It has been an extremely long time since I have attended an audio/visual inspirational talk given by an extreme outdoor adventurer. I think it goes way back to 2009 after local mountaineer Dan Mallory climbed Mount Everest with his three children. They were speaking at a gala for the County of Simcoe to honour and recognize volunteers who have given many years of service. My wife was chosen for her work in the Hillsdale community. I came as her guest. It was really neat to meet the Mallory family.

It has also been really memorable to meet some extreme outdoor adventurers on a more personal level. Back in 1984 I got to know Ross Cloutier through a three month outdoor skills program that he led. He shared a lot of stories from his experiences, many times in a teaching context. In 1991, Ross was expedition leader for the Canadian Everest expedition. This was a time before Mount Everest became commercialized by guiding companies. Ross and the Canadian team climbed the very obscure (at the time) Tibet side of the mountain.

In 2011 I had Jean Beliveau (not the hockey player) spend a night in our home and hang out with my family. Jean was known as the World Wide Walker. Walking over 75,000 kilometers through 64 counties, while dedicating his journey to non-violence for children. Jean was on his final stretch heading back to his home in Montreal when I met him. I spent a full day walking with Jean. It was such an amazing experience. In the end without returning home Jean spent 4,077 days on the road. He wore out 54 pairs of shoes, and had an average budget of nearly $4,000 per year. He relied on the kindness of strangers for food and shelter.

In 2014 I met extreme Dutch cyclist Shane Little in a Burger King in Barrie following his Trans Labrador mountain bike expedition in winter. I had been following Shane’s blog and social media for some time, and after Labrador he made a post that he was going to meet a friend in Barrie. I didn’t expect it would happen, but I sent a message if I could meet him. He was more than happy to meet me. We’ve been keeping in touch since then. Shane has done some really extreme cycling adventures that you can read about on his blog.

In 2018 I got to meet Canadian ultrarunning legend Ray Zahab. Ray had completed some incredibly inspiring accomplishments. In 2006 he ran with Charlie Engle and Kevin Lin across the entire Sahara Desert raising awareness for clean-water initiatives in Africa. This feat consisted of running an average of 70 km per day for 111 days. A total of running 7,500 kilometers in extreme desert conditions through six countries. Every year Ray does a new expedition. This year, in April 2025, after 28 days, Ray and teammate Kevin Vallely successfully completed their 500km ski expedition from Eureka to Grise Fiord, across Ellesmere Island, Nunavut. I met Ray during a 150 kilometer 3 day stage race that he was directing called Bad Beaver Ultra. There were 33 runners and Ray took the time to connect with each of us. His stories he shared in the evenings after a day’s running were so riveting. I didn’t want to go to bed.

Meeting and getting to know such inspirational people make for great sermon illustrations. One Sunday I was sharing an illustration on Ray Zahab at the 3 churches when the next day I got an email from a gentleman named Larry from the 1st church. The email message started with this sentence, “I thought of 39-year old Adam Shoalts during yesterday’s sermon at Willis on the races of life and on the extremes to which we humans push ourselves”. Larry is on the executive of the Barrie-Kempenfelt Probus Club who just happened to have booked Adam Shoalts as a guest speaker three months down the road on November 20th. Tickets for his speaking engagements sell out very quickly. Larry offered me a proposition that was very hard to turn down. Not only would he secure me a ticket, he would gift it to me.

The next Sunday at church Larry handed me an envelope containing the prized ticket. They sold out shortly after that. I tacked the ticket to the wall by the calendar and soon enough November 20th came around. Right after my morning crosswalk I drove to the venue. Larry was at the door greeting everyone and taking tickets. Canadian Geographic describes Adam Shoalts as “A Canadian explorer, adventurer and bestselling author renowned for his epic solo journeys through some of the world’s most far-reaching northern landscapes. Shoalts has paddled nearly 4,000 kilometres alone across Canada’s Arctic, mapped uncharted northern rivers, and authored books like Beyond the Trees and Where the Falcon Flies. Shoalts currently serves as the Explorer-in-Residence at the Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS) and is a passionate storyteller about wilderness, history and adventure.” Declared one of the “greatest living explorers” by Canadian Geographic, and named “Canada’s Indiana Jones” by the Toronto Star, Adam Shoalts is one of Canada’s bestselling authors.

I arrived with 15 minutes to spare. The venue was buzzing and was already pretty full. I found a seat at the back. It also just happened to be right beside the table that Adam had his book table and was selling and signing copies of his bestselling books. It was really cool observing him interact with those who dropped by his table. Always so gracious and humble. Lots of people lined up to purchase one or more of his books, which he would personally sign.

