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
B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
Expert warns of food consumption habits amid rising prices
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, shoots 81 in U.S. Open qualifier
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
Ex-tabloid publisher testifies he scooped up possibly damaging tales to shield his old friend Trump
As Donald Trump was running for president in 2016, his old friend at the National Enquirer was scooping up potentially damaging stories about the candidate and paying out tens of thousands of dollars to keep them from the public eye.
Here's why provinces aren't following Saskatchewan's lead on the carbon tax home heating fight
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.
Montreal actress calls Weinstein ruling 'discouraging' but not surprising
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye make it four NFL drafts with quarterbacks going 1-3
Caleb Williams is heading to the Windy City, aiming to become the franchise quarterback Chicago has sought for decades.