Paddlenorth: Adventure, Resilience
and Renewal in the Arctic Wild

By Jennifer Kingsley

Greystone Books / David Suzuki Foundation

Pages 240; $29.95

Reviewed by Terry Jones   

In her debut book, Paddlenorth: Adventure, Resilience and Renewal in the Arctic Wild, Jennifer Kingsley carries us with her on a daring trip that begins in the Northwest Territories and follows the Back River through Nunavut to the Arctic Ocean. Deposited by float plane on the permafrost, Kingsley and five companions test their physical and emotional resources in an intense drive to reach their goal 1,000 kilometres to the north.

With an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Victoria, a Bachelor of Science in biology, and extensive experience as a naturalist and wilderness guide, Kingsley has found her writing niche with her first book. She provides accurate, vivid descriptions of the flora and fauna of the Arctic Tundra. Through her eyes, we share sightings of migratory birds, white wolves, muskox, and the magnificence of massing herds of caribou.

The struggle for survival serves as a leitmotiv for Paddlenorth. Kingsley provides compelling examples of everyday life-and-death situations in the Arctic wilderness. We learn of the endurance of the caribou as they ford icy water and we witness nature’s raw power as prey and predator face off at the water’s edge.  “The bear . . . snapped that goose left and right until it hung like a skein of wool,” Kingsley writes.

The paddlers’ survival mirrors that of the resident wildlife. Despite the team’s thorough preparation that includes rationed food, carefully chosen equipment and emergency gear, the reader is always aware of the possibility of imminent disaster. This awareness and the author’s first-person narrative serve to heighten and maintain the story’s tension and suspense. An overturned canoe can mean hypothermia, emergency evacuation or worse. An inoperable emergency phone might make rescue impossible. An inattentive moment could mean a face-to-face encounter with a grizzly. In addition to the these dangers, the team faces rapids, waterfalls and huge blocks of ice, and struggles with the discomfort of unrelenting mosquitoes, black flies, wind, sand, blisters and frigid temperatures.

Kingsley never shies away from talking about the mental toughness the trip required or her emotional struggles to fit in with the team. “I was tired of reading about the wilderness as a backdrop for so-and-so’s personal struggle; yet there I was, dragging my anxieties across the North,” she writes. Kingsley observes the “tundra’s oppressive moods” can make one feel claustrophobic despite the region’s immensity. The Arctic tundra, known also as the Barrenlands, is the place to go if you want to “measure yourself against the Earth” and “test your perspective on life and distance.” Kingsley’s honesty is admirable as she examines the challenges of group dynamics, where personalities and preferences can cause disagreements and insecurity. She’s candid about times when she doesn’t feel good about her behavior and when she’s taken to task by a fellow paddler. “I had been impossibly stubborn at times,” she admits.

We begin to feel we know her paddling group, not only through a series of black and white photographs but also by sharing in their grief, frustration and misgivings. Kingsley is frank and thorough in her description of the tightrope the group must walk between the enjoyment of stopping to view the natural world and the necessity of completing paddling distances over the 54-day trip.

Kingsley artfully weaves the history of the Arctic into her narrative. We learn that the Back River is named for Lieutenant George Back who served as midshipman on Franklin’s first and second overland expeditions through the Canadian North between 1819 and 1822. Snippets of the Arctic’s history underscore the necessity for Kingsley’s group to be prepared for any circumstance. The land has a long history of people dying while waiting to be rescued.

With Paddlenorth, Kingsley has succeeded in writing a travel memoir that is both exciting and educational and also serves as an excellent resource for anyone planning a similar adventure.

Terry Jones is a Victoria writer.