Customer Reviews

Where Rivers Run

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I love reading and rereading books about epic canoe or kayak trips. Most of these books let you into the wilderness experience. Some let you into the author's head, to understand the wonder, peace, loneliness and fear of long solo trips. Some introduce you to people met along the way, sometimes through rose coloured glasses, sometimes with no holds barred.

Unfortunately the focus of this book seems to be the authors themselves and how they impressed the people they met.

I would recommend the following books:

Into the Great Solitude : An Arctic Journey Coke Stop in Emo : Adventures of a Long-Distance Paddler

Arctic Adventures : Exploring Canada's North by Canoe and Dog Team

Kabloona in the Yellow Kayak : One Woman's Journey Through the North West Passage

Going Inside : A Couple's Journey of Renewal into the North

Arctic Crossing : A Journey Through the Northwest Passage and Inuit Culture.

I found the McGuffins' story both engrossing and disturbing. Joannie just tells the truth: Many of the worst challenges of their pretty incredible, well planned, rugged and successful trip resulted from industrial development such as sewage and tanker propwash on the St. Lawrence R., and pollution, flooding and ecosystem destruction caused by hydroelectric dams in the more remote parts of the old NWC/HBC route through Cumberland House. But the friendliness and helpfulness of the people they ran into in remote places is still there and so is their infectious wonder at unspoiled wildness in the many places where they found it. The challenge for all of us seeking a nostalgic reconnection to unspoiled nature and history is to find and enjoy it under a mostly distressing overlay of increasing environmental abuses. Joannie succeeded despite the odds. The McGuffins' story was an eye-opener and page-turner for me.

FOR A 6,000 MILE CANOE JOURNEY, MY HATS OFF TO THIS COUPLE BUT PUTTING DOWN ON PAPER IT MISSED THE MARK. A VERY FLUFFY READ AND IT NEVER CAUGHT THE FEELING OF THE ADVENTURE IT WAS. EVEN WHEN THEY ENDURED RAIN AND COLD IT FELT LIKE THE SUN WAS OUT.

"Where Rivers Run" is a wonderful book by the Canadian outdoor couple Gary and Joanie McGuffin, who have made a name for themselves as outdoor writers and photographers since they made their 6,000 mile voyage in the early 1980's. Their trip, retracing the voyageur's route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Beaufort Sea, took them 2 long summer seasons. I have read quite a few "expedition" books and this is one of my favorites. There are excellent section maps of their route. The authors are very honest about the hardships and joys that they experienced along the whole trip.They encounter environmental pollution at many places along their route and they write accurate portraits of the countryside and people along the way. It is very apparent that they love the historic north and they write well about their experiences. The evolution of their skills as voyageurs is told in detail: from having their equipment ripped off along the St. Lawrence River and battling wind, waves and current to learning about Native subsistence fishing along Arctic Red River. A fun book by an optimistic young pair of adventurers who aren't afraid to live out their dreams.