Joey Payeur
A two-man mission has become a solo quest but Pascal Bredin refuses to let his departed companion down.
The 20-year-old from Gatineau, Que. stopped in Fort Frances for a few days this past week before continuing on a most epic adventure along the waterways of Canada.
Bredin is aiming to complete what will be a roughly 7,500-km trek by canoe from his hometown all the way to Inuvik, N.W.T.
He and childhood friend Constant La France, who have canoed together since they were 11, planned the trip for two years.
“We asked ourselves how could we spend as much time as possible in a canoe and decided the best way was to canoe across Canada,” Bredin reasoned while resting at the home of local resident Patrick Langevin.
“We did some research and saw that people have done it before, so it was just a matter of coming up with a plan and a budget,” he noted.
Bredin and La France trained for their own incredible journey by working at a tourist camp for the winter.
“We shovelled a heck of a lot of snow,” he grinned.
“There was always physical work to do and we were always outside,” Bredin added.
“But I’ve been competitively cross-country skiing and cycling over the years, so I’ve been able to stay in pretty good shape.”
The pair set out from Gatineau on April 21 and made it all the way to Lake Huron before the miles began to take their toll on La France.
“He finally had to quit because his joints hurt too much,” Bredin lamented.
“It’s disappointing he can’t be here.”
While the natural beauty of the route has been undeniable, Bredin admitted the trip hasn’t been without its challenges.
“There was the Grand Portage on the Ontario and Minnesota border near Duluth, south of the Pigeon River, where I spent 14 km carrying my canoe and my supplies,” he grimaced.
“Then going upstream on the Pigeon, there was a lot of water, and I was screaming and crying and had to come back and take another lake to get to where I was going.”
Then there was the St. Lawrence River, which, due to heavy rains and the spring thaw, was moving at 8,000 cubic metres a second–nearly twice as fast as normal.
“Going through all the communities in that area that were being flooded was sad,” Bredin recalled.
“You weren’t even sure where you were paddling,” he added.
“Someone got upset at me and said I paddled over their cedar hedge.”
Bredin is targeting mid-October for his arrival in Inuvik–and he may not necessarily stop there.
“If I can go up to the Arctic Ocean, I will,” he remarked.
“But if I have problems with being hurt, I’ll stop. If the water freezes over, I’ll stop.
“The Mackenzie Delta is very dangerous to travel on in that area and it won’t be easy getting back from the ocean, either,” he noted.
Bredin said his family and friends have been very supportive of his trip–at least, most of them.
“My dad canoed with me from Wawa to Marathon and keeps telling me to go for it [but] my mom says, ‘Please come back home,'” he laughed.
“But, seriously, both my parents have helped a lot when it comes to figuring out the logistics of the trip.”
Bredin doesn’t consider himself anyone special, despite the intimidating stature that such a long and potentially risky adventure possesses.
“I’m confident a lot of people can do this, they just don’t take the time to do it,” he said.
“I’m encouraging people to take on a challenge in life. They can do it,” Bredin added.
“I have always been saving up for something my whole life and this was it.”
Those wanting to follow Bredin’s journey can visit laremonteedessourcesen.worldpress.com or on Facebook at La Remontée des Sources.
