Sigurd Olson says good-bye to this great land

" As I worked over the outfit, the Churchill River seemed far away, and the rapids of the Drum, the Leaf, and the Sturgeon Weir and the great storms on Dead and Amisk only a soft rushing in the dusk. I knew it would soon be hard even to imagine the music of huskies around the Indian villages or the wild calling of the loons on the open lakes.

I also knew there were some things that would never be dimmed by distance or time, compounded of values that would not be forgotten: the joy and challenge of the wilderness, the sense of being part of the country and of an era that was gone, the freedom we had know, silence, timelessness, beauty, companionship and loyalty, and the feeling of fullness and completion that was ours at the end."

We are certainly not the first or the last people to travel this great waterway. The Saskatchewan River has been a major travel and trade route for thousands of years. With over a month left of solitude, combined with the joys and hardships that come with wilderness travel, we are far from the end of our journey. As Sigurd Olson put thoughts into words over 40 years ago as he left the wilderness of the Saskatchewan River, he captures the very reason that Eric and I rise at down to explore this great expanse of wilderness that has changed little since the voyageurs plied these waters looking for beaver pelts. I hope our combined experiences encourage you to one day pick up snowshoes, or a canoe paddle and explore these wilderness waterways, it will change your life forever.