63-year-old B.C. man canoeing solo across Canada hopes to inspire
When Bert ter Hart started preparing to paddle across the country, he hadn’t actually been in canoe in more than 40 years.
“I was not at all, in any way shape or form, prepared for the amount of work it required,” the 63-year-old says.
It was different when Bert was a kid, when it was all so effortless.
“One of the things that gets scrubbed from your life as an adult is this sense of adventure that you have every time you step out your front door,” he says.
When Bert grew up, he became “hyper-focused” on his career, before pausing to question his priorities.
“Perhaps there’s some way that I can make more of a contribution?” he recalls asking himself.
One of the ways the 63-year-old decided to do that, was to begin a solo canoe trip, at the mouth of the Fraser River on B.C.’s coast.
Over the past five months, with no electronic navigation, Bert’s paddled and portaged over the Rockies, across the prairies, and now through Ontario, covering more than 40 kilometres a day.
“The pace is relentless,” Bert says. “The hardest part is not the physicality. (It’s) the mental discipline you need to get up and paddle every single day.”
After sleeping about four hours a night, Bert spends up to 12 hours a day travelling with his canoe, following the same river and lake system that Indigenous people have been travelling for millennia.
“If you want to know something about a person, you should walk a mile in their shoes,” Bert smiles. “I’ve chosen to walk 4,000 miles.”
Bert’s planning to make it to the Atlantic by mid-November and blogging about his journey on his website.
But more than half way through his seven month journey, he’s finding a deeper connection to Canada and its people.
“It’s an incredibly beautiful country. It’s unbelievably diverse,” Bert says. “The people are amazing!”
While the strangers he’s met along the way have left encouragement through signatures that cover his canoe, Bert hopes he’s been able to reciprocate by offering inspiration to realize their own dreams.
“You’re never to young or too old to step outside that door with an open heart and an open mind,” Bert says, encouraging people to reconnect to the natural world with the wide-eyed-wonder of youth.
And like the picture showing Bert portaging over the highest peak of his journey (surrounded by the snow-covered rockies), he shows that no matter how small you feel in the face of enormous adversity, your determination will always be bigger.
“You just have to persist,” Bert smiles. “If you choose to persist at anything you will succeed.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
How quietly promised law changes in the 2024 federal budget could impact your day-to-day life
The 2024 federal budget released last week includes numerous big spending promises that have garnered headlines. But, tucked into the 416-page document are also series of smaller items, such as promising to amend the law regarding infant formula and to force banks to label government rebates, that you may have missed.
Which foods have the most plastics? You may be surprised
'How much plastic will you have for dinner, sir? And you, ma'am?' While that may seem like a line from a satirical skit on Saturday Night Live, research is showing it's much too close to reality.
opinion I've been a criminal attorney for decades. Here's what I think about the case against Trump
Joey Jackson, a criminal defence attorney and a legal analyst for CNN, outlines what he thinks about the criminal case against Donald Trump in the 'hush money trial.'
$3.8M home in B.C.'s Okanagan has steel shell for extra wildfire protection
A home in B.C.'s Okanagan that features a weathering steel shell designed to provide some protection against wildfires has been listed for sale at $3.8 million.
Diver pinned under water by an alligator figured he had choice. Lose his arm or lose his life
An alligator attacked a diver on April 15 as he surfaced from his dive, nearly out of air. His tank emptied with the gator's jaws crushing the arm he put up in defence.
Psychologist becomes first person in Peru to die by euthanasia after fighting in court for years
A Peruvian psychologist who suffered from an incurable disease that weakened her muscles and had her confined to her bed for several years, died by euthanasia, her lawyer said Monday, becoming the first person in the country to obtain the right to die with medical assistance.
Mystery surrounds giant custom Canucks jerseys worn by Lions Gate Bridge statues
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
Celebrity designer sentenced to 18 months in prison for smuggling crocodile handbags
A leading fashion designer whose accessories were used by celebrities from Britney Spears to the cast of the 'Sex and the City' TV series was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty in Miami federal court on charges of smuggling crocodile handbags from her native Colombia.
Wildfire leads to evacuation order issued for northeast Alberta community
An evacuation order was issued on Monday afternoon for homes in the area of Cold Lake First Nation.