Justin Barbour is a Newfoundland-born adventurer, explorer, filmmaker and author who has covered many thousands of kilometers by human power alone across some of the most rugged and remote terrain Canada has to offer. Justin’s wilderness adventures spring from the basic philosophy that “life is better outdoors”, and he embodies the skills and spirit of the all-around outdoorsmen that have traveled North America for centuries. In addition to his love for taking on big challenges and living off the land, his mission is to inspire others to utilize, appreciate, and respect all nature offers, and pursue their own wilderness adventures and dreams.

“The most important thing in outdoor life now is that young people discover nature. If I myself can inspire someone to take their first trip into the wilderness, it is absolutely the most important thing I can do. The youth must discover nature, they need it now more than ever”            -J.B.

On July 6th 2023 Justin set out from near Puvirnituq, Quebec, along the northeastern shore of Hudson Bay, on a ~3,800 kilometer trek crossing Quebec, Labrador, and Newfoundland -  Expedition Northeast, his longest and most challenging travel adventure yet. After 372 days Justin reached Cape Pine Lighthouse, Newfoundland, completing his incredible year-long journey that spanned virtually all modes of self-propelled travel across all four seasons. 

After a year of reflection, we’re delighted to have the opportunity to chat with Justin about Expedition Northeast, and get a little hint of the incredible adventure story to come.

LOTNO: Justin, first off, congratulations on the completion of Expedition Northeast. It’s an incredible accomplishment. It was fun to watch your progress on Instagram and get a feel for your travel adventures in real time. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us about your experience.

JB: 

LOTNO: Given the remoteness of your travel route, many of us may not have a feel for what the terrain is like in that region. Can you give us a brief overview of the physiography and variability of the terrain you covered with Expedition Northeast? We’re there any particular physiographic features that you knew from the outset would present a particular challenge?

JB: One of my desires for Expedition Northeast was to witness the gradual transition from bare arctic tundra to sub-arctic forest to thicker boreal forest as I voyaged from north to south. Beginning on Northern Quebec’s barrens was like night and day compared to the dense woods I eventually faced in parts of Labrador and Newfoundland. 

From the get-go there were countless landscape challenges that I knew would be difficult and dangerous. They started with the Kogaluc River which flowed into Hudson Bay. I began the expedition here and had to ascend the Kogaluc for nearly 350km. Spring run-off was strong and the rapids swift. As I hauled the canoe upriver the current did all it could to tear away the rope that was wrapped around my hand. A few times I was swept clear off my feet and clung to the canoe as it washed back downstream. My shins were beat to pieces and my ankles tender from walking the slimy, rocky riverbed. There were no documented ascents to Kogaluc’s headwaters and rugged gorges ahead made me tense when I studied them on the map. I hoped that I would be able to bypass them quickly and safely enough.

After reaching the height of land, Saku and I headed down the mighty Leaf and Goudalie rivers. We navigated rapid after rapid where one mistake would have a grim outcome for a lone paddler hundreds of kilometres from help. The highest tide in the world at Leaf Bay was no Sunday stroll either. I miscalculated it slightly and paid the price with a long walk on the former ocean floor which laid thick in seaweed and mud - slippery like grease. Later I broke through bad ice on the winter rivers in Quebec and Labrador. Then to get around it I made gut-wrenching uphill portages in deep powder while lugging my 250lb toboggan.

Backpacking Newfoundland’s Long Range Mountains presented all kinds of tough orienteering to ascend thickly wood peaks that separated the various river valleys I needed to cross. It was crucial that I did not take it for granted after dealing with the beast of Labrador and Quebec. But all this adventure was what I was seeking and it kept life unknown, fascinating and extremely fulfilling to negotiate.

LOTNO: How did you go about planning your route prior to setting out? We’re there any specific methods used to figure out how to connect the waterways along an optimal route, or was it just old fashioned topo map and intuition?

JB: Once I decided I wanted to cross from the top of Quebec (near the Inuit village of Puvirnituq on Hudson Bay) to Newfoundland’s southernmost point, Cape Pine, I bought 1:250,000 scale government topo maps, laid them in order on the floor, and sketched a line from start to finish. These maps I then took with me in a waterproof case (not all once of course, I added and dropped them at resupplies as I progressed).

I stuck to waterways as much as possible knowing that they were the most efficient way to travel by canoe, snowshoe or raft. I also knew that with such a long route and a variation of upriver, downriver, and mountaineering I had to plan well, but also made peace with the fact that much of the expedition route would be figured out and modified along the way as there were sure to be delays and surprises. One surprise was switching from snowshoe to mountain bike in April 2024. I made this decision to keep on schedule after spring came early to Labrador. My necessary river highways began to rot away and became impossible to snowshoe along. It got to the point where each step on the thin ice could have been my last.

LOTNO: You’ve shown yourself to be a great hunter and fisherman on your past adventures. Can you share your initial food plan and how that ended up working out along your route?

JB: My food plan while canoeing, backpacking and rafting involved carrying roughly 2500 calories a day. Saku had 1 cup of Inukshuk 32/32 high energy formula which is a food favoured by dog mushers for gruelling races. 

