REDEMPTION

Mike Ranta, Canada’s modern voyageur.

July 2, 2017.

Having spent Canada Day windbound in a swamp low on food supplies,Mike Ranta takes advantage of a rare calm spell on Cedar Lake, Manitoba, and paddles under the aurora borealis to account for lost time.

In 2014, Mike Ranta became t

April 15, 2017.

To cross the continental divide, Ranta embarked on a forty seven day crossing of British Columbia, Canada, that saw 1,000 kilometres of portaging and 200 kilometres of paddling across lonely highways and an isolated mountain lake.

May 9, 2017.

A calm spell settles across Kinbasket Lake, British Columbia, as Mike Ranta continues to cross the continental divide.

In 2014, Mike Ranta became the first person in history to canoe from the Pacific to Atlantic ocean in a single sea

August 18, 2017.

By the time Mike Ranta approached the boundary waters along the United States/Canada border, he had already lost two months to pitiless prairie wind. On Lake of the Woods, Ontario, Ranta pulls through a swamp after losing his way o

June 29, 2017.

Low on food, plagued by winds, and silenced by the roar of a million bugs, Mike Ranta smokes a cigarette and considers the wind problems he'd been experiencing on Cedar Lake, Manitoba.

In 2014, Mike Ranta became the first person in

August 25, 2017.

Looking out over Lac La Croix, Ontario, a flood of memories fill Mike Ranta's mind of his childhood spent growing up north of the boundary waters.

In 2014, Mike Ranta became the first person in history to canoe from the Pacific to

Mike Ranta paddles past Calders dock and into Grindstone/Washow Bay and run into the Beaver Creek Bible Camp on Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba. After signature from campers, pets for Spitzii, and a hot meal for Ranta, the duo continued on into the evening.

After paddling from Great Falls, portaging around Macarthur Falls, and reaching Lac Du Bonnet, Mike Ranta shares a meal at a Portugese/Philipino cottage on the winnipeg River, Manitoba. The next morning, Mike Ranta departs the Lac Bonnet boat launch

Rain begins to pour as Ranta hides at the Tiwn Marina and Nipawin, Saskatchewan on Tobin Lake. 20170615. Photo/David Jackson

April 7, 2017.

A snow squall envelops the Chilcotin Highway of northwestern British Columbia in the first week of Mike Ranta's 2017 coast-to-coast attempt.

In 2014, Mike Ranta became the first person in history to canoe from the Pacific to Atlanti

Mike Ranta paddles through Knife Lake, carp lake, melon lake, and reaches Janice Matichuck at Cache Bay on Saganaga Lake, Quetico, Ontario. With storms chasing him off the water the following evening on the granite river, Ranta beds down in a cedar

A severe muscular tear to the lower shin has greatly hindered Mike Ranta's forward progression. Each step has become an agonizing duel of pain and obsession, the masochists journey. Throughout the day, ominous storms loomed close but rarely connecte

With new aches rising, Ranta breaks 'condemned camp' under a mountain sunrise in the Bella Coola Valley, British Columbia. The day wore on with little interruption beyond foot powdering, pipe breaks, and the first foray into the wild tweedmuir park.

Draped in their winters coat not yet shed, the mountain loomed high over whipping clouds and the rumble of a distant waterfall. Paddling into morning, Ranta ignored felt the first morning of Kinbasket Lakes beauty. With fish on the docket and a full

Mike Ranta catches an eight fund pike under a full moon on Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba. 20170710. Photo/David Jackson

Only being passed by a boat of cattle ranching farmers on a routine face check, Mike Ranta spends the day covering over 100 kilometres to reach Sand Hill Point Campsite. 20170530. Photo/David Jackson

After 30 days spent battling winds on Lake Winnipeg, Mike Ranta makes the final paddle stretch from Victoria Beach to Pine Falls Dam on the Winnipeg River, Manitoba. At the river mouth, Ranta encounters Deb and Dana from P.E.I. who were inspired by

Mike Ranta paddles to McBeth Point fisheries camp after waiting the day out of big winds on Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba. Passing a major cliff band of 7km, Ranta had no recollection from 2011.20170716. Photo/David Jackson

June 17, 2017.

Exhausted after nearly one month spent racing across the prairie provinces of central Canada, Spitzii sleeps on a mattress at an abandoned moose hunting camp on the Saskatchewan River, Manitoba.

In 2014, Mike Ranta became the first

July 22, 2017.

Destroyed by a storm, the foundation washed away by towering waves, Mike Ranta hides from the bugs and swampy nights in an abandoned cree fishing camp on Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba.

In 2014, Mike Ranta became the first person in histo

After paddling a short distance from Pine Bluff to the final chin before cedar lake, Mike Ranta spends the day whittling as daytime winds blew from the north west. By nightfall, Ranta made the cumbersome crossing only to mis calculate slightly to sp

Mike Ranta spends his fourth consecutive day wind bound at Pine bluff Camp on the saskatchewan river before Cedar Lake, Manitoba. After finishing his 14th canoe and deciding, at 5:30pm(the established latest departing time), that he would wait the e

May 5, 2017.

