Inside TRAK

We're proud to announce that we've now partnered with Oceanwide Expeditions and on our new trip you'll sail, hike, and kayak below Norwegian auroras.

We met Maeghan at the Green Street parking area, a familiar place to all of us. Located on the mouth of the Saranac River, it’s the take out for the whitewater run that passes through campus and also a convenient launch point to start touring on Lake Champlain. Maeghan had graduated from the same Expeditionary Studies program as us a few years back, was now working in the paddlesports industry, and had come back to campus to give a TRAK demo as a TRAK Pilot. It was early May and the semester was just wrapping up with finals a week away. Garrett and I were excited to see the boat live and in person. We had recently watched the older “TRAK Files” videos and the clip with Jamie Sharpe surfing a TRAK on Skookumchuck. The TRAK seemed like the perfect boat to a couple of Expeditionary Studies majors, though we had never actually seen one in person.  

During the depths of a northern winter, it’s easy to put your kayaks away, hang up your paddles, and eagerly wait for the return of longer days and more temperate weather. For many, our thoughts turn to ski season, hot chocolate, and playing in the snow; we are a culture that embraces our weather, making the most of the frigid temperatures. Not everyone is in love with our winters though — many Canadians book their departures to warm climates, gathering like migratory birds at all inclusive resorts in the south. For those seeking an adventure beyond the resort communities, a little bit of effort to get off the beaten track can result in great rewards!

The idea of paddling the Coppermine River in Canada’s Arctic was conceived many years ago in high school. Assigned reading for English class was Farley Mowat’s “Coppermine Journey: An Account of Great Adventure.” Based on the journals of Samuel Hearne, an explorer with the Hudson’s Bay Company, this book outlined his journey from Hudson’s Bay to the Coppermine River in 1770. It wasn’t an easy trip. Hearne spent the better part of a year completing the journey, faced starvation regularly, and his journals describe incredible hardships. Perhaps I’m a masochist, but from that point onward I was enchanted with the story, the river, and the North in general.