Staff tackle epic canoe challenge

UCLan Outdoors staff undertook an arduous canoe expedition in Northern Canada during August.

Loel Collins, Simon Allfree, Chris Eastabrook, Andy Hall and Karl Midlane encountered polar bears, beluga whales, moose, eagles and white water in a 700 mile, 23 day expedition up the South Indian Lake in Northern Manitoba via the Seal River system, to Churchill on the Hudson Bay coast.

They paddled, hauled, lined and portaged their fully-loaded canoes for three days before moving over the water shed, via the historic Keskamutinawok Portage, into the South Seal River.

After 10 days on the South Fork, a system of exposed lakes and difficult white water, the team reached the confluence with the North Seal and continued towards Hudson Bay.

The lower Seal drops north from the Canadian Shield, onto the Arctic tundra through a series of long and technically challenging rapids and massive lakes that lead to the coast. The team eventually entered the complex river delta before returning to Churchill Township.

UCLan Outdoors would like to thank Palm Equipment International and Equal Adventure - both long-standing research and innovation partners - and the Cree First Nation for their assistance.