Being a lone man and with Saku running the river banks a lot, we would burn far more than what we carried. I would burn up to 4000 or more calories per day, especially on gruelling portages and when colder weather set in during fall. To fill the remaining void and keep strong as possible, I fished heavily for us in the summer and when fall arrived, I hunted just as vigorously for ducks, grouse, ptarmigan, geese, snowshoe hare and porcupine. This also allowed me a lighter outfit by carrying less grub. I estimate 40% of our calories came from fishing, hunting and some foraging of berries. When living from the land went well, we would sometimes consume more calories than we burned. 

 

But there were many days when fishing and hunting was not as good as I hoped and, berries were scarce. Then we had hungry evenings and lost weight. 

 In the deep cold of winter with temperatures generally -25 degrees celsius down to -50 degrees celsius and not carrying any means to chop through thick ice for fish, other than an axe (a chisel or auger being too heavy), I carried about 5000 calories per day. But again, I would burn far more walking alone in severe cold hauling the heavy toboggan and setting the canvas tent and wood stove each evening. At this point I packed as much grub as I could, and to keep as strong as possible and pad my food supply, hunted for ptarmigan, grouse and porcupine. Ptarmigan and grouse which were plentiful at times gave an excellent boost of strength from its rich iron content. They have 5 times more iron than chicken. There was the odd rabbit too, but snaring was time consuming while being on the move most everyday and setting a new camp each evening. In winter, about ninety percent of my food was on the toboggan and ten percent came from hunting.

LOTNO: You had to camp out for a while near Schefferville, waiting for freeze up. We’re the 2023-2024 winter’s generally milder conditions felt along your route as well? If so, what impact did that have on your mode of travel, route, and overall progress?

JB: Absolutely. After a few weeks waiting in Schefferville in my canvas tent with wood-stove, temperatures which had dipped into the minus twenties (celsius) suddenly warmed and there was rain and lake ice got heavy with deep slush and surface water. This delayed my snowshoe and toboggan departure.

When I eventually began snowshoeing on Jan 1st, 2024, there was hardly a foot of snow. I could easily brush it away and see the moss and Labrador tea etc beneath. Especially when making camp on land. This affected portages around rapids as well because there was no firm bottom to the snow. Rocks, trees and stumps were barely covered. They became frustrating obstacles to haul over. It was mid-January before a proper amount of snow fell. Ice on rivers was late forming too, and I broke through more than once. My nerves were as taut as a fiddle strings. As mentioned above, in the spring, rivers were breaking open by late March (very early for the Labrador interior) and travel became treacherous. Snow in the woods was also wet, soft and heavy compared to the more favourable light, icy powder experienced at cold temps. This heaviness added pounds of weight to my snowshoes with each step and exhausted me to a stumble. 

I was forced to end snowshoeing at least a month earlier than I had expected and switched to the mountain bike to avoid a long wait to continue again by canoe.

LOTNO: Can you give us a quick overview of your winter travel and camp setup, and how the travel gear used may have varied from day to day depending on the terrain and weather conditions.

JB:  During winter, my travel setup was partially traditional, like the long ago Innu, Naskapi, Cree and Metis trappers of inland Labrador and Northern Quebec. This mode of travel and these people were my main inspiration for the winter portion of the expedition. I walked in snowshoes (wooden bear-paw style) and hauled my gear on a long, narrow toboggan (12 foot durable plastic) - both items gratefully provided by Lure of the North Outfitters. Like old trappers, I also used a canvas tent with a wood stove. Being solo, at 8 feet x 8 feet, my tent was a bit smaller than what most of them used. Also, my sled was made of plastic, and my snowshoes had synthetic webbing unlike (juniper) wood toboggans and babiche webbing of the trappers, but practically I moved the same way they did before the arrival of the snow machine in the mid-1900’s.

Day to day the travel gear used didn’t vary much. All I had was the snowshoes and the toboggan. Through cold and mild I dragged the sled day after day. When conditions were very dry and cold I often scrapped frost from the bottom of my sled with a stick or back of my knife. Removing the rime kept my sled from sticking and pulling hard. Conversely, when temperatures rose above -5C I removed my moccasins and put on folding Tingley rubbers. Moccasin’s would have gotten soaking wet in the warm thawing snow. 

LOTNO: You were hauling a couple hundred pounds of gear on a 12’ toboggan during your winter travels, and sweat is a killer in cold conditions. We know that you utilize natural fibers in your winter travel gear as much as possible for their breathability and warmth. Did you find it more challenging to stay warm while you were stopped or stay cool while you were working? What (combination of) clothing items really worked for you living in a cold winter environment?

JB: Managing overheating while working and freezing while stopped was a constant battle. Often at longer lunch breaks I had a fire for 30 minutes to an hour to keep the heat. I also did this for company and because after the first winter section I dropped my down parka to shed a few pounds. That parka had provided insulation when stopped. 

