Paddlenorth: Adventure, Resilience, and Renewal in the Arctic Wild

by Jennifer Kingsley

In an adventure of a lifetime, Jennifer Kingsly and her five companions canoe through one of the planet’s most rugged settings. They battle raging winds, impenetrable sea ice, treacherous rapids, and agonizing sores and blisters while contending with rising tensions among the group. But they also experience the lasting joy of grizzly sightings, icy swims, and the caribou’s summer migration. Woven through this spellbinding narrative are often-harrowing accounts of the journeys of earlier explorers, some of whom never made it back home. Paddlenorth paints an indelible portrait of the spectacular Arctic landscape, rendered with a naturalist’s eye and an artist's sensibility, and offers an eloquent exploration of how wilderness changes us.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Travel, Canada, Adventure, Outdoors, Womens

240 pages, Hardcover

First published August 22, 2014

Reviews

[karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a sports/adventure memoir that is neither a "peril in the great outdoors" narrative nor an "i went out into nature and found myself" thingie that is so popular these days. it's mostly like looking at someone else's vacation pictures while they read to you from their diary:

On the Back, part of me wanted to let go of everything and imagine that life on the river was my only life, but i struggled to find my rhythm. I worried about Tim, and I still felt distant from Jen, Drew, and Alie. I expected the tundra to clear the cobwebs, turn on the creativity, dispense with my worries, and strengthen my body. I wanted it to do the work for me. Perhaps I was becoming one of the people who ask too much of the wilderness, who cram it so full of expectations that it becomes more of an idea than a real place. I was tired of reading about the wilderness as a backdrop for so-and-so's personal struggle; yet there I was, dragging my anxieties across the North. I longed to be my best self and was afraid that person wouldn't show up.

it's fine, but if you're looking for something that has actual adventure, this really isn't your best bet. it is a story about 6 people with varying degrees of experience who decide to canoe the 1,000 km-long back river which runs through nunavut, the northernmost territory in canada. The Back boasts over eighty sets of rapids, 10-foot standing waves, boiling chutes, and an enormous system of lakes. yes, there are a couple of instances where they run into trouble, but this isn't Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, and a lot of it just reads like a less dramatic real world, with petty bickering and some blisters.

it's actually kind of a bougie adventure story. anyone that can, on day 52 in the wilderness, enjoy a double-decker marble cake with strawberry filling and lemon icing, complete with birthday candles. and then follow that up with: We filled her tent with balloons and then piled inside to play games and drink rum is not exactly "roughing it," despite the whole only three pairs of underwear situation, which pampered housecat karen could never tolerate. and fondue?? they had fondue, guys…

now - it's true - part of the author's contribution to this trip was that she had compiled a menu of recipes and food stores so that she could have a little comfort in the wild, and there's nothing wrong with that - if i was the kind of person who was into this whole canoe-adventure pastime, i would be the same way - i can't live on granola and chipmunk. i'm just pointing out that ain't nobody resorting to cannibalism on this trip, which lessens the tension somewhat. for me.

as for the author herself - she owns her own social failings, which is refreshing, but still, years later, she can't resist taking little stabs at some of the other members of her team. and it's a little uncomfortable to read her frustration with her ex-boyfriend who went on the trip as a way to distract himself from the recent death of his mother, and her perception that his grief is really putting a damper on her good time.

there's a little bit of smug sanctimoniousness throughout, but not as much as there could have been, you know, when there are vegans in the mix. (okay - one vegan). but this kind of debate, over whether or not to concede that they are irrevocably trapped by the ice and should get a plane to rescue them:

We considered every angle. The expense of the plane and the worries about food and ice were just the beginning. What about the poetry of our voyage, the commitment to see Gjoa Haven and the execution of the boat exit? What about the fossil fuel emissions, the environmental ethics?

seems for appearances' sake only. people who just ate a double decker cake can not seriously be worried about food, and people who just filled a tent with balloons have already lost the environmental ethics argument.

if you are yourself an outdoors enthusiast, you will probably be able to relate to this and be better equipped to enjoy it. but if you read prefer to read outdoorsy stuff safe in your apartment sucking down a pint of chunky monkey and are either looking for the triumph of the human spirit or pure schadenfreude, you sicko, this is not the right match for you.

her original thought was to write a cookbook for the wilderness, and that i would be plenty interested in reading. for the record.

this book did, however, teach me about two new things:

beaver fever
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giardiasis

and sour keys



come to my blog!

[Judd Street · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paddlenorth is a really enjoyable, easy reading account of the journey of Kingsley and five others in navigating the Back River in Nunavut, Canada. The story largely unfolds as a tick tock style narrative, recounting the journey in sequential order with the occasional historical anecdote added in.

