The adventurers got what they wanted: adventures!

Impassable ice, stormy seas, stinging falls, changes of plans. Quebec adventurers who traveled the Canadian Arctic during the summer experienced their share of misadventures. But everyone came back enthusiastic after this immersion in extraordinary nature.

This is the case of Maxime Geoffroy and Simon Carrier, who embarked on a great adventure, crossing the Northwest Passage by sea kayak. The first is a researcher in Arctic oceanography, the second, an outdoor teacher in secondary school.

The two planned to leave Tuktoyaktuk, in the Northwest Territories, to reach Pond Inlet, Nunavut, 3,000 kilometers further. But after 2,000 kilometers, they were stopped by virtually impenetrable ice. After a review of satellite images and extensive discussions, they decided to end the expedition at the end of August.

“It was the right decision, but it was hard to make,” says Simon Carrier.

The expedition still left good memories.

The two friends are thinking of teaming up with a collaborator who is “good at drawing” to write a graphic novel about their expedition, which would particularly target young people.

“It’s important to develop reading,” emphasizes Simon Carrier. If we are able to come out with something that will hook the little guys into reading, that would be cool. »

Samuel Lalande-Markon also had to modify his expedition to the Far North. With Marie France Lécuyer and Félix-Antoine Tremblay, he had to go from Whitehorse to Tuktoyaktuk, pedaling notably on the Dempster road and the legendary Canol Heritage Trail and by paddling on the Mackenzie River.

But then, a few days after the start of the expedition, Marie France L’Écuyer had a nasty fall on her bike. Concussion, a few broken bones, she had to be evacuated.

The other two decided to continue the expedition.

The adventurers decided to cycle the entire distance between Whitehorse and Tuktoyaktuk, then buy plane tickets to return to Norman Wells and paddle the entire Mackenzie River to Inuvik. They thus made two almost parallel routes from south to north.

The Mackenzie is not an extremely popular waterway for canoeists because it is wide and fairly placid. Samuel Lalande-Markon, however, liked the experience.

“It’s a very lively, inhabited watercourse,” he explains. On the hinterland rivers, the occupation is ancestral, archaeological, but there are very few people who still maintain a direct relationship with them. Whereas when we walked on the Mackenzie, especially near the communities, there were motorboats passing by, people going fishing, going to their camp. »

For their part, Nicolas Roulx and Catherine Chagnon, of the Akor expedition, experienced few glitches in their epic crossing of Canada from west to east, a journey of 6,900 kilometers through the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

They first cycled 1,400 kilometers from the Alaska border to reach the tributaries of the legendary Nahanni River.

“We had a first challenge linked to timing,” says Catherine Chagnon. We were supposed to take the Nahanni River, but it was still completely frozen. We decided to take the Flat River, which was partially frozen, so canoeable. »

Comrades joined them for the canoe section, 2800 kilometers to Baker Lake.

At Baker Lake, a sailboat was to take them across to Baffin Land, a logistical headache that involved 16 people.

“To see the sailboat arrive on the scheduled date, it was a bit surreal. »

The adventurers had a somewhat romantic vision of sailing, they saw themselves letting themselves be gently pushed by the wind. They had to face very difficult sea conditions.

“It was hard to get to grips with life in such a restricted environment, in which there was so much excitement,” recalls Catherine Chagnon. We got seasick, especially Nicolas, he didn’t get over it. »

After 16 days of this diet, the two were relieved to dismount and hike across Baffin Land via Akshayuk Pass in Auyuittuq National Park.

“It was the icing on the sundae, a beautiful hike in a national park, nothing too complicated logistically, something physically accessible enough to round it off with some breathtaking scenery. »