Gary and Joanie McGuffin | |
---|---|
Born | 1959, 1960 London and Thornhill, Ontario |
Alma mater | Seneca College |
Occupation | Explorers, Conservation Photographers, Authors, Public Speakers |
Years active | 1983–Present |
Website | http://www.themcguffins.ca |
Gary and Joanie McGuffin are Canadian explorers, conservation photographers, writers, motivational speakers, documentarians and conservationists. Their most documented adventures have been about canoeing on waterways throughout North America, [1] bicycling from the Arctic to the Pacific to the Atlantic oceans, [2] backpacking the entire length of the Appalachian Trail, circumnavigating Lake Superior by canoe [3] and paddling across Northern Ontario in the footsteps of Grey Owl. [4] The McGuffins are noted primarily for their popular paddle sports instructional books on canoeing and kayaking, [5] and their documentary film based on their research about the Group of Seven artists. [6] Between adventures, the McGuffins are ambassadors of the wilderness, touring the world through speaking events, photo exhibitions, book tours, eco-tourism development, and educational seminars on conservation. In 2000, the Ontario government officially appointed Gary and Joanie as Champions of the Coast under the Great Lakes Heritage Coast program. In 2003, they were the recipients of the Premier's Award and the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal [7] for wilderness preservation and environmental education achievements for their province and their country.
Gary McGuffin and Joan Wood met and fell in love at Seneca College in 1979. They were enrolled in a two-year Outdoor Recreation Technology program and graduated with honours. [8] Their college education propelled them into their career through skill sets such as wilderness expeditions, writing, outdoor clothing and equipment design. In 2003, Seneca College presented each of them with a Distinguished Alumni Award in the category of Applied Arts. The award honours outstanding Ontario college graduates. Joanie and Gary McGuffin are the first husband-and-wife recipients. [9]
In 1981, the McGuffins completed their first long-distance journey together. They spent four and a half months backpacking the 2100 mile Appalachian Trail through 14 states from Georgia to Maine. Gary photographed their journey with a Pentax K1000 35mm camera and a 50mm lens. The only other photographic equipment he carried consisted of a tiny tripod which could be screwed, clamped or balanced on a variety of surfaces. With only seven rolls of 36-exposure Kodak slide film, Gary could only average 2 photographs a day to document the expedition. Using a system of small town post offices, they received new supplies and sent their photographs and writing journals back home. The long-distance journey confirmed their personal commitment to a life of exploration and adventure. The success of completing the Appalachian Trail led them dream bigger dreams together. [10]
Shortly after getting married in April 1983, the McGuffins went on the world's longest honeymoon: a two-year canoe trip across Canada from the Gulf of the St. Lawrence to the Arctic Ocean. Preparations for this journey were extensive. They spent hours researching the route on maps and reading through historical journals. They sought out sponsors such as their major underwriter Labatt Breweries, and acquired equipment and clothing that would be tested along the journey. Thanks to both corporate and media support, this journey was well publicized. The McGuffins wrote regular articles for The Toronto Star, The London Free Press and the Bracebridge Herald Gazette, and they did a weekly radio broadcast series with CBC Ontario Morning for 40 weeks, and broadcasts with each provincial CBC radio network as they paddled through each province during the journey. Upon returning from the wilderness, they were inundated with requests to give presentations, talks and interviews about their trip, including one from Peter Gzowski, a well-known Canadian broadcaster and writer. In 1988, they published their first book, Where Rivers Run, which chronicled this voyage. The hardcover version was also published by Hodder and Stoughton in the UK under the title Canoeing Across Canada. Their Canadian publisher Jack Stoddart sent the McGuffins on a six-week, 25-city Canadian book promotion tour. In 1990, Be-Pal Magazine, a popular outdoor publication in Japan with a readership of 500,000 ran a 6-part series excerpted from Where Rivers Run. This book created the credibility needed to launch their career. [11] [12] [13] [14]