For shorter breaks warm tea from the thermos helped keep body heat. But in the worst of conditions, breaks couldn’t be too long, especially if I was on a big lake - say the 80 km long Lac Wakuack, where I was hauling far from shore on the flat ice. Then I wouldn’t bother to walk in for shelter. Maybe once a day I would, but the other briefer breaks I would sit on snow against the toboggan or in the very coldest of times, I would stay standing with my windproof anorak drawn tight around me while wearing every layers I had including a thick wool sweater. The anorak is like a canvas tent on the body at all times. As for sweat, it was impossible not to do it, I just tried to minimize it as much as possible by taking short minute breaks after a several minute stretch of hauling, especially when cold was most bitter.

LOTNO: Prior to starting Expedition Northeast you had mentioned that one of the biggest challenges would likely be the loneliness of traveling without your dogs for the mid-winter leg of the journey. And you have written a book about your travels with your dogs as well. Can you give us a sense for what Saku’s return in the spring meant to you on this trip?

JB: Yes, Saku was with me for the first four months of the expedition until winter arrived. Originally, I had trained our Malamute husky mix, Bear, to haul her own sled of rations/gear and come with me during the winter months of the expedition, than I would swap her out for Saku in the spring. But fate had other plans. Bear got sick less than a year before the expedition and taking her was out of the question. 

   

So the six months of winter was spent alone with the wilderness and my thoughts. I stayed strong and persisted. The never ending business of keeping myself alive and moving forward in the wilderness kept my mind off thoughts of loneliness most of the time. It was inevitable that those thoughts would creep in. Living in the moment and being grateful for the experience at hand soothed me if ever I thought of my wife Heather, Saku, ill-Bear, family and friends back home. 

But when Saku returned in May to finish the last two months the the expedition what a motivational boost it was! Especially late in a long journey when my mind and body was wearing thinner and I needed it. Amazing how the companionship of a good wilderness dog can turn the tides and provide one some spark. Once again I had my teammate and team work makes the dream work. We merrily plowed our way to the finish and fed off each other’s energy - it can be contagious on such an adventure. When one is on their own in the wilderness for long periods, as addictive as the independency is, it can take more energy to manage a positive mindset and keep the thoughts steady and focused. Having Saku kept me out of my own head a little less compared to when I was alone.

LOTNO: Travel during the winter-spring transition can be tough, with the ice becoming sketchy prior to breakup and open water conditions. How did you handle lake travel during that time?

JB: When I stopped travelling in Spring, lakes were getting soft and slushy and were opening up around river mouths and outlets. And those rivers were my main travel route, especially at the section when mild weather really hit. There were few lakes over the next few hundred kilometres. When I did travel them it was early in the morning before they had softened too much from the Spring sun.

Last going off I was following a herd of caribou who were maybe half a day ahead of me. I never did see them but their track was neat how it weaved across lakes and up the river - sometimes on ice that looked uncertain. But they were heavier than me and if it was safe for them it was for me. Some river shelves that I tip toed across certainly vanished a day or two later. When the snow got soft, procedures like setting camp and portaging became a battle too. I would sink 3 or 4 feet in the wet, heavy snow and it would stick to and weigh down my snowshoes a ton with each step.

LOTNO: We’re all looking forward to watching and reading the details of this latest adventure. Can you give us a little insight into your creative process in constructing the film and book you’re currently working on? 

JB: Dig in and tell the story in a concise and compelling way. I want neither the docuseries or book to be dragged out. A lot of unplanned drama happens on a 372 day expedition but there can also be repetition. I want to brisk along and give a great sample of each season and the highs and lows faced. 

The main requirement to create is butt in seat for many hours in the office. At first when I returned last summer it was hard to get settled by a computer. I was addicted to reading maps and moving through the wilderness! But eventually I found my zone. 

Sharing the story my way also included securing publishing and production deals to reach the largest audience as possible. This is valuable to me because I realize it is a rare gem for someone to spend such a long time buried in the wilderness covering such varied terrain and seasonal conditions while also using several different modes of travel. Not only that but I lived to complete it and filmed nearly 120 hours. When I left home in July 2023 I was confident I would get the job done but there was also a pit in my stomach thinking that with one bad bounce I might never return again. 

This project, like the expedition itself, needs patience so it can live on for years to come. It will inspire the next generation to realize life is better outdoors - for a day or a year - and encourage people to dream big and never give up. Anything is possible.

LOTNO: Are there any little teasers you’d like to share with your followers now?

JB: This whole interview was a teaser ; ). One great experience was crossing the Leaf River Caribou migration (over 2000 Caribou in less than a week). I also filmed some great perspectives of indigenous people I met.

 

LOTNO: What is the best way for folks to stay up to date with your projects and any upcoming announcements.

JB: Facebook and Instagram: @nlexplorer88
YouTube: www.youtube.com/justinbarbournlexplorer
Twitter, LinkedIn and Patreon as: Justin Barbour: www.justin-barbour.com

LOTNO: Not to get too far ahead of yourself, but we’re curious if you have already started thinking about what your next adventure might be? 

JB: The next idea is Alaska. Maybe start on the west coast above the treeline and head east across the continent. A rough plan is to begin this journey in winter with a dog team.

LOTNO: Well Justin, thank you again for spending some time on this. I’m sure all the folks that have followed Expedition Northeast, and your previous adventures, will enjoy hearing more about your incredible journey as time goes on.