After 76 days on the water, Mike Ranta has paddled from Tuktoyaktuk to Yellowknife with his dog Spitziii – continuing a 15-year tradition of long-distance canoe trips tied to causes he cares about.
Ranta described leaving Tuktoyaktuk, on the NWT’s Arctic coast, on July 6 and travelling through Inuvik, Tsiigehtchic, Fort Good Hope, Norman Wells, Tulita, Fort Simpson, Jean Marie River and Fort Providence before reaching Yellowknife.
The trip was his second time travelling the Mackenzie River between Tuktoyaktuk and Yellowknife. He made the journey in the opposite direction in 2022 with friends, he said, completing it in 35 days.
Ranta started paddling for causes in 2011, when he took a canoe trip in support of a youth centre. In 2014, he paddled from Vancouver to Canada’s East coast, making it as far as Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, while aiming to reach Cape Breton.
The following year, Ranta lost several friends who had served during the World War II era. He said their passings motivated him to return to the journey.
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“I thought, you know what? These are some amazing guys, I really wanted to do something for them.” He told Cabin Radio.
In 2016, he set out again, this time reaching Cape Breton in 200 days.
His focus then shifted toward supporting veterans and first responders.
‘Hospitality was beautiful’
Ranta’s trips now support Warrior Adventures Canada, an Ottawa-based charity that helps veterans and first responders through outdoor activities including canoeing and rock climbing.
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He said he was drawn to the organization’s work with veterans, first responders and First Nations through wilderness programs.
“There’s these programs that [veterans] should take advantage of and get out there,” he said. “It’s going to be so surprising how that clears [the] mind.”
Ranta said the people he met along his latest journey were one of its biggest highlights.
“Everywhere I went, it seemed like there was somebody there to meet,” he said. “The hospitality was just beautiful.”
Ranta holds the Guinness World Record for the longest solo canoe trip while, in 2021, he and Holden Rhodes set another Guinness World Record for the largest oar or paddle, measuring 33.68 metres long and 5.18 metres wide at the blade.
The paddle, named The Big Dipper, was built in Killarney, Ontario.
