Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Greetings from the expedition team!

It's exciting to see all the preparation and organizing coming to a head with a little under four weeks before the launch of the expedition. Our "to-do" list is still long — we have events to organize, food to dry, gear-gathering trips to Mountain Equipment Co-op and other logistics to finalize!

The expedition team has been putting in some training hours on the Bow River to get our water legs back under us after the long winter. Schaun Goodeve has been volunteering his time to help us fine-tune our paddling and river rescue skills. As much of the expedition is in remote parts of Alberta, the dangers of an ill-timed swim or accident are magnified. We're doing everything we can to ensure we have a successful, incident-free expedition — including making time to get plenty of practice on the river.

"We have a new canoe! I portaged down to Kootenay Lake for the maiden voyage; a six mile solo paddle back to Nelson." We have a new canoe! Bob Hellman (Hellman Canoes) in Nelson, BC, custom made a Hellman Slocan (which I have yet to name) for the expedition. Many thanks to Bob for crafting an amazing boat. After taking possession of the canoe from Bob, I portaged a hundred metres down to Kootenay Lake for the maiden voyage; a six mile solo paddle back to Nelson. The canoe and I bonded quickly, it is very responsive and remarkably fast for a whitewater tripper. It was a great choice for this expedition. It will be outfitted with a spray deck from North Water, kneepads and gear tie-downs over the next couple of weeks.

Don van Hout
Expedition Leader