In 1986, McGuffins continued their self-propelled exploration of Canada when they embarked on a 7,500 mile (12,000 km) bicycling journey from Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territories to L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland. They began their cycling journey on April 1 on the Ice Road that links Tuktoyuktuk on the Arctic Coast with Inuvik at the northern end of the Dempster Highway thereby making a physical link with their previous canoe voyage. The journey took five months. The route was mapped out to link the three oceans from the Arctic to the Pacific to the Atlantic, to include the Northwest Territories, Yukon Territory and all ten provinces from British Columbia to Newfoundland and, for the most part, the route was on the most northerly roads they could find. Challenges faced included frostbite in the -40-degree weather on the Ice Road, avoiding grizzly bear encounters on the Dempster, enduring severe knee pain on 1500 miles of bone-jarring, unpaved roads, sheltering from hail storms on the prairies, having close encounters with log hauling trucks in British Columbia and northern Ontario, and surviving frigid late autumn weather in Newfoundland off the Strait of Belle Isle. [15] [16] [17]
In September 1989, the McGuffins completed a 3-month circumnavigation of Lake Superior’s rugged wilderness shoreline in solo sea canoes. Lake Superior is the greatest freshwater expanse in the world. It is renowned by mariners for its late autumn storms that can create seas more challenging than the open ocean as immortalized in Gordon Lightfoot’s song The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald . In the book, Superior: Journeys On An Inland Sea, Joanie describes their voyage around Superior while Gary’s photography illustrating the book throughout is a compilation of images from the McGuffins four seasons of exploration from the shoreline to the rivers to the ancient mountains. [18]
In February 1997, the Province of Ontario was embarked on a comprehensive land use planning process called Lands for Life which would determine the future use of almost half of Ontario’s landscape. Lands For Life was going to determine the fate of Ontario’s old growth forests, wetlands, wildlife, and resource use over the long term. Industrial activities of logging, mining and hydroelectric development were being favoured on over 90% of this land so the Federation of Ontario Naturalists, World Wildlife Fund Canada, and the Wildlands League formed the Partnership for Public Lands to speak with one voice for protecting natural heritage areas. While public roundtable debates were taking place across the province with the input from corporations, interest groups, and the public, Gary and Joanie McGuffin decided to make their own contribution by embarking on a canoe journey into the heart of this ancient forest country. They aimed to show that the ancient forests and pristine waterways of the region constitute a magnificent natural heritage corridor that should be preserved. The McGuffins three-month-long, 1,200 mile canoe trip route from Algonquin Park to Lake Superior was based in part on the work of Dr. Peter Quinby and the Ancient Forest Exploration & Research Organization. The route linked key parks, major rivers and connected many of the remaining ancient forests to demonstrate the ecological and recreational values. This route also followed the same rivers and lakes travelled and written about by the most famous conservationist of the 1930s—an Englishman, Archie Belaney, who lived in a reimagined life as an Indian named Grey Owl. Before setting off on the journey, the McGuffins garnered the support of MSAT, Apple, Canon, Kodak and Nissan to enable unique virtual participation from the wilderness. While most corporations had not yet even built their first website, the McGuffins launched www.the adventurers.org to enable daily website updates, a weekly colour feature with Southam News through the Sault Star, weekly broadcasts with CBC Radio and a television series with Baton Broadcasting. They captured the journey through a digital camera and a laptop computer which was extremely rare in photojournalism and very forward thinking during the late 1990s. The journey created a much greater public awareness, involvement and debate over conservation policy in Ontario during that time. In 2002 McClelland & Stewart published the McGuffins 4th book, In the Footsteps of Grey Owl, Journey into the Ancient Forest. The photographic book includes the story of their journey and excerpts from Grey Owl’s books. Monte Hummel, WWF Canada President wrote in the Forward "In the end Lands for Life produced a "Living Legacy" of 378 new or expanded parks …. This was by far the most important single decision to protect nature ever taken in Ontario and the McGuffins were a big part of the team that made it possible." [19] [20] [21] [22]
