{"id":36133,"date":"2015-10-27T09:50:06","date_gmt":"2015-10-27T13:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=36133"},"modified":"2015-10-27T09:52:05","modified_gmt":"2015-10-27T13:52:05","slug":"brock-grad-chronicles-expeditions-into-canadas-wild-north","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2015\/10\/brock-grad-chronicles-expeditions-into-canadas-wild-north\/","title":{"rendered":"Brock grad pens book about adventures into Canada’s north"},"content":{"rendered":"

The age of exploration isn\u2019t over.\u00a0Adventurer and author Adam Shoalts is proof of that.\u00a0The 29-year-old Brock University history grad (BA \u201909) chronicles his explorations in his new book Alone Against the North: An Expedition into the Unknown<\/em>, published by Viking.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the heart of the story is Shoalts\u2019 expedition to one of Canada\u2019s harshest landscapes \u2013 the Hudson Bay Lowlands \u2013 where he journeyed to map the little-known Again River.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know the world half as well as we think we do,\u201d Shoalts says. \u201cIt\u2019s still possible to be an explorer and see things for the first time. You can change the map.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shoalts, who often ventures into the wilderness alone, has had many close calls.<\/p>\n

While canoeing on an unnamed river in the far north, Shoalts faced off against a polar bear. The tense confrontation is chronicled in the book.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the closest thing I know to a religious experience. It\u2019s almost magical \u2013 it\u2019s raw, untamed nature.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, it isn\u2019t the wildlife that challenges the explorer most when he sets off on his quests.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the cold. The wet. The hordes of blood-sucking insects. The constant hunger.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it\u2019s also the solitude, that feeling of being completely alone in the world. He can travel for hundreds of miles without crossing a road or seeing another human.<\/p>\n

But, that\u2019s also the best part.<\/p>\n

He says his deep love for wilderness and the natural world is its most poignant in Canada\u2019s remote, pristine landscapes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the closest thing I know to a religious experience. It\u2019s almost magical \u2013 it\u2019s raw, untamed nature,\u201d he says. \u201cIt speaks to your soul.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shoalts keeps detailed notes on his trips and documents everything with pictures and video. He works extensively with the Canadian Geographical Society and much of what he finds is used in mapping.<\/p>\n

Many of the rivers, marshes and forests he traverses have only been seen using satellites, which don\u2019t show features like rapids and waterfalls.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way to explore these places is to go there,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Shoalts said his degree in history comes in handy in his work as an explorer, much of which involves researching archives, books and old record logs. This plays a role in the book as he tries to uncover the history of the Again River, which he found while cross-referencing 172 Canadian rivers. The Again River was one he could find no information about, with the exception of its naming in 1946.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the sort of place you couldn\u2019t learn about in a book,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Shoalts said he uncovered the mystery behind the naming, a central part of the story in the book.<\/p>\n

Shoalts\u2019 next big adventure is a solo trip across the Canadian arctic. The 4,000-kilometre trek is expected to take five months in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is going to be the most extreme adventure of my career,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The book is available at The Campus Store.<\/p>\n\n\t