Ann Raiho, Myhan, and Natalie Warren arrived in Grand Marais this week fresh off their 2,250-mile canoe trip to Hudson Bay. Raiho and Warren are the first women to ever complete the paddle made famous by Eric Sevareid in his book, “Canoeing with the Cree.”
Whew! It took the better part of three months, but Ann Raiho and Natalie Warren did something no other women have done before: they paddled 2,250 miles from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay, following the route Eric Sevareid and William Port completed 81 years ago and chronicled in a book, Canoeing with the Cree, written by Sevareid.
Warren, from Miami, Florida, and Raiho, from Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, met at Camp Menogyn in 2007, getting to know each other on a 50-day canoe trip into the Canadian wilderness. Both attended St. Olaf and graduated last spring before they departed from the Minnesota River toward Hudson Bay.
Besides meeting a ton of people, the girls rescued a stray dog in a Cree vil lage and took him with them the last 200 miles. The chief of the village suggested the girls take along a dog to fend off polar bears and sent his daughter to help them find one. They named the puppy Myhan, which means wolf in Cree. They are teaching Myhan to respond to Cree commands.
And who gets custody of the loveable puppy?
“We’ll take turns taking care of him,” said Ann, Natalie nodding in agreement.
A celebration will be held in the Twin Cities for the girls in the near future and something will be done to honor their achievement in Cook County, but as of now, no date or location has been set.
For the present, Natalie and Ann are recuperating up the Gunflint Trail at Ann’s parents’ cabin. A full story about their trip will appear in an upcoming week’s paper.
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