Reel Paddling Film Festival complete with hot-buttered pop-corn and bagpipes presented at Red Dog Creek campsite, Keele River, NWT. A screening that won the award for the most enthusiastic audience in the history of the festival. A Canoe North Adventures first in twenty-five years to have a movie playlist on a gravel bar! Movie watchers were enthralled!

Bill Buxton along with his two sons, Adam and Blair, and son-in-law, Charlie, smuggled a tiny projector, a set of miniature speakers and a memory-stick loaded with five short canoeing films from the Reel Paddling Film Festival with the blessing of Scott McGregor at Rapid Media. Bill was aware that Canoe North Adventures was a leading sponsor of the festival and was determined to show the festival in the most remote, wilderness setting ever!

One glitch Bill had not considered was the lack of darkness in the far north so the “cinema” tarp had to be clad in sleeping bags and therma-rests! Piper, Helen Batten called the festival goers to the world-premiere arctic screening by, you guessed it, a bagpipe march! The sold-out screening (the make-shift theatre seated 14) was picture perfect!

After the show, the paddlers’ eyes shone with excitement and ideas danced in their heads. The next day their paddling was inspired! They met a couple of caribou downstream who said how much they had enjoyed the movies … gave them a new appreciation for canoes on the river! They mentioned a couple of bears had said they enjoyed the night as well, especially the hot-buttered popcorn! Hurray for innovation on the river!  The End.

The Alan White Family, including four brothers, one brother-in-law and a future father-in-law, arrived in Norman Wells from Ireland, South Africa, Peterborough, Hamilton and Toronto and spent two glorious weeks sharing an adventure on the iconic Keele River. The trebuchet became an all-day labour of love and engineering – created with stubborn ingenuity, rope and driftwood and one blue barrel filled with water as the counter-weight. A memory-for-life indeed!

Family expeditions create an awesome environment to reconnect through a shared spirit of adventure.  Our Guides marvel at the curiosity and ingenuity of siblings and in-laws through their deep caring for parents,  grandparents and each other while on the river and in camp.  We are experienced at assisting families come to terms with the detailed organization and planning that a trip entails working with diverse schedules and world-wide points of travel.  We would like to invite your family to join us on an unforgettable wilderness journey!

A brand new Canoe North Adventures truck pulling a trailer loaded with nine canoes and lots of gear set out from our Hockley Valley winter base on Saturday, headed for Edmonton.  The truck is being driven by our good friend and adventurer Roger Kehoe.  Later this week Al will fly to Edmonton with his friend Gord Burke and the two of them will continue up to Yellowknife then on to the winter road to Norman Wells.  Hopefully they will send us some photos of their adventure to pass along!

Paddlers on one of our Keele River trips last year will definitely remember Shauna Kearns!  Shauna baked bread over an open fire every day while out on the river… sourdough bread, hamburger buns, pizza dough and more.  Shauna is working on her PHD and you can learn more about her project by following the link:

On the Rise: Two Bakers Usher in Pittsburgh’s New Bread Movement

The award was presented to Al and Lin by Bob MacLeod, the Minister of Tourism at the Northwest Territories Tourism Gala Dinner held in Inuvik on Thursday, November 25th.

Presented to Canoe North Adventures:

This tourism operator has demonstrated all-around excellence and models best practices in the industry resulting in strong growth and a record of success. They exhibit a commitment to education and training and have shown outstanding community involvement and leadership. This operator is seen as a strong partner in tourism and achieves high levels of customer satisfaction.