Barren Grounds: The Story of the Tragic Moffatt Canoe Trip

Barren Grounds: The Story of the Tragic Moffatt Canoe Trip

In 1955 Arthur Moffatt led an expedition consisting of young college students and recent graduates to the Inuit lands of Nunavut, Canada, to follow the path of the 1893 Tyrrell expedition and to film and photograph the groupâ€™s progress. The expedition, a 900-mile epic journey across the Barren Lands of Arctic Canada, has stirred controversy and criticism for over fifty years. The trip has been variously described as â€œthe pioneering venture in modern recreational canoe travelâ€ and as â€œan excellent example of how not to conduct a canoe trip.â€ Delays took their toll on the adventurers, exhausted by the seemingly endless paddling through unknown rivers and lakes, the trek across the windswept tundra, and torment by voracious insects. Threatened with diminishing food reserves and increasingly harsh weather, the members of the expedition were forced to travel with greater speed and less caution, and ultimately a fatal mistake was made. Two of the canoes capsized, dumping four men into the frigid waters. Moffatt, the leader, died of exposure. It took the survivors ten days of arduous travel with minimum food and equipment to reach the safety of the Hudsonâ€™s Bay Company post.

Barren Grounds features passages from the journals of two young Moffatt party members and excerpts about the 1893 expedition of Joseph Burr Tyrrell, along with entries from the journal of Art Moffatt himself.

Part cautionary tale, part nail-biting adventure, the book will appeal to outdoorsmen and armchair adventurers alike.
Country USA
Brand University Press of New England
Manufacturer Dartmouth College Press
Binding Hardcover
ItemPartNumber , black & white illustrations, maps, col
UnitCount 1
EANs 9781611685336
ReleaseDate 0000-00-00

Country	USA
Brand	University Press of New England
Manufacturer	Dartmouth College Press
Binding	Hardcover
ItemPartNumber	, black & white illustrations, maps, col
UnitCount	1
EANs	9781611685336
ReleaseDate	0000-00-00

Barren Grounds: The Story of the Tragic Moffatt Canoe Trip

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