Video & Guide: Packrafting Newfoundland’s Bay Du Nord Wilderness Reserve

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrIQDIVW8b0&t=296s

Screen Shot 2018-04-02 at 6.42.51 PM — **This map above roughly depicts my route from start to finish. In all it was just over 50 kilometres of travel.** I would argue that much of my route is best suited for travel in a raft or light kayak and more enjoyable this way. You could maybe try it in a solo canoe or go tandem if you and another were up to the challenge. Portages were long and riddled with Tuckamore and the river’s were generally short, narrow and rocky. A canoeists nightmare. Maybe they would be more easily traversed with high water on. However, the western section of the reserve, beneath my start point and down towards Jubilee Lake, is the headwaters of the Bay Du Nord River and the beginning of what is said to be a challenging paddling route. It deposits into the Atlantic on Newfoundland’s southern coast some 100 kilometres away. A five to seven day canoe trip at minimum. (The deposit is not visible on my map map above. Check the BDN Government link below for more info on that canoe route)

LINK TO THE EPISODE BELOW!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrIQDIVW8b0&t=296s

In this episode I take a solo 9 day expedition, into Newfoundland, Canada’s, Bay Du Nord Wilderness Reserve. The trip takes places in mid August of 2016. I get flown into the heart of the 2,895 sq/km provincially protected area by Gene Ploughman of Thorburn Aviation and dropped on the shores of Diamond Lake, about 75 kilometres from the nearest community.

The sole purpose of this trip was to test the Alpacka Raft and my abilities to navigate our unforgiving bush with it. It passed with flying colours being extremely light, durable and maneuverable. This was all in preparation for the 700 kilometre expedition across our province that I successfully completed with my dog Saku last spring/summer 2017. There’s a documentary of that trip in the making.

Here’s a CBC news link related to the Cross Newfoundland trip:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/justin-barbour-newfoundland-wilderness-trek-1.4181310

I also tested other gear, my physical and mental capacities and last but not least, enjoyed great fishing, relaxation and breathtaking Newfoundland scenery.

The Bay Du Nord is home to the Canadian Heritage River of the same name ” Bay Du Nord River” and also the largest protected river system in our province. Caribou which are in abundance were seen often on this trip and I managed some really intriguing footage.

Thanks for watching, I hope you enjoy the show.

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Comment below and share your own wilderness adventure experiences, I would love to hear about them.

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Adventure was filmed with a GoPro Hero 3+ and Canon T5i. Due to having the Hero 3+ in its waterproof housing I recorded some scrappy audio at times, I hope you can tolerate it!

Other Informative Links:

THORBURN AVIATION- http://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/plan-and-book/tours/213373

BLOG POST I WROTE ON THE EXPERIENCE AND GEAR USED-

Twelve Days of Bush Living On Your Back

ALPACKA RAFTS- https://www.alpackaraft.com/rafting/

BAY DU NORD WILDERNESS INFO- http://www.flr.gov.nl.ca/natural_areas/wer/r_bdnw/index.html

Blog Post on Crossing Newfoundland- We made it across the Rock!