The Happy Camper: Review of Adam Shoalts’ Book Where the Falcon Flies

November 20, 2023

nicehappycooltreescanoe Explore Magazine

Readers, here’s your next book: Where the Falcon Flies by Canadian author Adam Shoalts.

Canadian author Adam Shoalts has hit the mark again with his latest book Where the Falcon Flies. I strongly recommend you give it a read!^{Adam Shoalts}

The solid storyline that Shoalts creates, based on a lengthy three-month canoe journey, is one of those drop-the-mic moments. From his home along Ontario’s Lake Erie, Shoalts spots a peregrine falcon flying majestically over a neighbouring field. He ponders over its route northward and where it would stop to nest. He quickly conceptualized a solo canoe trip, from Lake Erie to the Arctic—3,400 kilometres—in hopes of finding the answer.^{Adam Shoalts}

There are plenty of misadventures along the way: fighting bone-numbing cold while paddling Lake Erie in early April, pushing against strong wind and waves on Lake Ontario, being spooked by boiling currents along the St. Lawrence River, dodging giant commercial freighters along the Great Lakes, avoiding massive hydroelectric dams and trying to find a legal place to pitch his tent while sneaking through suburbia. And when he finally ends up farther in the north, he deals with challenging Whitewater, wandering bears and constant hunger.^{Adam Shoalts}

But that’s not entirely why I read this book. I prefer the storylines of meetings with good people, getting a piece of property to camp on from outstanding Samaritans, drinking Tim Horton’s green tea with donuts, getting a police escort while portaging around Niagara Falls, and literally having someone give him the boots off their feet so he can continue.

Personally, my favourite portion of Shoalts’ writing is the way he stitches moments of Canadian history into his book. A high school kid can skip every history class, but still gain more knowledge just by reading Where the Falcon Flies. ^{Adam Shoalts}

Shoalts’ latest book has a lot to offer. It’s an incredible trip that will literally make your jaw drop while reading it. It also mixes urban places most of us can recognize—and relate to. But it’s also a lure for the far north we all dream of experiencing. This book is more than just a man’s goal to retrace the peregrine falcon’s flight pattern. It’s a Canadian journey we all wish we could join him on.

Did he ever spot that nesting peregrine falcon nearing the end of his journey? Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out—and I strongly suggest you do.

Check out my Whisky Fireside Chat on the KCHappyCamper YouTube channel with Adam Shoalts about his latest book Where The Falcon Flies.