In two weeks, Dave Greene and Gaia Aish will set out on a 1,700km canoe and bike journey through northwestern Canada to the shores of the Arctic Ocean.
The pair, who are life partners as well as teammates, will start biking from the Yukon-British Columbia border. After 100km, they will retrieve their canoe at Johnsons Crossing, a small settlement at the head of the Teslin River.
They then swap pedal power for paddle power, stowing their bikes in the canoe. Over 12 days, they will canoe 750km down the Teslin and Yukon Rivers to Dawson City. From this famed Gold Rush town, the pair will reassemble their bikes and ride 940km north over the Dempster Highway to Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territories.
Photo: Dave Greene
The Dempster Highway is Canada’s only road north to the Arctic Ocean. As they cycle north on this gravel road, Greene and Gaia will cross two mountain ranges — the Ogilvie and the Richardson — before descending to the Mackenzie River delta at Inuvik and ending in Tuktoyaktuk. On the first section of the Dempster, the pair will hike in the striking Tombstones range.
The Dempster Highway climbs through the Tombstone Mountains in Canada’s Yukon Territory. Photo: Shutterstock
Greene and Gaia are based in Nova Scotia and are currently on sabbatical from their jobs in education. Last month, Greene completed a 400km ski crossing from Akulivik to Kangiqsujuaq in northern Quebec. Before that, he had undertaken nine canoe, ski, or bike journeys. Aish has previously canoed in Labrador. They estimate their trip will take 30 days.
