Atikokan paddler, Mike Ranta, set out from Vancouver on April 1 on a canoe journey to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia that he hopes will set a new world record for longest solo paddle. He hopes to complete the 8300-kilometer route by September.
“Aim is to have it done by end of September on my 43rd birthday,” he said in an interview with CBC Radio. “I think I can do it in six months. But I have seven months scheduled.”
No stranger to long trips, Ranta paddled 5000 kilometers from BC to Montreal in 2011. Since that last trip he says he’s increased his confidence about bring on big rivers, his navigational abilities and his patience. “You can find yourself in a little bit of a bind sometimes if you push yourself in a hurry mode. Stop yourself and smell the flowers,” he told the CBC. He’s brought his six-year-old Finnish spitz (Spitzy) along for company. “The best bush dog you could ask for,” he added.
The first major challenge of the trip will be conquering a mountain range, involving an 80-kilometer portage that Ranta has scheduled a week to complete. The long and cold winter has him concerned about the weather: “I have to time it out right so that when I hit the Columbia mountain range I don’t get froze up.”
Follow his route and get expedition updates on his Facebook page here.
