Adam Shoalts

A thrilling odyssey through an unforgiving landscape, from "Canada's Indiana Jones." Why had no one traversed Canada's arctic from west to east before Adam Shoalts, bestselling author and Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society, set out to be the first in the spring of 2017? Because it was deemed impossible. Between his starting point in Eagle Plains, Yukon Territory, to his destination in Baker Lake, Nunavut, lies a maze of obstacles. Any of them would be daunting to even the most adventurous explorer. Together, they might be suidical. But with trademark doggedness fuelled by his unquenchable love of nature, Shoalts sets out nonetheless. He must time his departure by the breakup of the spring ice, then sprint across 4500 kilometers of inhumanly rugged terrain to arrive before winter closes in. Along the way, he must travel, alone, up the Coppermine river, a route that only the most expert whitewater canoists dare travel even downstream, and then in groups large enough to guarantee safety in the event of an all-too-likely emergency. He must pole for days through the pack of Great Bear lake, portage across fields of jagged rocks that stretch to the horizon, paddle through gales, and navigate labyrinths of swamps and narrow streams, tormented by mosquitoes every step of the way. And the race against the calendar means that he cannot afford the luxuries of rest, or of making a mistake. Every moment counts, and Shoalts must paddle and trek tirelessly, well into the endless Arctic summer nights, not even pausing to eat. But his rewards are beyond reckoning: the crystalline arctic water that allows him to see to the bottom of fathomless pristine lakes, the company of curious wolves loping curiously alongside his route, the astonishing diversity of the arctic ecosystems, from the countless lakes of the swampy wetlands to the dunes of a northern desert. Water so pure he can drink from lakes without filtering, silence so pure he can hear the wind rushing under a bird's wings. Shoalts's only company is the lore of the north, the stories of other adventurers, explorers, First Nations, fur traders, dreamers, eccentrics, and bush pilots who like him are drawn to the arctic. These mysteries and wonders are Shoalts's inspiration as he sets out on his own path through the adventure of a lifetime. Heartstopping, filled with wonder, and beautifully attentive to the majesty of the natural world, Beyond the Trees captures the ache for adventure as only an adventurer can.

Beyond the Trees

A History of Canada in Ten Maps

Spellbinding adventure from Canada's most beloved modern-day explorer. Traverspine is not a place you will find on most maps. A century ago, it stood near the foothills of the remote Mealy Mountains in central Labrador. Today it is an abandoned ghost town, almost all trace of it swallowed up by dark spruce woods that cloak millions of acres. In the early 1900s, this isolated little settlement was the scene of an extraordinary haunting by large creatures none could identify. Strange tracks were found in the woods. Unearthly cries were heard in the night. Sled dogs went missing. Children reported being stalked by a terrifying grinning animal. Families slept with cabin doors barred and axes and guns at their bedsides. Tales of things that "go bump in the night" are part of the folklore of the wilderness, told and retold around countless campfires down through the ages. Most seldom seem very tangible. Sasquatch, windigos, and other legends are easily dismissed by skeptics. But what happened at Traverspine a hundred years ago was different. The eye-witness accounts were detailed, and those who reported them included no less than three medical doctors and a wildlife biologist. Something really did emerge from the wilderness to haunt the little settlement of Traverspine. Adam Shoalts, decorated modern day explorer and an expert on wilderness folklore, picks up the trail from a century ago and sets off into the Labrador wild to investigate the tale. It is a spine-tingling adventure, straight from a land steeped in legends and lore, where Vikings wandered a thousand years ago and wolves and bears still roam free. In delving into the dark corners of Canada's wild, The Whisper on the Night Wind combines folklore, history, and adventure into a fascinating saga of exploration.

The True History of a Wilderness Legend

The Whisper on the Night Wind

Canada's real-life Indiana Jones reminds us that the age of exploration is not over When Adam Shoalts ventured into the largest unexplored wilderness on the planet, he hoped to set foot where no one had ever gone before. What he discovered surprised even him, and made him a media sensation. Shoalts was no stranger to the wilderness. He had hacked his way through jungles and muskeg, had stared down polar bears and climbed mountains. But one spot on the map called out to him irresistibly: the Hudson Bay Lowlands, a trackless waste of muskeg and lonely rivers, moose and wolf, much bigger than the Amazon. Little of it has ever been explored. Cutting through this forbidding landscape is a river no hunter, no explorer, no Native guide has left any record of paddling. It is far from any important waterways, even further from any arable land, and about as far from civilization as one can get. It was this river that Shoalts was obsessively determined to explore. It took him several attempts, years of research, and two friendships that collapsed under the strain of Adam's single-minded thirst to explore this river. But finally, alone, he found the headwaters of the Again. He believed he had discovered what he had set out to find. But the adventure had just begun. Paddling his way back to Hudson Bay, where a float plane would pick him up, Shoalts discovered something that seemingly shouldn't exist: a towering unmapped waterfall. He also discovered edenic islands, and braved rock-strewn rapids, but the waterfall captured both his imagination and the world's. Adam did a single interview, with The Guardian, and once the story hit, he was a celebrity. He appeared on morning TV and was made the Explorer in Residence of the Canadian Geographic Society. What struck a chord with people was the realization that the world is bigger than we think. We assume that because we have mapped it from space, it must be exhaustively known. But it is wilder, stranger, less homogenous than we assume. We hardly know it. And, contrary to popular wisdom, it is certainly not flat. In other words, the age of exploration is not over.

Alone Against the North

NATIONAL BESTSELLER Spellbinding adventure from Canada's most beloved modern-day explorer. In the early 1900s, the isolated little settlement of Traverspine was the scene of an extraordinary haunting by large creatures none could identify. Strange tracks were found in the woods. Unearthly cries were heard in the night. Sled dogs went missing. Children reported being stalked by a terrifying grinning animal. Families slept with cabin doors barred and axes and guns at their bedsides. While tales of things that "go bump in the night" are part of the folklore of the wilderness, most are easily dismissed by skeptics. But what happened at Traverspine a hundred years ago was different. Adam Shoalts, decorated modern-day explorer and an expert on wilderness folklore, picks up the trail from a century ago and sets off into the Labrador wild to investigate the tale. It is a spine-tingling adventure, straight from a land steeped in legends and lore, where Vikings wandered a thousand years ago and wolves and bears still roam free. In delving into the dark corners of Canada's wild, The Whisper on the Night Wind combines folklore, history, and adventure into a fascinating saga of exploration.

Adam Shoalts

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