What makes Paddlenorth such a beautiful - and at times slightly tempered - book is the authenticity of the account. Unlike many travel stories, Kingsley doesn't fall into cheap narrative playbooks: discovering one's self, account of first passage, set of harrowing stories, etc, etc. There are no embellished animal attacks, nor artificial aggrandizing of the rapids along the way. Rather, Kingsley tells an ultimately relatable canoe trip story; one that involves much more waiting for paddle-friendly weather than action movie sequences.

There are times where I wish Kingsley had told the story a little differently. There are pretty significant grief and interpersonal dimensions in play throughout the story, but the account always seems just a tiny bit guarded and superficial, which makes it tricky to really get into the moment as a story of relationships. Likewise, there are these occasional tastes of history that get woven into the book, but the fluency with which she inserts these historical vignettes left me wanting more of these short interludes (and perhaps into ecology, politics, etc).

That said, I certainly can't fault Kingsley for telling the story as she did. While the typical reader of adventure travelogues might feel a hair let down by the lack of cinematic action, I think the book is well worth reading. It's a much more authentic account than most of a Canadian canoe trip; one that I'm rather inspired to do after reading her story.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book after seeing Jennifer Kingsley at a book reading during the 2014 Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. The festival featured material from some of the world's best adventure filmmakers and authors, but Kingsley's presentation lingered long after I returned home.

Paddlenorth recounts Kingsley's 2005 canoe trip along the Back River with five friends. I've read plenty of adventure novels, but this one stands out for its special emphasis on the relationships between the adventurers. There's plenty of sweeping language about the arctic landscape, interesting historical perspective and plenty of river talk, but Kingsley brings us into this circle of young adventurers by sharing the frustration and elation that any such trip entails. Just when it starts to feel a bit too touchy feely, Kingsley takes us back to the river.

[Katie Schulze · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have re-read this book many times; anytime I need to escape to a wild place. I love the descriptions of the landscape and the wild life, but I also really enjoy her analysis of how your relationship with others in a special place affects/changes your relationship with the place itself.

[Mook · Rating 3 out of 5]

~Spoilers~

A satisfying, quick read of Jennifer Kingsley's 50 day paddling adventure in the North. I have no real experience with paddling beyond the odd canoeing trip in a lake, but I love the outdoors and I have done trekking trips before, in Canada and abroad. I empathize with her descriptions, despite having never done something quite so ambitious or remote - the hope of really disconnecting from "regular life" and reconnecting with nature, the attention you pay to the wildlife and environment around you, the simultaneous discomfort and adrenaline from the adventure.

I appreciated the way she described the paddling, especially so that even someone like me could picture the work and adrenaline behind it. the interesting camp dynamics and the amount of thought they put into it - everything from having Leaders for the day, to mixing up who they shared tents with and who did cooking duty - it's more complicated than I would have expected but it makes complete sense. The occasional drama that comes from enforced time with people in situations like this is also familiar.

I also enjoyed the way she included history of the British explorer George Back, and his expedition, along with other historical tidbits. I do wish there had been more information about the indigenous people who used to live there before the British came, but honestly I don't know if anyone has that information.

I found it a quick read and it's really solidified my desire to go North properly - as someone from Ontario I'm aware that I haven't experienced a true Canadian North. It also makes me want to plan my next trekking trip and really get more experience with being independent while traveling in wilderness.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting adventure book - no tragedy (but close) and no moralizing (great!). Just a straight-forward travel journal that evoked a feeling for the trip from the eyes of the author.

I think the author was pretty brave in the thoughts shared. They didn’t romanticize their role and self - which helped their personality come through. Not as an insult, but I would not want to travel with them (and I’m sure they with me). That’s a strong indication of the honesty of the book.

I’ve always been fascinated with the north and this book did a great job of being honest about it. Bugs, people, challenges. It made me less fond of the idea of the far North as an epic, exciting landscape. It came across as more of a slog through the rivers and pathways.

If you are looking for an exciting recount of the wonders of the Back River - I don’t think this book is it. If you want to experience a first-person narrative of a long journey from the perspective of one person (whom you may or may not “like” by the end) - then this book is an excellent choice.

[Lynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love adventure stories in this setting and would like to take a river trip, minus the whitewater, someday up there. This is a good story about 5 people in a beautiful and challenging landscape. Especially enjoyed the unique opportunities to see a variety of animals. They had some really special encounters.

They have a good and fair system for distributing work, sharing tents and canoes. And there are still
people who rub each other the wrong way. Humans!

[Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is ok, I had a hard time connecting or liking the author in her narrative. Usually you feel some sort of connection in a narrative style but the author's criticism of her fellow travellers tends to throw you off. The ending of the book leaves you feeling empty handed; yes, they finished the trip but its as if there is nothing positive left to say. I can't say I'd give this book a second read and that is usually a rare thing.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book, such an incredible adventure, took me to a place I can only imagine, way outside of my comfort zone and skill level... she’s a great writer and incorporates some history of far north rivers where their expedition takes place,the tundra. I can’t stop thinking about it when I go to bed... want to pick it up again as soon as I can the next day.

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was loaned/suggested to me from a friend I went on a paddling trip with, and it only made me want to plan more, longer, more adventurous trips further north. Great descriptions of northern landscapes. Really appreciated the attention to camp cooking and meal planning. Makes me want to step up my back country baking game!

[Luiza Salazar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is so honest and self aware, it was hard to give it 3 stars, but I think it's because some of the parts felt so technical to me. Still a fun quick read tho

[Megan Buchkowski]

Fantastic. As a canoe tripper myself, I heartily recommend this as a story full of history as well as present adventure.

[Kate Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A refreshing take on the beauty and trepidation of the wild.

[Lia Keller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read about a group paddling in northern Canada for 50+ days. Loved all of the caribou, wolf and nature stories.

[Ariel Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

These days, Ottawa-based naturalist Jennifer Kingsley builds radio documentaries about encounters with whales and is the on-board naturalist for National Geographic tours through the Northwest Passage.

But, back in 2005, when she embarked on a 54-day canoe trip to the Arctic with five companions, she was still trying to figure out the boundaries of what increasingly was becoming a "wilderness-bound life," saying "most of the people closest to me would never see me in the places I love most, where I am often my best and sometimes at my worst."

The record of this negotiation is Paddlenorth, Kingsley's first book. This is travel writing of an extreme sort, where the narrator describes her numb and cracked feet and bug-bitten skin with a kind of pride.

Unfortunately, Kingsley is unwilling to slip into either the naturalist or confessional modes that are de rigueur for either nature writing or memoir, and the book suffers as a result.

Though she now makes her living as a guide for other people seeking their own adventures, Kingsley seems reluctant to spend too much time describing the landscape around her or to put what she's seeing into context for the reader.

For instance, Kingsley fervently hopes that their journey on Nunavut's Back River intersects with the annual barrens caribou migration, writing over and over that this is a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." Eventually, their group is surrounded by more caribou than Kingsley can count. But what's missing is the information that the caribou herds were in significant decline even in 2005, and that there were concerns by northern officials over how rising temperatures owing to climate change and the incursions by mining companies in caribou calving grounds were affecting the herds.

Kingsley is also unwilling delve too deeply into the interpersonal relationships among the six companions. And that's a shame, because it robs the book of much of the "resilience" and "renewal" promised in the book's subtitle. We don't really get to know more than one or two of the other paddlers and the conflict suggested by passages here and there is never fully explored.

Kingsley chooses to fill these gaps with descriptions of other travellers in the region, focusing in on British naval officer and explorer George Back, who explored the area in 1834 as well as the disastrous tenure of Catholic missionary Joseph Builiard in the area in 1949.

She also goes into great detail about the ill-conceived 1955 Arctic journey led by Arthur Moffatt, which led to his death from hypothermia.

All of these histories are interesting, but they're exclusively male and Euro-western. (Where are the Inuit and Dene stories from the region, both historical and contemporary?)

They also serve to highlight the fact that, while anyone would agree that spending the summer canoeing in the Arctic is extreme, there is very little privation for Kingsley and her companions. They have space-age fabrics, maps and plenty of food to see them through their trip.

Which leaves us with the subtitle's final hook: "adventure." Yes, Kingsley's group traverses several sets of big rapids and even capsizes a canoe early on. They also have to wait out some nasty weather, which threatens to delay their departure, but everything mostly goes as planned...

Towards the end of Paddlenorth, Kingsley writes "everybody has a different reason for committing a journey to paper, and no one has the same memory." She's talking about George Grinnell's 1996 account of the Moffatt expedition, but she could have easily been discussing her own story.

It's unclear what Kingsley's reasons were for writing about this particular trip, especially as she's since been on dozens of others and because she seems so guarded about what seems to have been a largely uneventful trip.

My wish for her is that the next time she writes an account of her travels—and I'd like to read that next book— that she trusts both her readers and herself a little more.

From the September 6, 2014 edition of the Winnipeg Free Press' Books Section.

[Bridget Fairbank · Rating 2 out of 5]

Frankly, it is just nice to experience first-person accounts from women paddling far and glimpse into their psyche. There are much more entertaining and interesting paddling books out there (Paddle to the Arctic, The Dangerous River, Paddling North, Brave the Wild River to name a few) but I crave paddling stories and so was comforted by this read. It is a simple reflection + chronological log. It serves as a reminder that with epic distance goals, interpersonal dynamics and daily logistics are the fodder of a group.

