Whitewater, Polar Bears and Beluga Whales on Canada's Seal River

The Seal River is a river in northern Manitoba that takes you from the boreal forest out onto the arctic tundra and then down to Hudson Bay. This is a very isolated route with copious class 3 and 3+ whitewater, potentially savage weather, polar bears, and the deadly waters of Hudson Bay.
In 2021 we paddled the most common route that starts at Tadoule Lake and took 9 days to cover the 320 kilometer distance to Hudson Bay. Rather than paddling all the way to Churchill and risking the gigantic tides and storms of Hudson Bay we decided to paddle north from the river mouth to the Seal River Heritage Lodge and fly to Churchill.
Note that if you have impeccable paddling, survival and navigation skills you can start on the North Seal or South Seal rivers or get to this river by crossing the height of land (I did this a few decades ago and it was a VERY difficult trip).
I'll be posting more trip information about the Seal River at www.essentialw... soon.
Cheers,
Stephan Kesting
P.S. If you're interested in the story of an arctic adventure I did even further north than the Seal River, please check out my book "Perseverance, Life and Death in the Subarctic" at www.amazon.com...

[@NikonF5user]

Wow... just WOW

[@essentialwilderness]

It’s an amazing trip if you have the skills

[@gahroe]

amazing!!

[@essentialwilderness]

Thank you Graham!

[@mattmarzula]

9 days with an extra soul onboard. Almost as impressive as the voyage which is fantastic.

[@essentialwilderness]

It all depends on the chemistry between the two people. The wrong person in the boat as hell. The right person in the boat is fantastic

[@antb533]

Strauss meets National Geographic... amazing!

[@matildo4ka7]

Omg you are so lucky

[@essentialwilderness]

We felt very lucky to catch the polar bears and belugas

[@matildo4ka7]

@@essentialwilderness very fascinating video 🤙🤙🤙

[@Evan_Le5]

Wow what a trip!! How were the bears/what was your strategy?

[@essentialwilderness]

There were quite a few bears once we hit the coast. Fortunately there is a goose hunting cabin right at the mouth of the Seal. For the rest of the trip we relied on a Pakalarm bear fence (10/10 recommend), bear spray, 12 gauge, keeping a very clean camp, cooling away from the tents, and hiding our food in 2 bags in different directions at least 150’ from our tent

[@douglasmisch2967]

Did you miss rolling during your trip?

[@essentialwilderness]

I do, but once you've been training for decades you've learned that layoffs are all temporary