Wild Shore: Exploring Lake Superior by Kayak

Travel/Sports

A true story of adventure and a two-year quest to navigate the greatest of the Great Lakes.

"One day, I paddled a sea kayak. All graceful lines and curves, the hull carved the water with barely a whisper and turned at the touch of a paddle. How does it feel to travel days on end with no fixed schedule? What happens to your sense of distance when every mile is earned by a thousand strokes of the paddle? A plan began to form as I imagined paddling on and on, never having to turn back."

Lake Superior's windswept rock, clear water, and wooded shores make it one of the most stunning landscapes in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ontario. Over two years, sportsman, writer, and world traveler Greg Breining set out to circle this great lake by kayak, a means of travel that allowed him to visit the lake's places of rare beauty and solitude, experience its wildly varied moods, and see its remote historic sites and isolated communities. Wild Shore is a tale of outdoor adventure, odd characters, humorous stories, and quiet reflection.

Wild Shore is also a story of the men and women who have lived along Lake Superior's shores since the Ice Age. An avid history buff, Breining follows the routes of the Ojibwe and the voyageurs. He explores the mix of cultures that created the Lake Superior region we know today. He visits the scientist who studies the last surviving woodland caribou herd on the Superior shore, explores the riddle of the lake's mysterious "Pukaskwa pits," and meets the Ojibwe Coast Guard captain who attempted to save the ill-fated cruise ship Grampa Woo.

Illustrated throughout with the author's striking photographs, Wild Shore will be a welcome book to those who love the beauty of Lake Superior, to adventurers, and to armchair travelers everywhere.

Greg Breining is the author of many books, including Minnesota (1997) and Return of the Eagle (1994). His writing has also appeared in Sports Illustrated, Audubon, International Wildlife, and Minnesota Monthly. He is the managing editor of Minnesota Conservation Volunteer and lives in St. Paul.

Translation Inquiries: University of Minnesota Press

Greg Breining is the author of many books, including Minnesota (2000) and Return of the Eagle (1994). He lives in St. Paul.