Voyageur: Across the Rocky Mountains in a Birchbark Canoe

This is not a serious book, and I believe that it is not supposed to be. It is an adventure book, and once again, Rob Twigger is out to prove his metal ... and in my mind he does so (along with his companions ... let us not forget them), without compromise. It might seem a little immature to many, but not to me. I believe that this book displays a strength of character in Rob unmatched by the average guy (or gal) who has sold his soul to the corporation (myself), and has never done anything adventurous (or stupid?) (thankfully not me) in his/her life. Rob decides on his quest, gets the bit between his teeth, and never releases it until he accomplishes what he sets out to achieve, irrespective of incredible hardships. So if you want to read a "boys own" adventure narative that goes back to the purity of travel through the wilds of Canada, and captures the hardships that must have been experienced by the early voyageurs, then this is the book. This was a hard quest by hard men ... both the original trip made centuries ago, and this contemporary trip by Rob's team ... from the building of an original bark canoe, through honest accounts of personal strife and conflict, one of the team having his thumb "ripped" off, wading upstream through rapids jumping from submerged log to submerged log towing a loaded canoe, negotiating dangerous rapids that they knew they might not survive, to the final trek out to the west coast. This book kept me on edge from start to finish ... when I hoped they would turn around and do the whole trip again in reverse !