Water and Sky: Reflections of a Northern Year

With his companion Marypat, Kesselheim paddled 2000 miles through the Canadian wilderness, a 14-month odyssey that began on the Athabaska River near Jasper (Alberta) and ended at Baker Lake, an Inuit settlement in the Northwest Territories west of Hudson Bay. After nine weeks the pair arrived at the eastern end of Lake Athabaska where they planned to spend the winter as caretakers at a fishing camp; the nearest human habitation was a Chipewyan village an hour away by snowmobile. The second summer, Kesselheim's brother and his wife joined the couple for the trip north across the Barrenlands. Very few people have made this journey in modern times, and no wonder--fierce winds, rain (24 out of 35 days for this party), insect hordes, frequent and difficult portages, extremes of temperature offer a severe challenge to the hardiest traveler. Kesselheim gives a marvelous picture of the Canadian north; he conveys the risks and rewards of wilderness travel in fine style. (Oct.)