but never came that far because the indians made a joke and mislead them to take the wrong way. However, they never ment to go to Ingstad Creek that year.

The following year, he went with the indians to Nonacho Lake. The last year he went alone to the area nearby Ingstad Creek. However, i am pretty sure he was closer to Sandy Lake and Boblets Draw. This is the place we are looking for, and the reason for www.ingstadcreek.net Just for fun!


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PostPosted: March 26th, 2013, 12:19 pm 
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And if anyone is wondering about who the guy Helge Ingstad is, please look at : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helge_Ingstad


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PostPosted: April 20th, 2013, 8:42 pm 
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"Cache Lake Country" by John J. Rowwlands is a nice book with lots of interesting tidbits added to the sides of most pages.

"The New Way of the Wilderness" by Calvin Rutstrum

"Challenge of the Wilderness" by Calvin Rutstrum, hard to find but a good read.

"Canadian Wilds" by Martin Hunter, small turn of the century book, outdated, but a great read, short stories, great little book to bring tripping.

"daylight in the swamp" Memoirs of Selwyn Dewdney, from Red lake to Missanabie, nice book of canoes and life in the 30's and 40's in Ontario.


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