In November 1910, explorer Hubert Darrell vanished in the uncharted wilds of the Northwest Territories. A prospector who had been swept up in the Klondike Gold Rush, Darrell later made his name as an expert guide, trapper, and restless wanderer who ventured where few others dared. At a time when travel by dogsled in the North was the norm, Darrell became legendary for traversing thousands of kilometres alone and on foot; ranging over mountains and across windswept tundra from Alaska to Hudson Bay. During his epic journeys, he helped rescue sailors trapped in sea ice, led Mounties on their patrols, and even guided some of the era’s most famous explorers. Roald Amundsen, the first person to reach the South Pole, held Darrell in awe, remarking once that with men like him, he could go to the moon. Contemporaries regarded Darrell as the hardiest, most competent explorer of his day. Despite clues reported by Inuit trappers and Mounted Police inquiries, his fate remains a mystery. While his disappearance sparked headlines around the world, Darrell’s name would soon also vanish from the history books, ironically, just as surely as he had in the wild.
Yet Darrell left behind a trail of letters, journals, and hand-drawn maps. With these faded clues and his zeal for adventure, Adam Shoalts retraces Darrell’s forgotten routes through the wilderness, hoping to solve one of exploration history's most enduring cold cases.
Trained as a cartographer, archaeologist and historian, and having grown up learning bushcraft in his rural hometown of Fenwick, Ont., Shoalts has built birchbark canoes and worked as a survival instructor.
Shoalts has carried the flag of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society on at least 15 expeditions. In 2017, he completed a nearly 4,000 kilometre solo traverse of the Arctic, travelling from Old Crow, Yukon, to Baker Lake, Nunavut, by canoe. His latest project, Vanished Beyond the Map, saw him explore Canada’s western Arctic in search of clues to the life and disappearance of an almost-forgotten explorer, Hubert Darrell. He is the author of five books: the bestselling Alone Against the North, A History of Canada in 10 Maps Beyond the Trees, The Whisper on the Night Wind, and Where the Falcon Flies.
Yet Darrell left behind a trail of letters, journals, and hand-drawn maps. With these faded clues and his zeal for adventure, Adam Shoalts retraces Darrell’s forgotten routes through the wilderness, hoping to solve one of exploration history's most enduring cold cases.
About Adam Shoalts
Adam Shoalts is an explorer and writer whose adventures have taken him to some of the last wild places on Earth, including the Amazon rainforest and the Canadian High Arctic.Trained as a cartographer, archaeologist and historian, and having grown up learning bushcraft in his rural hometown of Fenwick, Ont., Shoalts has built birchbark canoes and worked as a survival instructor.
Shoalts has carried the flag of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society on at least 15 expeditions. In 2017, he completed a nearly 4,000 kilometre solo traverse of the Arctic, travelling from Old Crow, Yukon, to Baker Lake, Nunavut, by canoe. His latest project, Vanished Beyond the Map, saw him explore Canada’s western Arctic in search of clues to the life and disappearance of an almost-forgotten explorer, Hubert Darrell. He is the author of five books: the bestselling Alone Against the North, A History of Canada in 10 Maps Beyond the Trees, The Whisper on the Night Wind, and Where the Falcon Flies.
