Beaver

Beaver.
What attracted men to Canada in the first place.
Beaver.
What keeps them coming to this day.

Capt. Magnus Twat*

**Magnus Twat was a highly respected 18 year old Orcadian carpenter and jack-of-all-trades working at the Hudson Bay Company Cumberland House post in what became Saskatchewan circa 1780, dying there in 1801. To honor this outstanding member of the Canadian fur trade, I have adopted his persona.

One of my passions is canoeing, which I first did as a ten-year-old. There’s no better way to return to Nature and live by the weather, as well as face a good healthy mental and physical challenge. On a cost sharing basis I organize and lead 2-3 flat- and whitewater expeditions, mostly in northern Saskatchewan, among friends annually—and they’ve flown in from across Canada and the United States and from as far away as Bangkok (twice). I have over 200 friends on Schoonover’s List a.k.a. Ol’ Thunder Outfitting’s Voyageur Pool.

Northern Saskatchewan has arguably the best canoeing on the planet thanks to 100,000 pristine lakes and rivers, the Pre-Cambrian Canadian Shield, and a very rich and fascinating exploration and fur trade history. Many of the the great explorers in Canada—among others Sir John Franklin, David Thompson, Simon Fraser, Joseph Tyrrell, Peter Fidler and Alexander MacKenzie, the latter who reached the Pacific in 1793, twelve years before Lewis and Clark—paddled through Saskatchewan on their birch bark canoes along the fabulous Churchill River, the “main highway of the fur trade.” We paddle the same waters, cart our gear over the very same portage trails, and use the names they and the Indians before them had for them. And none of it has changed a bit in centuries.

Champagne, striploins, European wines, Cuban cigars and single malts the first night sets the tone. We go first class, and it's still cheap.

     Here’s reports—with .jpgs—on our most recent expeditions:

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Expedition One: The Paull River Fire Brigade, June 17-29, 2008

            I fractured my foot escaping raging forest fires. Fortunately, I had along my crack Medical Support Team of four doctors and a nurse, including two superb coolies to cover for me portaging (as well as serve as Comfort Women for their respective owners). My ‘50s retro-runners made a perfect splint.

Click here for more details and photos: www.jasonschoonover.com/paullriver

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Expedition Two: The Reindeer Bangkok II Brigade, July 20-August 1, 2008

Click here for more details and photos: www.jasonschoonover.com/reindeer

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Expedition Three: The Churchill River Ra-III Reed Canoe Expedition, August 1-13, 2008

Click here for more details and photos: www.jasonschoonover.com/churchvoy