Many PhD candidates schedule a vacation trip as a reward for completing their degree but Benoit Gendreau-Berthiaume's upcoming voyage is both a tribute and another huge challenge.
On May 2, two weeks after he defends his thesis in forest ecology, the new ALES grad will climb into a canoe with his wife and five-year-old son and begin paddling home to Montreal.
The goal of this four-month expedition in a 17-foot canoe is to share the country's beauty with his family, and to inspire others to discover it, too.
"By showing people that you can do such a big adventure with a young kid, I hope we'll encourage other families to plan, maybe smaller, more reasonable adventures," said Gendreau-Berthiaume, who received his first paddling certificate at age six and is, at age 30, an experienced white-water guide.
Mali, the young boy who will be seated mid-boat behind his mother Magali Moffat, is actually a seasoned outdoorsman. His first summer on Earth, he camped in a remote forest near Spray Lakes where his father was doing field work. Last summer, the family paddled the first 450 km of this year's route, encountering a hail storm and strong headwinds for eight of the trip's 10 days.
"Parts of some days we were not advancing at all, even though we were going downstream," said Gendreau-Berthiaume.
Knowing that weather can be even worse on Lake Superior, the family will rent a car for the leg from Thunder Bay to Sault Ste. Marie.
Still, the approximately 5,000 km trip that will launches from the banks of Edmonton's Capilano Park, will cover an astonishing array of natural beauty. The trio will travel four rivers that are part of the Canadian Heritage Rivers System - the North Saskatchewan River, Boundary Waters, the French River and Mattawa River - and two rivers nominated to this system, the Saskatchewan River and Ottawa River.
In addition to providing updates on Twitter, Facebook and Vimeo and to the online magazine Outdoor Families, they'll send rich information to their own website PaddlingHome2015. It will update their position every 10 minutes via the InReach satellite emergency device. As well, Benoit and Magali will be filming a documentary for one of their sponsors, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
Equipment, including a cart for portages and solar panels for recharging electronics, is all in place. Re-supply packages have been dispatched to friends at stops along the route. Gendreau-Berthiaume will drive his car to Quebec a few days after his thesis defense, to move the family's belongings, and then fly back for the paddle. The only impractical prep to complete was outdoor practice paddling in winter.
That's OK, grins Gendreau-Berthiaume. Until Kenora, the portages are easy, and there's a lot of downstream travel.
"By the time we get there we should be fit. We'll have two months and I'm banking on the fact we'll be in shape."
On May 2, two weeks after he defends his thesis in forest ecology, the new ALES grad will climb into a canoe with his wife and five-year-old son and begin paddling home to Montreal.
The goal of this four-month expedition in a 17-foot canoe is to share the country's beauty with his family, and to inspire others to discover it, too.
"By showing people that you can do such a big adventure with a young kid, I hope we'll encourage other families to plan, maybe smaller, more reasonable adventures," said Gendreau-Berthiaume, who received his first paddling certificate at age six and is, at age 30, an experienced white-water guide.
Mali, the young boy who will be seated mid-boat behind his mother Magali Moffat, is actually a seasoned outdoorsman. His first summer on Earth, he camped in a remote forest near Spray Lakes where his father was doing field work. Last summer, the family paddled the first 450 km of this year's route, encountering a hail storm and strong headwinds for eight of the trip's 10 days.
"Parts of some days we were not advancing at all, even though we were going downstream," said Gendreau-Berthiaume.
Knowing that weather can be even worse on Lake Superior, the family will rent a car for the leg from Thunder Bay to Sault Ste. Marie.
Still, the approximately 5,000 km trip that will launches from the banks of Edmonton's Capilano Park, will cover an astonishing array of natural beauty. The trio will travel four rivers that are part of the Canadian Heritage Rivers System - the North Saskatchewan River, Boundary Waters, the French River and Mattawa River - and two rivers nominated to this system, the Saskatchewan River and Ottawa River.
In addition to providing updates on Twitter, Facebook and Vimeo and to the online magazine Outdoor Families, they'll send rich information to their own website PaddlingHome2015. It will update their position every 10 minutes via the InReach satellite emergency device. As well, Benoit and Magali will be filming a documentary for one of their sponsors, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
Equipment, including a cart for portages and solar panels for recharging electronics, is all in place. Re-supply packages have been dispatched to friends at stops along the route. Gendreau-Berthiaume will drive his car to Quebec a few days after his thesis defense, to move the family's belongings, and then fly back for the paddle. The only impractical prep to complete was outdoor practice paddling in winter.
That's OK, grins Gendreau-Berthiaume. Until Kenora, the portages are easy, and there's a lot of downstream travel.
"By the time we get there we should be fit. We'll have two months and I'm banking on the fact we'll be in shape."