C Ihe Ladies c cu. V'VVAN - History and Classics, Department of

VII( ForewordTh i r ty - t h r e eye a r s h a v epa sse d since I first read Clara Vyvyan's ArcticAdventure in 1965. Published four years earlier, the book formed some of therequired reading for our party of six, preparing to canoe the Rat - Bell-Porcupineroute through the Richardson Mountains. Vyvyan's was one of the few booksabout the route available to us. When I made that trip, with G.H.U. Bayly,J .W.L. Goering, W.A.E. Sheppard, D. Woods, and my husband, Eric, I wasforty-one, about the same age as Clara Rogers (as she then was) and GwendolenDorrien Smith during their 1926 journey. Coincidentally, the interval betweentheir trip and the publication of ArcticAdventure is now matched by that between mytrip and the present.During the past half-century, recreational canoeists have attempted the routein gradually increasing numbers, although not always with success. It is not acomfortable trip. It requires strong motivation, which for some people is foundin its geographical significance, as a link in a transcontinental journey betweeneast and west. For others, it is the lure of crossing the Rockies or the challenge ofa difficult expedition, while for yet others, the attractions of wild scenery andremoteness from civilization are paramount. Vyvyan's writings make clear thatshe and Gwen were in the last category: all her life, she was impelled to seekwilderness and solitude.I have been glad of the opportunity to read Arctic Adventure again, not only tocompare the conditions of travel with our own, but also to appreciate thedescription of the whole journey from Edmonton to Seattle, through Alberta,the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, Alaska, and British Columbia. My earlier