The Way of the Wolf: Solo on the Coast

May 4, 2023

Most of my long journeys in the past have been with others. I’ve travelled with small teams of two to four people, working together for a common goal—the camaraderie always enriching the experience. My upcoming kayak trip will, however, take a different approach.

One thing I strive for in my journeys is simplicity—to streamline the logistics of a route down to its bare essentials. Going solo on a journey is the simplest approach of all. It’s just you, your vessel of choice and the goal of moving through space and time unencumbered by the consideration that comes with having other people on a mission. It forces you inward and outward in your mental process in a way that just isn’t possible with teammates.

To this end, I’m setting off on a 400-kilometre kayak journey through the outer islands of the north coast of British Columbia this May. I’m calling the journey the Laxmoon Expedition. Laxmoon means ‘of the Sea’ in the language of the Indigenous Coast Tsimshian people of the region, who thrived here for millennia off the ocean’s bounty.

I’ll step on the plane in Vancouver with my folding Trak 2.0 kayak as luggage, land in Prince Rupert, shop for food there, then assemble the kayak and start moving south toward my final destination of Bella Bella.

The Trak is an amazing vessel—it has the feel of a hard-shell kayak with the portability of a piece of luggage. With a robust polyurethane skin and sleek design, it’s a performance-oriented craft built to withstand expedition paddling. Once I arrive in Bella Bella, I’ll pack up the kayak and hop on a plane back to Vancouver. It’s a simple, efficient plan.

The whole point, of course, is the journey itself. My route along Porcher Island, Banks Island, The Estevan Group and Campania Island promises remote campsites with beaches tracked by coastal wolves backed by ancient temperate rainforest along the boisterous Hecate Strait. I’ve kayaked around Haida Gwaii, Vancouver Island and the Inside Passage—but this is a section of the BC Coast completely new to me. It’s a zone not often visited by kayakers, and particularly not in the month of May, so I will have to be sharp and conservative in my decision-making as I paddle this coastline.

For my paddling set-up, I’ll be propelling my Trak kayak with a four-piece Werner Ikelos carbon fibre paddle, a powerful choice that can handle all sea conditions. I’ll be wearing a Kokatat Odyssey drysuit with a Maximus Centurion life vest for all-day comfort and safety. My gear will be kept dry inside a selection of SealLine dry bags, with an accessible SealLine Discovery Deck bag holding my essential gear to quickly deploy camp when I land. For communication and updated weather reports, I’ll be using the ICOM IC-M25 VHF radio, which can be kept powered up via USB link to my solar/battery bank portable charging system.

In camp, to stay dry and warm on those stormy coastal evenings I’ll be wearing my Fjallraven Bergtagen Eco Shell Lite jacket and pants, and kept cozy in my Fjallraven Keb padded hoodie. Bedding down to the patter of rain on the fly, I’ll be snugged away reading The Last Great Sea inside the burly but compact MSR Access 2 tent, nestled in a Thermarest Questar -6 C sleeping bag atop the airy Thermarest Neo Air Xtherm sleeping pad.

For food, I’ll be eating delicious and quick-to-prepare meals by Happy Yak, cooked up with my MSR Reactor stove that will boil water in a minute. Ling cod and red snapper caught and cooked over fire will further supplement my food stores.

I’ll be sharing a daily haiku from my camp during this journey via a live InReach map tracking page—a moment of the day, or essence of the day, captured in prose. Follow my solo sojourn starting May 8th at share.garmin.com/Laxmoon.