Chad Robertson bicycling and canoeing to Inuvik

Chad Robertson, 27, of Belmont, who last year bicycled across Canada from east to west to raise awareness of mental health issues, this year has tackled another marathon trek, bicycling and canoeing from Jasper, Alberta, to Inuvik in the Northwest Territories.

In an interview Wednesday, June 20, by telephone, he said he and travelling companion Jason “Travel-roo” Rowland of Australia had after 20 days crossed into the Northwest Territories and arrived at Great Slave Lake.

They got that far through a combination of bicycling and canoeing, using a unique hitch arrangement to tow the canoe with the bikes and carrying the latter in the former when in the water.

They capsized at one point, losing their shoes among other belongings, and spent about two weeks pedalling in flip-flops before a package of replacements sent by Chad’s mother caught up to them.

Despite that, they were preparing to embark on a 1,800-kilometre paddle along the Mackenzie River, Canada’s longest, from its origin at Great Slave Lake to Inuvik, where it emptied through a vast delta into the Beaufort Sea.

Look for the complete story in the June 27 Aylmer Express.