• Paddling North: A Solo Adventure Along the Inside Passage 
• by Audrey Sutherland
• Illustrated by Yoshiko Yamamoto
• Patagonia Works | 2018 | Softcover

This book inspired me, or more accurately, Audrey Sutherland did!

Reading the book stirred up my emotions. I felt like I was on an adventure with Audrey. 

During the read, I was exhausted from the long hard days she managed, emotionally overwhelmed by her logistical skills, and inspired by her tenacity and strength of character.  I have so much respect for Audrey. She was a true force. Yes, I said was.

In February 2015 the paddling community and adventurers everywhere lost a true heroine. Audrey Sutherland was known for her solo wilderness expeditions and admired for her philosophy, “Go simple, go solo, go now,” which she lived fully until age 94.

Growing up in California and then moving to Hawai’i in 1952, Audrey raised her four children as a single mom and supported her family by working as a school counsellor. In 1962, she decided to explore the coast of Moloka’i by swimming it while towing a raft with supplies, the first of countless solo adventures by this remarkable woman. 

In 2012, Patagonia released Paddling North: A Solo Adventure Along the Inside Passage, a compilation of her first two (of 20) summer trips via inflatable kayak through the Alaskan wilds, where she eventually travelled more than 8,000 solo miles. Going alone was Audrey’s way of investing in life’s only real security: “the ability to build your fires and find your peace.”

This book is a re-release in celebration and a symbol of respect for this epic adventurer.

I knew all this when I started reading this book, and after devouring the pages I truly agree with the publisher. Audrey is an example to the world.

I must say I both questioned and learned from her choices on the adventure, however, the one constant was my overwhelming sense of awe of her fortitude and strength.

The book itself is well-written and easy to read. I felt Audrey’s charm on each page. This includes the many backwoods recipes she shares with the reader. 

The illustrations are wonderful and the maps are a well-crafted supplement to Audrey’s stories.

Likely the most valuable thing about this book for me, is how profoundly her philosophy hit home, “Go simple, go solo, go now.”  After reading this book, I quickly committed to completing one of my long-delayed bucket list items … the Bruce Trail.  This 890km hike from Niagara Falls Ontario north to Tobermory has been on my list for some time now, however, Audrey’s “go now” put a fire in my gut… and in 7 days I start my 30-day trek… I am calling it “Bruce Hikes Bruce.”

Thank you, Audrey Sutherland.

Publisher said …

In February 2015, Patagonia, along with the paddling community and adventurers everywhere, lost a true heroine. Audrey Sutherland was known for her solo wilderness expeditions and admired for her philosophy, “Go simple, go solo, go now,” which she lived fully until age 94.
 
Growing up in California and then moving to Hawai’i in 1952, Audrey raised her four children as a single mom and supported her family by working as a school counsellor. In 1962, she decided to explore the coast of Moloka’i by swimming it while towing a raft with supplies, the first of countless solo adventures by this remarkable woman.
 
This July, Patagonia commemorates the life of their friend with updated paperback editions of Audrey’s classic memoirs Paddling My Own Canoe and Paddling North(both on sale July 31, 2018).
 
Celebrating its 40^thyear, Paddling My Own Canoe: A Solo Adventure on the Coast of Moloka’i(first edition 1978, Univ. of Hawai’i Press) introduces readers to the independent spirit who figured out (pre-Internet and pre-Patagonia catalogue) how to access the pristine, remote shores of North Moloka’i where she spent seven days hiking steep sea cliffs and navigating dangerous breakers.
 
In 2012, Patagonia released Paddling North: A Solo Adventure Along the Inside Passage, a compilation of her first two (of 20) summer trips via inflatable kayak through the Alaskan wilds, where she eventually travelled more than 8,000 solo miles. Going alone was Audrey’s way of investing in life’s only real security: “the ability to build your fires and find your own peace.”
 
Although commercial development and technology make adventures like Audrey’s more difficult to come by today, her stories challenge us to protect wild places so they remain unspoiled. “There should be some areas everywhere in the world where motorized access is forbidden, places you get to only through the natural, quiet energy of wind and muscle,” she wrote in Paddling My Own Canoe.
 
These re-designed editions ensure Audrey’s stories of perseverance and reverence for nature live on. Challenging us to go inward, her books leave readers with the same charge that propelled her: “Go simple, go solo, go now.”