An Evening with Adam Shoalts

About Adam Shoalts

Declared one of the “greatest living explorers” by Canadian Geographic, and named “Canada’s Indiana Jones” by the Toronto Star, Adam Shoalts is a professional adventurer and the author of five national bestselling books.

His career has included mapping rivers, leading expeditions for the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and Mountain Equipment Co-op, archaeological digs, tracking endangered species, and completing a nearly 4,000 km solo journey across Canada’s Arctic. On his expeditions he sometimes goes months without seeing another person. In 2022, he canoed and hiked from southern Canada to the Arctic.

Shoalts grew up with a forest on his doorstep, where his father, a woodworker, taught him about trees. Together, they built birch bark canoes and anything else that could be crafted from the forest.

Shoalts has written about edible mushrooms, deforestation, and watershed pollution in northern Canada. His writing career began with his “Reflections of a Naturalist” column on wild animals and conservation, which later led to his #1 national bestsellers Alone Against the North and Beyond the Trees, the award-winning story of his adventures.

Where the Falcon Flies: A 3,400 km Odyssey From My Doorstep to the Arctic

“Looking out his porch window one spring morning, Adam Shoalts spotted a peregrine falcon flying across the neighbouring fields near Lake Erie. Falcons migrate annually from southern 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 hydro electric dams, bushwhacking without trails, dealing with hunger, multiple bear encounters, and navigating white-water rapids on icy northern rivers far from any help.”

Visit Adam Shoalts' Website