8,000 kilometres is a long way to go – whether you are driving it or on foot. For Calgary-based explorer John Dunn, it was definitely the latter. He presented on an 8,000-kilometre journey he completed without motorized transport.
Dunn was at Castor's Paintearth Lodge and at the Stettler Library on March 17 talking about his journey along the west coast of Vancouver Island, across the Rocky Mountains, through the Boreal Forest, and north through the Arctic Mainland.
Dunn, an English geologist, started his career in Australia before deciding that he wanted to conquer the Arctic. His first journey was along the west coast of Greenland by boat from the south to the north.
After that first journey, Dunn was hooked; he decided he wanted to explore all that the Great North had to offer. His next challenge was Canada's far north: Ellesmere and the other northern islands. Over three expeditions and around 150 days of skiing, the explorer traversed Somerset, Devon and Ellesmere Islands.
Dunn's next series of expeditions led him from Tofino, on Vancouver Island's west coast, north by kayak and replica Northwest canoe across to the mainland and up the Inside Passage to Portland Canal.
"So, as wild a route as possible," said Dunn.
Along the way, Dunn and his partner came across Indigenous totems in the forests, which Dunn described as "powerful."
Reaching Portland Canal, Dunn and his partner began another leg of their journey, hiking across the Rocky Mountains.
"We were going against the grain of the land," said Dunn. "There were no days off."
The crossing of the Rocky Mountains was an "arduous" 1,000 kilometre from tidewater to Canada's interior plains. Along the way, Dunn and his partner found pieces of history along the way – at one point they found the wire from the original government telegraph running from north to south along the forest floor.
"There were interesting challenges getting across the Rockies in October," said Dunn, recounting challenges of weather, geography and wildlife.
In total, this section of the journey took the explorers around 56 days.
Dunn's goal to complete the trek hit a pause, and it took him nearly two decades to get back to his quest. He ultimately reached the Mackenzie River and Fort Simpson. From there, using a combination of paddling, hiking, and skiing, he journeyed through the Boreal Forest for a distance of 1,400 kilometres over 54 days.
The final leg of Dunn's journey was the Arctic Mainland, from Artillery Lake to the northern edge of North America. This section was 1,900 kilometres done over 92 days of hiking, paddling, and skiing.
Along the way, Dunn saw a variety of animals, including polar bears.
In total, Dunn completed around 8,000 kilometres over 400 days broken up into 10 expeditions beginning in the 1990s.
Around 30 people were in attendance for the presentation at Castor's Paintearth Lodge, which hosted the presentation on behalf of the Castor Library, and around 17 people were in attendance for the presentation at the Stettler Library later the same evening.
Both presentations were well received by the people in attendance, who showed their appreciation with applause.