Adam’s presentation was around an hour. It was extremely riveting. Then there was a question period after. He has been called an adventurer, an explorer, an archeologist, a historian, a geographer. He basically describes himself as a guy who loves the outdoors. He loves the woods. He loves to wander and explore. He grew up with the forest right on his doorstep which shaped who he became. His father was a woodworker, building things like grandfather clocks and kitchen tables. His father also crafted canoes which is how Adam got into paddling.

Adam started out sharing about his background and love for the outdoors and a few journeys. Some included mapping northern rivers for the Royal Canadian Geographic Society. Then Adam shared in more detail about his epic 4,000 kilometer solo journey by canoe and foot across Canada’s arctic wilderness in celebration of Canada’s sesquicentennial (150 years as a country) in 2017. It involved starting off the Dempster Highway in the Yukon, travelling upriver on the Mackenzie, against the current on the mysterious Hare Indian River, through the icy water of Great Bear Lake, and against the current on the Coppermine River. Then in the Hudson Bay watershed he paddled down the Hanbury and Thelon Rivers until he reached Baker Lake, Nunavut. The first human settlement in four months and 4,000 kilometers of travel. There would be treacherous rapids, long portages, the fear of bears and major swell waves in the open water which would threaten to swamp his 15 foot canoe. He wrote a book on this incredible journey called “Beyond the Trees”.

Then Adam delved into another major expedition which started right from his home in Norfolk County, way down on the north shore of Lake Erie. One day he spotted from his window a peregrine falcon fly across a corn field. Having previously seen them numerous times in Labrador (where they nest) in previous expeditions, he instantly recognized it. This set the wheels in motion to plan a trip from his home to the high cliffs where the peregrine falcon nests in Labrador. After visiting the nesting cliffs he would then continue to the Arctic Ocean. The expedition began late April 2022. The two extremes of densely populated Southern Ontario and then the remote wilderness of Labrador would have been incredible. Adam portaged around Niagara Falls at four in the morning, joined some homeless campers who were living under the Jacques-Cartier bridge in Montreal and tried not to get run over by commercial freighter traffic on the St. Lawrence River. Once Adam reached saltwater on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, it was then north through Quebec and into Labrador. There was plenty of bushwhacking and canoeing alone in polar bear territory. He hiked and climbed in the Torngat Mountains to where the peregrine falcon nests. Then Adam hiked back to his canoe where he continued and ended his journey at the Arctic Ocean. Adam Shoalts wrote a book on this expedition called “Where the Falcon Flies”.

The remaining time in Adam Shoalts’s presentation was on his most recent journey. This was very intriguing story as it focused on a man who was a legendary explorer in his day. But he disappeared in 1910 without a trace. The man’s name was Hubert Darrell. A name that has pretty much all been forgotten. His name even vanished from history books. Hubert Darrell was extremely respected in his day. Roald Amundsen, the 1st man to the South Pole said, “With men like Darrell, I could go to the moon”. Adam Shoalts immersed himself in research through archives to try and gather enough information on Hubert Darrell and bring his story to life. He eventually got his hand on some letters written by Hubert Darrell, as well as his diary. It would have been like finding a needle in a haystack. With his faded letters and journal Adam Shoalts headed to the far north to retrace Hubert Darrell’s forgotten route. The audience was left hanging. After years of researching and then searching, Adam Shoalts believes he has discovered the truth of Hubert Darrell’s final resting place. This is brought to light in the final chapter of his latest book “Vanished Beyond the Map”.

If you get a chance to hear Adam Shoalts speak, do it. He has a deep love for Canada, and that is where all his expeditions happen. He mentioned that Canada is so vast, you can’t come close to seeing in all in a lifetime. Adan Shoalts’s presentation has inspired me to explore this great country more. At 67 years old I know my window of time is getting shorter. And I know I am slowing down. I know I can’t possibly run a race like the 150k Bad Beaver Ultra under the cutoffs these days like I did in 2018. I also really appreciated Adam Shoalts for his passion that wild places remain wild. The Canadian Arctic remains one of the world’s last truly wild places. Sadly mining operations are being approved to go deeper and deeper into these pristine areas. This is a failure on so many levels of government. World Wildlife Federation mentions in an article, “Leave It In the Ground“, “The Arctic region is facing down a mineral and fossil fuel exploration and extraction bonanza. If these plans go ahead, they will have devastating impacts on Indigenous and local communities, pristine Arctic ecosystems, and the global climate“.

Adam Shoalts website: adamshoalts.com.