Above: On August 15, 2011, Mike and Sue Prom hosted a great big potluck and barbecued rib feast to welcome four young voyagers home from a 77-day canoe trip from the Pigeon River to Hudson Bay. Proms, owners of Voyageur Canoe Outfitters on the Seagull River near the end of the Gunflint Trail, sponsored the expedition in honor of the 50th anniversary of their business. (L-R) Mike Swenson, Adam Maxwell, Mike Prom, Sue Prom, Andrew Spaeth, and Will Turner. Right: The trip to Hudson Bay was a rugged one requiring high-quality equipment. Numerous sponsors outfitted the voyagers with equipment and supplies. This is some of the gear used on the trip.
Four young adventurers representing Voyageur Canoe Outfitters: on the water for 77 days, covering roughly twelve hundred miles by canoe. Or by carrying canoes over portages. From Lake Superior to Hudson Bay. Greeted at the Northwest Trading Company’s very first post, York Factory, by a young girl with a 12-gauge shotgun— to protect her from the polar bears.
The expedition was sponsored by Voyageur Canoe Outfitters owners Mike and Sue Prom in celebration of the 50th anniversary of their business, located on Seagull River near the end of the Gunflint Trail. Andrew Spaeth, Adam Maxwell, and Mike Swenson, Voyageur Canoe Outfitters staff alumni, and Will Turner, Wilderness Canoe Base staff alumnus, set out on May 23, 2011 from the mouth of the Pigeon River.
Exactly 12 weeks later, on August 15, Proms grilled a whole lot of barbecued ribs and gathered a whole bunch of people to welcome the adventurers back. A news release announcing their return stated, “They paddled rushing rapids, tranquil lakes and portaged some of the same routes of the voyageurs from days gone by.” They traveled through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to Quetico Provincial Park, into Voyageurs National Park and across Lake of the Woods to Lake Winnipeg.
“Days were spent traversing the large and unpredictable body of water as they made their way north to the rivers that flow to Hudson Bay,” the announcement said.
In the end, “These four guys left Lake Superior with the spirit of adventure in their hearts and the love of wilderness in their souls. They returned from their expedition of a lifetime as men with an even stronger passion and appreciation of the wild waterways that flow north to Hudson Bay.”
What was it like along the way?
The Food
The company that makes Jack Links Beef Jerky should be happy. “It’s the only food we didn’t get sick of along the way,” Spaeth told those gathered to hear their tales at the welcomehome picnic. They took 40 pounds of peanut butter with them, and on the last day of their trip, he announced he’d never eat peanut butter crackers again.
Swenson complimented the barbecue and potluck food at the party. “We’re all pretty sick of trail mix,” he said.
While they missed family and friends the most, Turner said, “Hamburgers got talked about on the trip.” And pizza.
Even the boys’ grandparents don’t need to feel too sorry for them, however, because along the way, they had food drops waiting for them, but they also enjoyed the hospitality of locals, from pizza and beer in High Falls to meals in people’s homes, to chef ’s creations at God’s Lake Narrows Lodge, which put them up for a couple of days, an amenity that costs paying customers $3,000 for two nights and three days. “Their chef made like 12 desserts every night…” Spaeth said. That stop even included a floatplane tour of the river they would be paddling.
The fishing was good. Spaeth, who was reminded by his trail mates that he’d done a similar thing on a previous trip, caught a huge pike, about 23 pounds, but in the process caught a treble hook right in his wrist. Thanks to a Manitoba law that requires hooks to be barbless, they were able to pull it out with no trouble. They were equipped with first aid supplies including antibiotics, but no one needed anything more than a band-aid along the way.
The gear
The crew was sponsored by several businesses, including Granite Gear out of Two Harbors. They loaned them new packs but asked for them back upon their return so they could sell them used. That’s how good they are, Spaeth said.
Dangers and hardships
Their paddle up the Pigeon River was the most strenuous part of their trip, Swenson said, partly because they weren’t as conditioned physically then as they would be later. “We were sore from that for three or four days,” he said.
The men portaged around three of the estimated 50 rapids they encountered on their journey, but while paddling the rest of the way they all flipped at least once.
By surface area, Lake Winnipeg is about the eleventh largest lake in the world, Spaeth said. The group’s scariest moments were the six miles getting across that lake. Maxwell said when the wind kicked up, he paddled harder than he’d ever paddled before.
The wildlife
The crew encountered five moose before they left Saganaga Lake. They also saw deer, two black bears, a wolf, some seals, and five polar bears, which were within 200 yards of York Factory, their final destination. They saw two or three caribou, “one which was a dead one,” said Turner, “which we ate.” Evidently it was a fresh kill that the hunter had not been able to find.
The Canadians thought they were stupid for not carrying a gun, Spaeth said. They did have a special noisemaker—a “bear banger”—to scare polar bears away if necessary, but they didn’t have to use it.
“I think the mosquito count was about one billion,” Spaeth said, however.
“No beluga whales,” Turner said regarding wildlife they had hoped to see. “That would have been the icing on the cake. Well, getting to York Factory was the icing on the cake.”
Favorite memories
“God’s River” was quick off the tongues of Spaeth and Maxwell when asked about favorite things along the way. They paddled 17 hours straight one time, straight through the night.
Swenson recalled birds flying up and over everything as they paddled past islands on Lake Winnipeg.
Turner, who sketched his way north, said he loved sharing stories with other paddlers along the way, the feeling of accomplishment they had when they got to York Factory, and the greatest Northern Lights he had ever seen. They were like “dancing magenta bar codes,” he said.
Getting along
When asked how they got along, Maxwell said they had “nothing more than minor disputes ever.”
“Safety was always the biggest thing,” Spaeth said. In case of a concern over safety, such as whether to ride a rapids or portage around it, the group’s rule was to always abide by the opinion of the person with the greatest reservation. “Everyone [had] veto power,” he said. One of their worst disagreements was after they got back to civilization— perhaps where they unconsciously knew they could afford to have a conflict.
When asked how they got along, Turner said he was looking forward to not having to spend every waking moment with his fellow crewmembers. They developed a brotherhood, though, he said, and they really care about each other.
Swenson said they were now “very dear to each other.” They also knew each other very well. “I could tell who they [were] by the smell of their socks!” he said.
All four young men are 23 or 24 years old and on the verge of entering new phases in their lives—college, graduate school, careers, Spaeth said. This was a special—and unforgettable— experience to share.
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