Another outcome of Lands For Life was an innovative comprehensive land use approach based on the beautiful Great Lakes shoreline submitted by Sault Ste Marie’s Ministry of Natural Resources Shorelines Technician Peter Burtch. It was called Great Lakes Heritage Coast. This was accepted as one of the nine Signature Sites under Ontario’s Living Legacy. In 2000, the Ontario Government made Gary and Joanie McGuffin Official Champions of the Coast. To support the protection and restoration of the ecosystem of the Great Lakes Coast, which was the government’s number one priority under this Heritage Coast initiative, the McGuffins planned a journey to paddle the route from the Minnesota-Ontario border on Lake Superior to Severn Sound on Georgian Bay. In the summer of 2002, for three months, they paddled over 1,200 miles (1,800 kilometres), with their three-year-old daughter, Sila, and their Alaskan malamute, Kalija, from the Pigeon River near Thunder Bay to Port Severn on Georgian Bay. They carried the communications equipment necessary to share the adventure through weekly radio broadcasts, newspaper stories, and a website. The book, Great Lakes Journey: Exploring the Heritage Coast, documenting these travels was published in 2003. [23]
In 2009, the McGuffins published Quetico: Into The Wild with Chrismar Publications to celebrate the Centennial anniversary of Ontario’s second oldest provincial park. This photographic book recounts four seasons of explorations throughout the park and is a celebration of journey documenting all four seasons of Quetico's waterways, trails and backcountry. [24]
The McGuffins have documented and published other expeditions. Kayaking the Baja’s Wild Coastline, an article published in Explore Magazine , recounts their 3-month journey exploring the desert, mountains, seashores, wildlife and the local culture of Baja Mexico. Reader’s Digest published Landscape of My Dreams that chronicled their backpacking and kayaking experiences in the Greenland Fjords. The trek Climbing Chimborazo was printed in Doctor’s Review describing a journey to the Ecuadorian Andes. [25] [26] [27]
Gary and Joanie McGuffin with Ruth O’Gawa are the founders of the Lake Superior Watershed Conservancy(LSWC). LSWC is dedicated to the long-term sustainable health of the Lake Superior watershed. The organization's members include the David Suzuki Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, Science North, the City of Sault Ste. Marie, artist Ken Danby and the Thunder Bay Field Naturalists. LSWC's land acquisitions in Northern Ontario to protect wilderness areas for the future generations include preserves located in Prince Township, on Goulais Bay, and off the coast of Cape Gargantua, Lake Superior Provincial Park. [28]
Since 2008, the McGuffins and art historian Michael Burtch have been exploring the landscapes of the formative years of the Group of Seven. They have travelled on foot and by canoe into Algonquin, Georgian Bay, Algoma and the Lake Superior North Shore seeking the exact sites immortalized in their paintings made a century ago. This ongoing cultural anthropology research locates, identifies, and documents these painting sites and the landscapes inspired from them. They co-produced an award-winning documentary film Painted Land: In Search of the Group of Seven, [29] [30] with White Pine Pictures. The film time travels between the past (historical footage of the Group of Seven and re-created scenes) and the present as the McGuffins and Burtch take us on adventures to find these painting that inspired The Group of Seven. [31]
The McGuffins, as Champions of the Heritage Coast, were against the development of the trap rock quarry and blasting operations that was developed on the Michipicoten Bay shore. A letter, sent in January 2004, requested a full Environmental Assessment to avoid the deterioration of the Great Lakes Heritage Coast and was supported by other champions such as Pierre Berton, Roberta Bondar, Ken Danby, Tony Esposito, Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr, Ted Nolan, and much more. The government reviewed the assessment and declined to overturn the development of this property in 2009. [32]
In April 2013, the McGuffins and the Lake Superior Watershed Conservancy (LSWC) helped create a permanent conservation to keep the Gargantua Islands from being sold to private owners. In partnership with American Friends of Canadian Land Trusts, the Gargantua 20-islands Preserve off the coast of Lake Superior Provincial Park remain an integral part of a pristine, undeveloped coastline.
