ADVENTURES

I’ve often thought about the results of making some of these big trips. I haven’t done anything great for humanity; it was mostly that I’ve done something great for myself. But I do hear from other people who say they have been inspired by my travels. Hopefully, I can get them to look a little farther, a little deeper into themselves, into what they can do.

verlen kruger

Cross Continent Canoe Safari

The Cross Continent Canoe Safari was a tandem canoe journey from Montreal to the Bering Sea and followed the same route French voyageurs and English explorers traveled during the fur trade era. Clint Waddell and Verlen Kruger were told the journey couldn’t be done in one season and yet the men completed it in 1971 in a handmade wood strip canoe, it took them one hundred and seventy-eight days. The Cross Continent Canoe Safari was documented by filmmaker Phil Pemberton.

  • Clint Waddell and Verlen Kruger
  • Verlen Kruger and Clint Waddell CCCS 1971
  • Verlen and Clint on the Clearwater River, Saskatchewan. 1971
  • Verlen Kruger and Clint Waddell portaging 1971
  • Verlen Kruger and Clint Waddell canoe race in Flin Flon. 1971
  • canoe with ice

Ultimate Canoe Challenge

The Ultimate Canoe Challenge was a 28,043 mile North American odyssey exclusively traversed by paddle and portage (1980-1983). Steve Landick and Verlen Kruger completed the canoe trip in three and one-half years earning them both a Guinness World Record for distance. The trip included many major rivers of North America, as well as ascending the entire length of both the Mississippi and Colorado Rivers. Verlen completed the entirety of the trip in his handmade Kruger Crafted Loon, Steve started the trip in his own handmade Loon (yellow) but finished it in a Mad River Monarch (red) designed by Verlen.

Two Continent Canoe Expedition

The Two Continent Canoe Expedition was a 21,000 mile canoe journey beginning at the top of the world, the Arctic Ocean and ending at Cape Horn, South America (1986-1989). Valerie Fons and Verlen Kruger completed this trip in Verlen’s newly design Kruger Crafted canoes, the Sea Wind. After reaching Cape Horn, Verlen paddled 10 miles solo around the totally unprotected south end of Cape Horn earning him an official Cape Horn Certificate, as witnessed by Chilean naval personnel.

Yukon Canoe Odyssey

More information coming soon.