Explorer and photographer John Dunn will be presenting his photos at a presentation hosted by the Cariboo Ski-Touring Club on Thursday (Jan. 18).
This is not the first time Dunn, of Canmore, Alberta, has presented in Quesnel, and he will also be speaking to students at Correlieu Secondary School earlier in the day, showcasing his 8,000 km trek from Tofino, on Vancouver Island, to Ellesmere Island in Nunavut.
Dunn has been working on this route – travelling on foot, in a canoe and on skis – for a number of years; he began the first stretch, from Tofino up the B.C. coast, 20 years ago.
“I started on the 49th parallel near Tofino,” says Dunn.
“I’d done a lot of Arctic trips in the Eastern Arctic and I was looking for a new project, so I thought a wilderness journey right through Canada to the north would be just the thing.”
Dunn says he had originally hoped to do the entire journey consecutively, but life got in the way, and he’s still not quite finished.
“This has been a long-term project. There’s a bit down the Mackenzie I still want to do, and then I think I will have done it to my satisfaction.
“There are a few bits in the Arctic I’ll never quite do now; too much water and not enough ice these days,” he laments.
Most recently, in 2017, Dunn traversed part of the Arctic Mainland and up into the Arctic Islands, partially on his own and partially with a friend. He says he most often travels on his own, or with one or two companions.
The most difficult stretch he can remember was from Stewart, B.C. to Fort Nelson.
“All those trees in the way! When they are dead and falling all over the place, you can imagine what that’s like.”
Dunn has only had to cut a trip short a few times, and never because of injury.
“I’ve been lucky over the years not to have any injuries that finished a trip.
“There was one part of this journey I gave up on almost right away because I realized I had the wrong equipment. I went in the spring to Northern B.C. with an Arctic sled, and it was completely inappropriate for the soft snow. It was clear after five minutes that it just wasn’t going to work,” he explains.
On Thursday, Dunn’s photographs, some of which have appeared in National Geographic, will give attendees a highlight reel of his amazing wilderness journey, from coastal scenes through the boreal forest and above the treeline to the Arctic.
He says the views in the vast, open Arctic are his favourite, but there have been many scenic moments that took his breath away through the years.
“We had some good polar bear moments on last year’s trip. Luckily the ones we’ve seen have been well behaved,” he laughs.
Next, Dunn hopes to travel from Churchill, Manitoba, along the treeline to Great Slave Lake sometime this year. He also has plans for a trip in Northern Quebec and Labrador.
“I like to do long journeys that are self supported and you’re totally out in the wilderness,” he says.
“There’s not so many places you can do that. I’ve tried rainforest, but I found it hopelessly claustraphobic.
“I like open spaces.”
Tickets for the presentation are available at Hallis Lake Lodge or Rocky Peak Adventure Gear, or at the door.