In the fall of 1989, the McGuffins were involved in the first steps to establish a basin-wide Lake Superior Water Trail. In 2013, the McGuffins mapped the 1,000 km Trans Canada Lake Superior Water Trail between Thunder Bay’s Fisherman’s Park and Whitefish Bay’s Gros Cap Harbour. The Lake Superior Watershed Conservancy [LSWC] is the registrant and overseer of this section of trail. The Conservancy is also working towards completion of an international connected route around Superior by 2017 for the benefit of the entire lake and its people. [33]
James Bay is a large body of water located on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean, of which James Bay is the southernmost part. Despite bordering the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, the bay and the islands within it, the largest of which is Akimiski Island, are politically part of Nunavut.
Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Province of the Canadian Shield, a vast rocky plateau located mainly north of Lake Huron, the French River, Lake Nipissing, and the Mattawa River. The statistical region extends south of the Mattawa River to include all of the District of Nipissing. The southern section of this district lies on part of the Grenville Geological Province of the Shield which occupies the transitional area between Northern and Southern Ontario. The extended federal and provincial quasi-administrative regions of Northern Ontario have their own boundaries even further south in the transitional area that vary according to their respective government policies and requirements. Ontario government departments and agencies such as the Growth Plan for Northern Ontario and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation define Northern Ontario as all areas north of, and including, the districts of Parry Sound and Nipissing for political purposes, whilst the federal government, but not the provincial, also includes the district of Muskoka.
Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous municipality in Northern Ontario; its population is 108,843 according to the 2021 Canadian Census. Located on Lake Superior, the census metropolitan area of Thunder Bay has a population of 123,258 and consists of the city of Thunder Bay, the municipalities of Oliver Paipoonge and Neebing, the townships of Shuniah, Conmee, O'Connor, and Gillies, and the Fort William First Nation.
Algoma District is a district and census division in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario.
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is a 1,090,000-acre (4,400 km2) wilderness area within the Superior National Forest in the northeastern part of the US state of Minnesota under the administration of the U.S. Forest Service. A mixture of forests, glacial lakes, and streams, the BWCAW's preservation as a primitive wilderness began in the 1900s and culminated in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act of 1978. It is a popular destination for canoeing, hiking, and fishing, and is one of the most visited wildernesses in the United States.
The Kaministiquia River is a river which flows into western Lake Superior at the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Kaministiquia (Gaa-ministigweyaa) is an Ojibwe word meaning "where a stream flows in island" due to two large islands at the mouth of the river. The delta has three branches or outlets, reflected on early North American maps in French as "les trois rivières" : the southernmost is known as the Mission River, the central branch as the McKellar River, and the northernmost branch as the Kaministiquia. Residents of the region commonly refer to the river as the Kam River.
The Missinaibi River is a river in northern Ontario, Canada, which flows northeast from Missinaibi Lake, north of Chapleau, and empties into the Moose River, which drains into James Bay. This river is 755 kilometres (469 mi) in length. It is one of the longest free-flowing and undeveloped rivers in Ontario.
King's Highway 17, more commonly known as Highway 17, is a provincially maintained highway and the primary route of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Canadian province of Ontario. It begins at the Manitoba boundary, 50 km (31 mi) west of Kenora, and the main section ends where Highway 417 begins just west of Arnprior. A small disconnected signed section of the highway still remains within the Ottawa Region between County Road 29 and Grants Side Road. This makes it Ontario's longest highway.
Canoe camping, also known as touring, tripping or expedition canoeing, is a combination of canoeing and camping. Like backpacking, canoe campers carry enough with them to travel and camp for several days, but do so via a canoe or kayak.
Quetico Provincial Park is a large wilderness park in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, known for its excellent canoeing and fishing. The 4,760 km2 (1,180,000-acre) park shares its southern border with Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which is part of the larger Superior National Forest. These large wilderness parks are often collectively referred to as the Boundary Waters or the Quetico-Superior Country.