Forced from his canoe to prevent a near flip that would endanger his dog Spitzii and jeopardize critical supplies, Mike Ranta's life jacket deployed as he submerged in the icy, wave stricken water of Kinbasket Lake, British Columbia. S

After a cold beer with Brian and Barb of Pine Island Lodge on the Winnipeg River, Manitoba, Mike Ranta paddles into the darkness before being hailed to shore at the Eagles Nest Lodge to tell stories. After being denied camping by the owner, Mike Ran

Mike Ranta arrives in Grand Rapids, Manitoba. 20170702. Photo/David Jackson

Meeting a few big fans on the water and adding under calm skies and reflective water, Mike Rata paddles all day and becomes wind bound by night fall on Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba. 20170804. Photo/David Jackson

After crossing Sheesheeb, Ranta finds camp at Agate Point where he spends a day waiting out powerful squalls. In the evening, Ranta reaches Moss Island and Ian Brenner's camp where american hunters invite him in for beer and bbq. the following day,

Mike Ranta crosses the historic height of land between North Lake and South Lake. It was here that voyageurs were sworn in as men of the north once they had wintered in the interior. Slipping and falling with his canoe overhead, the second time in t

Mike Ranta paddles from Wild Goose Beach to coffee with the Rappleys before crossing Caribou Island to the Sleeping Giant shoreline when he became win bound in a heavy south west swell. 20170913. Photo/David Jackson

Mike Ranta is a Metis man seeking redemption for his past. The forty-six year old from Atikokan, Ontario, grew up in the north and was ‘mean as a wasp’ he would tell you jokingly. After losing his mother at the age of eighteen, Ranta set out on a hell spree. Working the oil rigs and drifting between jail time for the better part of twenty years, his epiphany arrived on the day he heard his hometown youth centre was to be stripped of government funding, a move which would close the doors of the place which helped him in his younger years. In 2011, with his faithful pup, Spitzii, Ranta picked up his paddle and canoed 130 days from Rocky Mountain House, AB, to Montreal, QC, raising enough money to save the centre. In 2014, he dreamed as big as he could and paddled from Vancouver, BC, to Tatamagouche, NS, in 214 days. He became the first person in history to go solo from coast-to-coast in a single season by canoe. In 2016, he once again left from Vancouver with a faster route in mind and travelled in 200 days to Dominion Beach, Cape Breton Island, NS. All of his trips were self supported and true to his personal ethics of trip etiquette. He received no rides, he accepted no help in moving his gear, and he stayed true, honest, and positive all while paddling his own canoe. In 2017, Ranta and Spitzii set out on one last journey to mark Canada’s 150th birthday. The route was new, departing from Bella Coola, BC, on April 1st, and the weather he received was unlike anything he encountered on any previous trip. After 187 days, at the foot of fall gales on Lake Superiors north shore, Ranta would quit during a year marred by extreme weather events. Across the divide, Ranta portaged 1000km’s. Through the prairies, he was missed by two tornadoes. His indomitable spirit endured pitiless wind, snow squalls, and encroaching wildfires before admitting defeat. If success was marked by completion of his third crossing, then Ranta failed but his mission was greater than his previous successes. Ranta wanted to shake the hands of each Canadian he met, collect signatures on the hull of his canoe, and remind everyone that Canada is a lot older than 150 years. He beamed in ephemeral joy, and his words reminded people to be grateful for what a beautiful nation Canada has become. Currently, Ranta works on a commercial fishing boat in Killarney, Ontario.

Mike ranta works on play fair II commercial fishing o Herbert fishery on Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, Ontario. Photo/ David Jackson

BACKSTORY

I first met Mike Ranta and Spitzii in 2014 when Canoe&Kayak magazine sent me to document the duo. Their trip was unprecedented in that they were travelling from coast-to-coast, alone, in a single season, by canoe. I quickly became obsessed with his accomplishments and wanted to join a trip. In 2016, he invited me to join him in my own solo canoe but having already committed to the Rio Olympics, I declined. It was so hard to say no but the Olympics were another childhood aspiring photographers dream. When I met with him on his 2016 trip to make a few photos, he was having a tough year but was on route to success. On November 11th, after his successful completion, he laid a handmade wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown soldier in Ottawa on Remembrance Day. “I’m going one more time to mark Canada’s birthday, Dave.”. I was in. On April 1st, 2017, equipped with my own canoe and gear, we departed Bella Coola and I spent 182 days with Ranta before I decided our late arrival to Lake Superior was too dangerous. After two weeks on the lake, death or rescue seemed certain. He insisted we stay and until that point I had felt my ethics as a story teller were in line with not changing the course of his trip, but to stay on Lake Superior in the fall as bad weather pounded us for two weeks seemed as if I would have to become a part of the decision making process. I departed the trip and was dropped off in Lake Huron, where I paddled another few weeks alone to Ottawa. Leaving Ranta was the toughest decision of my life. He quit his trip two days after my departure. The photos and stories are vast and myriad and this edit reflects a snippet of the journey. I hope to create a book someday of Ranta’s life story and we continue to be dear friends. As his life unfolds, I keep returning to document his courageous story of redemption and triumph against life’s adversities. To collaborate on a story from the trip, please email me at exploredavidjackson@gmail.com .

A few photos from Ranta’s 2014 and 2016 trips.