Big Adventure
We all have spent years of our lives taking others on adventures. This adventure is for us. Rejuvenation.  We want the unknown, new places, more days, remote wilderness adventure.

 No Single-Use Plastic
Too many backcountry expeditions end with piles of plastic bags thrown in the trash. We want to eliminate that. We want to design, create, and test a waterproof reusable and reliable food storage bag.

 Traverse the Ungava Peninsula
We'll start with our toes in Hudson Bay and end with them in Ungava Bay. Human Powered. Yes, we'll portage from the airport to the ocean. And then, the ocean to the airport.

One of the best places to begin route planning? Google Earth. Each day's travel length can be measured. Each proposed campsite's Lat and Long measurements can be recorded. Waterfalls can be seen, images from other adventures can be viewed. 

Imagine entering this area even, 120 years ago. Inaccurate maps and no information. Or, with a hand drawn map, a hunch and large sacks of flour, sugar, and salt.

I can't fathom adventuring like the first explorers. Over-planning and information gathering can easily hinder the expedition prep process. Can't we just go already?

If you're into adventure stories, check out Great Heart: The History of a Labrador Adventure. A 1903 ill-fated expedition into the unmapped Labrador Wilderness was a race for fame for Leonidas Hubbard that he would not survive. That gave way to a 1905 expedition crafted and completed by his wife, Mina Hubbard and her fantastic Cree Guide, George Elson. This expedition made headlines around the world.  

These days I can explore waterfalls, rivers and mountain tops around the world, in moments immediately after the thought occurs. Today I stood on the east face of Annapurna. Holy moly is that mountain steep.

The world of adventure sure has changed in the last 120 years. I can take a flying tour of our expedition route at an altitude of 164 feet.

Let's face it, it is hard, impractical, and almost impossible to escape from using plastic. My PakCanoe has plastic parts, my favorite fleeces contain plastic fibers, most of my back country travel gear contains some kind of plastic synthetic material. I'm not ready to trade my cozy sleeping bag for an elk skin or my lightweight rain pants for a  heavy waxed canvas pair. I am ready to be conscious of my one time use plastic consumption; the things I buy that only get use once and tossed.

Food packing for expedition travel often looks like taking food out of its original grocery store packaging (usually plastic) and putting in an easy to open and close plastic bag. Things get packed by meal, organized so that each meal and its ingredients are bagged individually. In the backcountry this means that food stays dry and organized, but each meal produces several plastic bags that get thrown away at the trip's end.  I am tired of bringing groups back from expeditions and throwing away trash bags full of plastic bags. As innovative, conscientious, adventurers, we can do better.  The outdoor industry can do better. Leave no trace ethics should extend beyond picking up food waste at our campsites. It should raise the question: What is the overall impact of my expedition?

The Task. How do we pack 40 days of food with no one time use plastic? How do we purchase food when trying to minimize waste?  



Stay Tuned for Canoe Ungava food packing updates.