Wabakimi Provincial Park is a wilderness park located to the northwest of Lake Nipigon and northwest of Armstrong Station in the province of Ontario, Canada. The park contains a vast and interconnected network of more than 2,000 kilometres of lakes and rivers. The park covers an area of 8,920 square kilometres (3,440 sq mi) and became the second largest park in Ontario and one of the world's largest boreal forest reserves following a major expansion in 1997. A number of local citizen groups and residents, including Bruce Hyer have been instrumental in the creation, expansion, and preservation of this region.
Bill Mason was a Canadian naturalist, author, artist, filmmaker, and conservationist, noted primarily for his popular canoeing books, films, and art as well as his documentaries on wolves. Mason was also known for including passages from Christian sermons in his films. He was born in 1929 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and graduated from the University of Manitoba School of Art in 1951. He developed and refined canoeing strokes and river-running techniques, especially for complex whitewater situations. Mason canoed all of his adult life, ranging widely over the wilderness areas of Canada and the United States. Termed a "wilderness artist," Mason left a legacy that includes books, films, and artwork on canoeing and nature, as well many tasteful nude photographs. His daughter Becky, son Paul, and grandson William are also canoeists and artists. While it is believed that Mason died of cancer in 1988, some scholars believe that he died due to complications of the aids virus.
The Pukaskwa River is a river in Thunder Bay District and Algoma District in Northern Ontario, Canada. It is in the Great Lakes Basin and is a tributary of Lake Superior, which it enters at the south end of Pukaskwa National Park. It is a remote, pristine, free-flowing, medium-sized Shield river, with lots of whitewater, best travelled in spring.
The North Shore of Lake Superior runs from Duluth, Minnesota, United States, at the western end of the lake, to Thunder Bay and Nipigon, Ontario, Canada, in the north, to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario in the east. The shore is characterized by alternating rocky cliffs and cobblestone beaches, with forested hills and ridges through which scenic rivers and waterfalls descend as they flow to Lake Superior.
Frances Anne Hopkins was a British painter. She was the third of Frederick William Beechey's five children. In 1858, she married a Hudson's Bay Company official, Edward Hopkins, whose work took him to North America. Hopkins travelled along with him. While sailing, she was able to sketch extensively, therefore, capturing a now lost way of living – the last days of the fur trade.
La Verendrye Provincial Park is a waterway provincial park located in Ontario, Canada, on the border with the U.S. state of Minnesota. The park stretches from Quetico Provincial Park through Saganaga Lake, up the Pine River, across the Height of Land Portage, then down the Pigeon River to Pigeon River Provincial Park on Lake Superior. The park is named after Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, an early explorer of Canada.
The Voyageur Hiking Trail is a public hiking trail between Sudbury and Thunder Bay in Northern Ontario, Canada. The name honours the early European fur traders of the region who travelled largely by canoe and were known as 'voyageurs’ and ‘coureurs des bois’ The trail is used by all ages and levels of experience, from the day hiker and trail runner to the hardy backpacker.
Frank Wolf is a Canadian adventurer, writer, filmmaker, and environmentalist. He is known for books, feature magazine articles, online columns, and films that document wilderness expeditions around the world, with a focus on the Canadian North. His expeditions include being the first to canoe across Canada in one season and cycling 2,000 km in winter on the Yukon River from Dawson to Nome. In 2020 he was named One of Canada's Greatest 90 Explorers of All Time by Canadian Geographic Magazine. and in 2012 he was named one of Canada's Top Ten Adventurers by Explore Magazine. His first book of adventures Lines on a Map, was released in October 2018 by RMB. His films include Wild Ones, The Hand of Franklin, Kitturiaq, On the Line, Mammalian, and Borealis, all of which broadcast on CBC's Documentary Channel in Canada.
Sault Ste. Marie is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is at the St. Mary's River on the Canada–US border. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay.
The Kopka River is a river in northwestern Ontario, Canada. It forms at the height-of-land west of Lake Nipigon, flowing through rugged wilderness of Ontario's northern boreal forest, and drains into Wabinosh Lake.