Adventurer Frank Wolf sure had an eventful year. The Canadian completed a 500km kayak expedition around the Darian Gap, notched a 325km ski trip on Baffin Island, and — most recently — traveled 1,350km by canoe from Yellowknife to Kugluktuk.
Wolf completed that last adventure earlier this year in a brisk 36 days, which is handy. With just 38 days of supplies, he and partner Arturo Simondetti had very little leeway.
The pair battled currents, winds, rapids, and long portages, especially during the first half of the expedition.
Photo: Frank Wolf
More rock than water
“A lot of places that looked like rivers on the map were just rock,” Wolf told ExplorersWeb. “So we ended up doing a lot of two-kilometer portages where we thought we would be paddling.”
Wolf’s expedition style is to pick a destination and do his research but not get overly bogged down in minutia, like specific distance goals or pre-chosen campsites. He simply presses on, and if he gets behind schedule, as he did here, he presses harder.
Early in the trip, Wolf and Simondetti were so behind that they thought they might have to bail. But they buckled down and persevered through long days in rough conditions.
The expedition route. Photo: Frank Wolf
“[Once], we put in a 16-hour day, like 76km, on the ocean, in a canoe,” Wolf said of the kind of effort it took to make up lost time. “So we ground and just kind of came in at the last.”
As for Simondetti, he had little to no canoe experience before setting off with Wolf. When Wolf isn’t adventuring, making films, or writing, he’s demolishing derelict boats — that’s what he does for a living. Wolf met Simondetti during this work. Despite the differences in age and experience (Wolf is 54, Simondetti 24), Wolf recognized a fellow adventurer.
Arturo Simondetti, pictured here in the bow of the canoe. Photo: Frank Wolf
“He’s a smart guy, and he’s calm under pressure,” Wolf said of his partner. “I had a few other people turn me down [for the trip] before a lightbulb went off, and I went, ‘Oh yeah, what about Arturo?’ He’s a capable guy who I knew could pick it up quickly and grind when needed.”
Animal encounters
And partner is the optimal word. According to Wolf, it wasn’t a mentor/mentee relationship. But the younger man still had plenty of eye-opening experiences. In one notable vignette, a decidedly unshy grizzly wandered up on the two in the middle of a portage.
And their firearm, brought along expressly to ward off ursine guests, was packed up and out of reach. Some firm calls of “Hey bear!” and paddle clacking managed to drive the curious animal away, but it was a tense moment.
“That’s when Arturo realized, ‘Oh, we could really get eaten out here,'” Wolf said. “Before that, he was just kind of obliviously confident. After that, he was a little more cautious, and we kept the gun on hand just in case we needed it.”
Photo: Frank Wolf
Potential bear problems aside, some of Wolf’s favorite moments sprung from wildlife encounters. A huge herd of muskox and a dawn meeting with a wolf were particularly memorable. The human Wolf had just finished his morning business when the animal came sniffing around, eventually rolling in Wolf’s excrement before trotting off, presumably to transmit whatever information that act gathered to his buddies elsewhere.
Mental and physical trials
As Wolf pointed out in his chat with ExWeb, the adventures he undertakes require both physical and mental fortitude. Injuries were minor, aside from a knee tweak incurred by Simondetti while hauling a heavy pack. Simondetti is a skateboarder and skier when he isn’t adventuring, so he was able to self-diagnose the wound as non-trip-ending. After a few days of hobbling, he was good as new. Plus, he had a secret weapon on his side.
“He’s a young fella,” Wolf said with a laugh.
Photo: Frank Wolf
As for the mental side, sometimes a well-timed bit of serendipity can make all the difference. Fighting terrible headwinds toward the end of a long paddling day, the duo rounded a bend and saw a broken-down hut.
“It wouldn’t look like much to anyone else. But it had four sides and a roof,” Wolf said.
To these two weary paddlers, it was a palatial escape from the elements and a much-needed mental boon — especially as they waited out 100km winds for a day and a half there.
What’s next?
If you’re feeling a little jealous of Simondetti and wondering what it would be like if a random co-worker of yours invited you on a once-in-a-lifetime expedition, never fear. Simondetti occupied himself along the way by shooting hours of video footage. He recently turned his efforts into a two-part film available on YouTube.
Both men lost considerable weight during the trip, a condition Wolf likens to feeling “lean and hunted.” But the pounds will come back on, and soon enough, the well-rested Wolf will start eyeballing maps and scoping out his next adventure. He likes to wait until January or February to plan his upcoming endeavors.
Besides, as he said, “I definitely got my fill this year.”
