Solo cross Canada canoe trip

[kickingfrog]

http://atikokanprogress.ca/2014/10/29/solo-cross-canada-paddler-mike-ranta-wraps-up-trip/

 

 

 

Solo cross-Canada paddler Mike Ranta nears Cape Breton

by M.MCKINNON on OCTOBER 29, 2014

Solo cross-Canada paddler Mike Ranta nears Cape Breton

“I’ll walk the rest of the way if I have to,” Mike Ranta told us Tuesday.

The winds on the Northumberland Strait were just too strong to even consider paddling last week, so Ranta portaged the eastern coast of New Brunswick, covering some 150 km between Sunday and mid-afternoon Saturday. At his present pace, he should cross into Nova Scotia sometime today. That’s province number eight on this magnificent trek, which he began on the Pacific Ocean April 1.

“I’m hoping I’ll be able to get back in the water early next [i.e., this] week,” he said, as he portaged along Highway 134. “I’m still debating about [the] Hallowe’en [deadline]. Right now I’m just shooting for the island [Cape Breton]. I don’t think I’m going to try to paddle the Bras d’Or [the large lake in central Cape Breton] in November.”

He took a day’s break on Friday (the rain helped convince him it was time for a break) at Shediac, New Brunswick. That’s 344 km by main road from Port Hawkesbury, the first major town on the Cape Breton side of the Canso Causeway. So walking to Cape Breton would likely take until November 7 or 8.

If the winds ease off and he’s able to get back to paddling (October 21 post: “Hoping to get on the water tomorrow morning and get a paddle in. I miss it, eh!!”), he might be able to reach Cape Breton a little sooner.

“I’m just going to have to play everything by ear from here on in,” he told us. He posted during the week that he would do nothing to put Spitzii and himself in peril.

If he is able to get back on the water, he doesn’t expect to face the same struggle with tides as he did in the St. Lawrence.

“The tides really caught me there. I’d be paddling along and suddenly be swept up a beach, or have rapids appear out of nowhere. I tell you, without Greg’s [Greg Cowan, who guided him most of the way], I never would have made it.”

“Here, it’s 12-hour tides. In the St. Lawrence, they were six-hour tides, plus all the big ships [that would displace huge quantities of water]. I really learned a lot, with Greg’s help.”

The past week was highlighted by the walk through Kouchibouguac National Park, and the overwhelming hospitality of Acadians.

“The fall out here is just so striking… unbelievably beautiful,” he said. “And the people are wonderful… the best part of the trip. They are not shy: people are stopping me all the time to ask what I’m doing and invite me in. I have to tell them I’m on a mission, so then they start running after us with food. I must have 20 pounds of dog food…”

Weather-wise, rain remains the issue. Though “there is definitely a chill in the air”, conditions are nothing like what he experienced in the mountains in April and early May.

“We have good equipment, and I actually saw a mosquito yesterday.”

The determining factor may turn out to be his portage cart, which has seen far more use than anticipated. Its aluminum construction is showing some serious wear (he had to have the frame welded earlier this month), and he continues to have to deal frequently with flats. (A bike shop owner from Shippagan treated him to eight new tubes, a couple of tires, and an Acadian flag.)

Finally, you know the end of a trip is near when Mike Ranta starts talking about the next one.

“I’m loving it… all the new challenges. And I know I’ve gained the knowledge to do the next one.”