The Spirit Travelers are three families who have shared a love of wilderness and canoeing for over 15 years.  Children came along, and we’ve had the joy of including them in our adventures.  Our goal is to experience wilderness waterways in every province and territory in Canada.  To date we have done 9 extended canoe trips in BC, Alberta and the NWT.  In 2009, we set off to Northern Saskatchewan for something we’d never done: a fur trade route on the Canadian Shield!
 

In August we paddled the Sturgeon-Weir River from Pelican Narrows to Cumberland House – over 230 km in 13 days.  This river was a key part of the fur trade route, linking the Saskatchewan River system in the south to the Churchill River system in the north.  Cumberland House was the first Hudson’s Bay Company outpost established inland by Samuel Hearne and is the oldest community in western Canada.
 

Our goals for this trip were to:
•    use the gentle Class I-II grade of the Sturgeon-Weir to allow our emerging paddlers opportunities in the bow and stern to build their skills and confidence,
•    learn about the human and natural history of Saskatchewan,
•    explore a key piece of Canada’s history – canoeing and camping in the footsteps of the voyageurs and explorers like Mackenzie, Simpson, Thompson, Franklin, Hearne, the Frobisher’s, and the countless generations of Cree people who first discovered the route.
•    continue to expose our kids to Canada’s wilderness so that they appreciate and value our remarkable country and learn outdoor skills and ethics.
 

The Spirit Travelers are the Burnett’s -Monica, Dan, Madelaine (12), Hannah (10); the Fraser-Lew’s - Cathy, James, Alexandra (12), David (10); and the Sacilotto-Gillespie’s -Melanie, Paul, Sophie (9), Jack (7).  We were joined this year by Mike Rott, Yasmin Rampuri and Carin and Hana (9) Holroyd.