Where the Falcon Flies
A 3,400 Kilometre Odyssey From My Doorstep to the Arctic
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4.7 • 26 Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE 2024 NATIONAL OUTBOOK AWARD FOR JOURNEYS
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 SPEAKER'S BOOK AWARD
FINALIST FOR THE BANFF MOUNTAIN BOOK COMPETITION FOR ADVENTURE TRAVEL
From Canada’s most accomplished adventurer and storyteller comes a gripping journey into the vastness of Canada’s landscape and history.
Looking out his porch window one spring morning, Adam Shoalts spotted a majestic peregrine falcon flying across the neighbouring fields near Lake Erie. Each spring, falcons migrate from southernmost Canada to remote arctic mountains. Grabbing his backpack and canoe, Shoalts resolved to follow the falcon’s route north on an astonishing 3,400-kilometre journey to the Arctic.
Along the way, he faces a huge variety of challenges and obstacles, including storms on the Great Lakes, finding campsites in the urban wilderness of Toronto and Montreal, avoiding busy commercial freighter traffic, gale force winds, massive hydroelectric dams, bushwhacking without trails, dealing with hunger, multiple bear encounters, and navigating white-water rapids on icy northern rivers far from any help.
In his signature style, Shoalts roams as much across space as he does time, winding his way through a stunning diversity of landscapes ranging from lush Carolinian forests to lonely windswept mountains, salty seas to trackless swamps, pristine lakes to glittering mega-cities, as well as the sites of long ago battles, shipwrecks, forgotten forts, and abandoned trading posts. Through his travels, he reveals how interconnected wild places are, from the loneliest depths of the northern wilderness to busy urban parks, and the vital importance of these connections.
Where the Falcon Flies invites readers on an extraordinary armchair adventure that spans five ecoregions and centuries of fascinating history, and is a masterwork by one of Canada’s most successful and audacious authors.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
An explorer’s once-in-a-lifetime journey reveals the heart and soul of Canada in this transformative memoir. Author and professional explorer Adam Shoalts has often found his inspiration in nature. Here, he relates how a brief encounter with a majestic peregrine falcon lead to his greatest adventure yet: a 3400-kilometre voyage from Ontario to the Arctic. We join Shoalts in his canoe as he follows the migratory path of this apex predator on a sometimes-harrowing journey through abandoned cities and the many breathtaking vistas of the Canadian backcountry. Along the way, he shares his own deeply reflective thoughts, not to mention fascinating tales of the places along his path, including historical accounts of pirates, battles, and witch-hunters. More than just a travelogue, Where the Falcon Flies offers a bird’s-eye view of our world and humanity’s place in it.
