Paddle to the Arctic: The Incredible Story of a Kayak Quest Across the Roof of the World

After his astounding 12,000-mile canoe trip from Winnipeg down to the Amazon (recounted in his bestseller Paddle to the Amazon on page 48), Don Starkell decided to paddle a kayak from Hudson Bay 3,000 miles through the Northwest Passage. This is Don’s diary of this journey from Churchill, Manitoba, to Tuktoyaktuk, close to Alaska, a voyage by kayak (paddled on water or dragged on a sled over the ice) that took him three Arctic summers and almost cost him his life. Through this compelling book we find ourselves sharing his blazing, driving determination to reach his goal, as he closes in on his destination, with his supplies running out and his ocean highway freezing over, making death a near certainty. Armchair travel at its best.Don Starkell has a thing about paddling. In 1980, he won a place in the Guinness Book of World Records by paddling a canoe 12,000 miles from Winnipeg, Canada, to the mouth of the Amazon in Belém, Brazil. Ten years later, he decided instead to head north across the top of the world; this time he took a kayak. Paddle to the Arctic is the account of his journey, presented in diary form and illustrated with 24 pages of photographs and 12 maps. Starkell’s window of opportunity was small; he had only the months between June and September to cover the 3,000 miles from Churchill to Tuktoyaktuk before the winter freeze set in. In all, he made three attempts before finally reaching his goal.

The challenges were extreme: terrible storms, ice, capsizes, even polar bears. At times, he was forced to drag his kayak over impassable ice flows; at others, he nearly died from starvation. In the end, however, he achieved what seemed impossible: conquering the Northwest Passage in an Inuit kayak, a feat never before accomplished. Paddle to the Arctic is a hair-raising chronicle of one man’s epic quest and eventual triumph.