"Ann and Natalie would be heralded for showing that adventure can still be had in a changing environment, and that women have not only a place in the landscape of adventure, but an important voice that needs to be heard. [Their] journey illuminates the physical landscapes, hardships, and human encounters; it also uncovers the heart of any good journey, the human spirit."—Ann Bancroft, from the Foreword
"Hudson Bay Bound is a story of friendship forged on the river as two young women paddle 2,000 miles to the Arctic. With the candor and enthusiasm of a first grand adventure, Natalie Warren shares the joys and trials of living by water, propelled northward by muscle power and the belief that anything is possible."—Caroline Van Hemert, author of The Sun is a Compass: A 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds
"Natalie Warren's Hudson Bay Bound is part adventure-memoir, part nontraditional love story. Her adoration for the water and deep respect for the history of the land it weaves through is clear throughout the journey. Complemented by the intimacy of a friendship cultivated in motion, this is a refreshing, fun, and thoughtful read."—Gale Straub, author of She Explores: Stories of Life-Changing Adventures on the Road and in the Wild
"Natalie and Ann’s story is classic example of how the exuberance of youth and a healthy dose of grit make any dream possible. From the foggy swirl of excitement as they launched their canoe into the flooded Minnesota River to their final paddle strokes down the Hayes River, Hudson Bay Bound provides a vivid account of an awesome adventure that we couldn’t put down."—Amy and Dave Freeman, authors of A Year in the Wilderness: Bearing Witness in the Boundary Waters
"A friendly, educational quest story for readers of everyone from Rachel Carson to Edward Abbey."—Kirkus Reviews
"Hudson Bay Bound exudes female strength and resilience, and shares the obstacles women still face in the outdoors industry."—Rochester Post-Bulletin
"An inspiration for young people everywhere to chart their own course."—The Christian Science Monitor
"A delightful journey."—International Falls Daily Journal
"Written in a storytelling style by Natalie, it’s about adventure, danger, fierce storms, winds, portages, running rapids, wild animals, friendship, humour and a window into the people and communities living along the urban and wilderness waterways."—Northern Wilds
"In Hudson Bay Bound, Warren is spreading the gospel of outdoor adventure for teenage girls who feel like they don’t fit in."—Outside
"This book is for anyone who wants to reminisce about their own past adventures, wants to understand why their own loved ones have gone or want to go on a nature expedition, and most importantly, to whet the palate of those who desire to set out on their own but are held back by other obligations."—Tower-Soudan Timberjay
"You will be inspired as you paddle along with them on their adventure into the wild."—Northeaster
"Sometimes that flow is filled with lightning storms, high winds, bears, and other tests of stamina, as Natalie Warren describes in Hudson Bay Bound."—Minnesota Women’s Press
"The story takes readers on an engaging, fast-paced journey through both a physical space of interest and the lives of its young adventurers."—Anchorage Daily News
"From planning the three-month expedition to completing the adventure of a lifetime, the author gives the reader an insider view of the perils and pleasures of wilderness tripping."—Ely Summer Times
2020-11-11
A budding writer and environmental scholar chronicles her historic canoeing adventure with her adventurous best friend.
Shortly after graduating college in 2011, Warren and her best friend, Ann, decided to re-create the historic wilderness voyage of Eric Sevareid and Walter C. Port, whose 1935 classic, Canoeing With the Cree, chronicled their 2,000-mile paddling trip from Minneapolis to the Hudson Bay in northeastern Canada. Armed with a minimum of sponsors, the best equipment they could scrounge, and a literal barrel of food, the duo began their adventure on the heavily flooded Minnesota River, an obstacle that almost deterred them. But they persevered on the difficult quest, and the author offers a captivating mix of personal narrative, history lessons, environmentalism, and travelogue, not to mention healthy doses of friendly friction between friends. Warren also captures the tension between wide-eyed, naïve excitement and the realities involved in such a daunting expedition. “There is a big difference between going on an expedition and just going camping,” writes the author in the prologue. “On an expedition you feel a sense of urgency to continue on a trail and will relax only long enough to rejuvenate….I often thought about the psychology behind what makes anyone hell-bent on one thing while knowing that, in the big scheme of things, their greatest passions seem miniscule and unimportant.” Along the way, there were plenty of hurdles, among them numerous stretches of dangerous water conditions and run-ins with curious black bears and “help” from both generous and suspicious strangers. During a visit with the Cree people, the adventurers quite accidentally took on a new companion, “Myhan the wolf dog.” Neither as visceral as Cheryl Strayed’s Wild nor as folksy and quaint as Bill Bryson’s rambles, this story lives, like its locale, in a unique place.
A friendly, educational quest story for readers of everyone from Rachel Carson to Edward Abbey.