[Zeb Kantrowitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of six friends who decide to canoe down the Baillie/Bank Rivers in the Nunavet Province of the Canadian Northwest Territories. These rivers are wild and full of rapids and white water as they run through the tundra to empty into the Arctic Ocean. Along the way they see herds of caribou in the northern wasteland.

Much of the book is spent in meditation by the author and her introspection into her life and what she learns from the hazards and tribulations of this kind of trip. Woven into the narrative are stories of early explorers and others who explored this land and interacted with the Inuit who live there.

If you learn anything from reading this book it should be that even the most experienced adventuring canoeist will run into situation that no one can plan for ahead of time. But, by taking precautions and planning you could weather anything. The most important instrument they took with them was a beacon-locator and a satellite phone. Even though they were veteran canoers, getting into a condition that needs major medical help or rescue, can unnerve you.

The situation that they run into, did not affect them personally but psychologically. At one point of the trip they find three beached canoes and backpacks from a girl’s camp. They search the area, but can’t find any evidence of what happened to the girls. Using their satellite phone to call the RCMP, they were told that the girls had been rescued. By marking there finds with notes that the girls were OK would save other travelers from taking time to look for them.

Some of the book is TMI (too much info) and WTF (like I care) so as to be over self- indulgent. But take from it what you will, to me it’s not great writing.

Zeb Kantrowitz zworstblog.blogspot.com

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm finding a new niche genre that I enjoy: "adventure literature." I really enjoyed this account of a group of 6 who tackle a 50+ day canoe trip in Canada's north. Kingsley includes really vivid descriptions of the landscape and of the arduous paddling, as well as group dynamics, and learning to travel, camp, and cook with people that you don't know well. I also appreciate when she includes a backstory to the terrain, or to caribou, or previous explorers, etc. I had to wait a day after completing this book so that I didn't rate it a 3, though, as Kingsley herself started annoying me to no end about halfway through the book. She is detailing the group dynamics and her own perspective, but she often comes across as selfish and stubborn, and I loved her account of when one of her tripmates exposes these flaws and more. I think her biggest mistake was taking this trip with 3 virtual strangers.

[Jen Gauthier · Rating 4 out of 5]

For many of us city dwellers, the North may as well be the moon. We've heard about it, and have a general idea what it's like (cold & dark) but we are unlikely to experience it ourselves. But thanks to some adventurous and erudite writers like Jennifer Kingsley, Kathleen Winter and Sara Wheeler, we can vicariously experience what is essentially another world, but right on our planet. Jennifer Kingsey’s North takes readers on a 54 day adventure where we encounter massive herds of caribou, stumble upon life-size inuksuks, see grizzlies, wolves, and muskox, all while barreling down a river under a vast sky. Through reading Paddlenorth gained an appreciation for the Northern wilderness, without having to endure the freezing rain, blackflies and mosquitos.

[Andy Makowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

In preparation for a canoe trip in Nunavut this summer, I stumbled across this book and downloaded to my Kindle App. I was treated to a well written account of a very challenging canoe trip on the Back River. Sometime books like this can be one dimensional, but Ms. Kingsley covers all aspects of the trip; from the rich wildlife and challenging conditions to the relationships between the participants. I could not put this book down and thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Meghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this was a solid adventure memoir by a good writer. I liked the snippets of history that the author wove in, and she kept the story moving well, which made for a quick read. If you like to paddle and you enjoy adventure-style memoirs this book is worth the time investment; if that's not your thing, don't bother.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written first person account of an expedition into the wilderness. Group dynamics, personal struggles and serendipitous moments blend to create a riveting read.
Historical stories intersperse with their own explorations of the tundra and wild rivers of the north.

[Jessica - How Jessica Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ended up eventually really liking this one, it just took me a long time to get into it.

[Bobroth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Met Jenny on an expedition in the arctic, so I had the wonderful opportunity to read her book with her present!

[Jose · Rating 1 out of 5]

Is a book dedicated to tim , like the author says , in 52 days paddling she not described to much about the travel , rivers etc. just about tim her former dating.

[Richard Novak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reads like a novel and keeps you reading for the story rather than a strict or dry account of where they went and what the weather was.

[Askaline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have looked for this book for over a year but it is impossible to find in Europe, including as a ebook.

[Erica DuBois · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel terrible saying it, but this is a book about six boring people taking a boring canoe trip.

[Wally]

Good read about a Northern wild river in canada. I liked the sidebars into historical aspects of explorers. It was recommended to me by Alison Pick-an author I have read and spoke to at Ottawa reads festival-she is one of the canoeists in this book

[Bibliothèque Edmundston Library]

Want to find out more ? Just visit the New-Brunwick Public Library catalogue ! (Canada)
https://nbpl.ent.sirsidynix.net/clien...