The Happy Camper: Hamilton’s Adventure Expo Film Festival
This year’s Hamilton Adventure Expo had a special addition for its second annual event. On the Friday night, they held a film festival at the historic Westdale Theatre.
The remarkable evening featured eight short films that celebrated the spirit of adventure, exploration and inspiring places to help lure us outdoors. There was a good blend of deep thinking content and satirical views of time spent in wilderness areas, ranging from Canadian YouTube bushcraft celeb Joe Robinet’s story of tackling his inner battles with demons, drugs and death to your own Explore blogger showing his fun times had on Georgian Bay’s Bustard Islands with his side-kick Andy, who looks and acts like the iconic comedian Red Skeleton.
Here’s a breakdown of the films shown and where you can now watch them in the leisure of your cozy couch if you happened to miss this magical night of splendour at the ancient theatre that smelled of buttered popcorn and wood smoke.
“Exploring The Anderson River” by Canoe North Adventures
The festival opened up with a canoe trip in the Canadian Arctic with guiding company Canoe North Adventures (the main sponsors for the event). The group descended the Upper Anderson River, the sister of the well-known Northwest Territories’ Horton River. It’s a wild and rarely travelled waterway set above the Arctic Circle. The film is a personal view of the trip given by the owner of Canoe North Adventures, Taylor Pace, and the participants on the trip, Raymond Laflamme and his son Patrick, as well as nine other explorers who signed up to go on a truly wild adventure into the unknown.
“Kayaking Lake Superior – A 5-Day Solo Kayak Camping Adventure” by Ken Whiting Adventures
Ken Whiting of PaddleTV, a former world champion whitewater kayaker, was there to show a shortened down version of part 1 and part 2, published on his YouTube channel, of a solo kayak trip along the Lake Superior coastline. He padded from Lake Superior Provincial Park, from the Agawa pictographs and Sinclair Cove, to Rock Island Lodge in Michipicoten Bay. Ken’s a professional cinematographer and Lake Super is a scenic wonder of the world. So the audience enjoyed this one for sure.
“8 Day / 200KM Solo Camping Journey: Completely Alone on Remote Wilderness River” by Ben Beauchamp
If you think the future of youthful enthusiasm towards wilderness grandeur and protection is gone down the tubes, then you haven’t seen Ben Beauchamp’s work. His energy and enthusiasm will put a spark under your butt bigger than a stick stove. Ben showcased a 200 kilometre, eight day trip he did in early May of 2024 down northern Ontario’s majestic Pic River to the northern shore of Lake Superior. The scenery along the way was epic, the wildlife encountered was unmeasurable and this guy’s passion for soaking it all in was addictive and unforgettable.
“First solo backcountry camping trip after my horrible accident | feat. Joe Robinet and Wolfie” by Joe Robinet and Directed by Adam Pedersen
Bushcraft YouTube celebrity (with more than 1.5 million subscribers) and ALONE contestant was at the show with his entire family to watch his film—and his life—unfold on the big screen. They sat right behind me. Watching the story of Joe’s life almost ending after a horrendous dirt bike accident that left him in a coma for three weeks, and how a trip back to the wilderness helped him reclaim a life he once had, the audience shed more than a few tears. I’ve known Joe for a long time. He’s a good soul, and this is a good film. The director Adam Pedersen was there as well. Cool! He said this of the film: “It’s about confronting pain and loss, and seeing if the wild can still give Joe the strength it always has.”
“A Mildly Epic Expedition- The Big T.O.E. 72 day Crossing of Ontario in winter! Leg 1” by Lure of the North
I’ve winter tripped with Lure of the North Outfitting (Kielyn and Dave Marrone) in the past. They are the real deal. They’re experts in the art of traditional winter camping, dressing up in leather mukluks and cotton anoraks, using wooden snowshoes and pulling a “hot tent” on a freight toboggan. Ki’s latest film, which she showed the first part of, is on a 72-day winter walk across Ontario from Lake Superior to James Bay; 13 people, two hot tents and three resupplies. It was one very tough slog, and this is one incredible feature of winter travel in Canada.
“10 days/1500km Road Trip Across the Canadian Rockies” by Evan Lefebvre
Evan Lefebvre is another young inspiring and enthusiastic outdoor film maker. I’ve had the pleasure to canoe trip with him, and he always seems to have this raw creativity wrapped around him. His film wasn’t exactly what he first dreamed of. Originally, Evan was to do a far northern trip with fellow adventurers—that is until he broke his ankle just before embarking on an experience of a lifetime. But rather than soak in his sorrows, Evan and his soon-to-be wife Phoebe Jade grabbed their cameras and headed on a leisurely road trip through the Canadian Rockies. I think his accident was a godsend. This film is a rich artistic view of one of Canada’s dreamscapes: watching spawning fish, gawking at majestic mountains, paddling down crystal clear waters, witnessing the power of nature first-hand and all its transformative powers.
“4 Day Winter Camping To Reach The Most Beautiful Place In The Rockies” by Marty Morissette
Marty Morissette’s film ended the night. It was long night by the way. The eight films added up to over four hours of viewing pleasure, and Marty’s journey kept the audience in their seat. His trip highlighted a four day ski trek through the Canadian Rockies where him and two friends spend their nights pitching their tents on packed snow and their days navigating through peaks and valleys of the stunning Sunshine Meadows, all the time being surrounded by avalanche risk. Stunning!
“RAIL BIKE Adventure on Abandoned Railways” by Steve Evans
Steve Evan’s full film, the first of the festival, was on his far northern double rail bike journey. It’s not up on his YouTube channel yet but he has a teaser on his Instagram account and lots of pre-trip videos of him creating his two-seated rail bike to make the wild and crazy journey on. It was a unique film and an intriguing trip—especially when Steve wouldn’t divulge where they were during the Q&A portion of the event. After watching the film, it makes perfect sense that Steve has a mechanical engineering background and manages an ultralight backpacking equipment company.
“Bustard Islands or Bust – Full Doc On Georgian Bay Canoe Trip 2026” by Kevin Callan
I was honoured to be part of this incredible event. I submitted a short film about my canoe tripping buddy Andy Baxter and I canoeing Georgian Bay’s remote Bustard Islands in early Fall of 2025. We took a shuttle out and back to the islands with Camp Dore on the Key Harbour (highly recommended for canoeists). It was the second-last film of the evening and it shows us being windbound for the week and dealing with the brutish wind and waves. I think Andy’s light-hearted hilarity helped the audience wake up a bit after so many good but serious flicks. Zapping bugs with an electronic tennis racket and Andy crushing my nuts for a good curry dinner seemed to go over well with the audience. The music I added also lifted everyone’s spirits. David Hadfield’s “Every Little While” and Shield and Adam Ruzzo’s version of “The Old Canoe.”
