: For those of you who know or have heard of me, y'all know I have
: been working on this cross-Canada kayak trip for a few years
: now. Saturday morning I am leaving for Winnipeg, Manitoba where
: I will meet up with Sean, Ken's buddy, who will help me get to
: Grand Rapids, Manitoba, my starting point for the final leg of
: my trip. I will have contact with the electronic media via Cell
: phone at possibly two locations during the early stage of my
: trip - the day I start at Grand Rapids, maybe two days later at
: Norway House (my ancestral home (Dogrib Cree Nation) besides
: England), maybe at Gillam (612-kms at the half way point) and
: then nothing (508-kms length) during the second half of the
: trip. The total trip length is 1120-kms. Total trip distance
: since I started back in 2003 will be just a tad over 3000-kms.

: This year I will meet up with some rather unique dangers, namely
: the Polar Bear and the Barrens Grizzley. If I spot either near
: where I need to land for the night, I will just keep paddling. I
: am well prepared to defend myself against possible bear attack
: so I am not too worried. I am not worried about weather as I
: won't go on the water unless conditions are ideal. I have time
: to take it easy and enjoy my other favorite hobby: photography.

: I expect to land at Norway House to be reunited with the tribe my
: ggggrandmother comes from. They don't know that I am coming so
: the meeting should be interesting. I am excited to have as
: another stopping point, York Factory, the spot where my
: ggggrandfather arrived back in ~1794 when he started working for
: the HBC fur traders as an apprentice clerk and eventually
: retired at Fort Carlton, the fort he built to carry on the fur
: trade in what would become western Canada. What remains of York
: Factory is one large trading house, abandoned decades ago and
: built some 210 years ago. The building has been preserved so
: that folks can visit the site and see where it all started in
: Canada.

: There will be four portages around hydroelectric dams and two
: possible sites where rapids run unabated. I will worry about
: those once I get to their locations. I know where they are so
: you don't have to worry too much about watching me do yet
: another rebuild project.

: See y'all in mid-July, weather permitting.

: Robert (Heading out for a )N(orthern adventure) Pruden

Hey Robert,

Have fun :)

Looking forward to hearing all about it when you get back, don't hurry :)

Bill H.