Jim Lewis

Seven Rivers to Churchill Jim Lewis

Seven Rivers to Churchill, the author, Jim Lewis takes you along on a kayaking adventure from the Laurentian Divide in northern Minnesota to Churchill, Manitoba, the polar bear capital of the world. The journey begins on quiet spring-fed lakes flowing into small streams which meander slowly along the edge of the marsh but quickly accelerate through long stretches of rapids and cascade without restraint through gorges in a deafening roar; twelve hundred miles, seven rivers, sixteen lakes, and twenty-five portages. An excerpt: "I gave a couple serious strokes to get back into midstream, sitting as tall as I could in the cockpit to get an eye on the deep black trough I needed. The trough was obvious and wide, almost as wide as the overall flow, perhaps twenty yards or more, but it necked down quickly between two sheer limestone walls. In the trough, the flow picked up velocity, and once in, there was no getting out. As the channel narrowed more and more with each passing moment, I gained a grasp for why it was called Portage Chute. Perhaps we should have portaged!"