National bestseller
A thrilling odyssey through an unforgiving landscape, from "Canada's
greatest living explorer."
In the spring of 2017, Adam Shoalts, bestselling author and adventurer,
set off on an unprecedented solo journey across North America's greatest
wilderness. A place where, in our increasingly interconnected, digital
world, it's still possible to wander for months without crossing a
single road, or even see another human being.
Between his starting point in Eagle Plains, Yukon Territory, to his
destination in Baker Lake, Nunavut, lies a maze of obstacles: shifting
ice floes, swollen rivers, fog-bound lakes, and gale-force storms. And
Shoalts must time his departure by the breakup of the spring ice, then
sprint across nearly 4,000 kilometers of rugged, wild terrain to arrive
before winter closes in.
He travels alone up raging rivers that only the most expert white-water
canoeists dare travel even downstream. He must portage across fields of
jagged rocks that stretch to the horizon, and navigate labyrinths of
swamps, tormented by clouds of mosquitoes every step of the way. And the
race against the calendar means that he cannot afford the luxuries of
rest, or of making mistakes. Shoalts must trek tirelessly, well into the
endless Arctic summer nights, at times not even pausing to eat.
But his reward is the adventure of a lifetime.
Heart-stopping, wonder-filled, and attentive to the majesty of the
natural world, Beyond the Trees captures the ache for adventure that
afflicts us all.
