Black Feather - The Wilderness Adventure Company

17/06/2024

Bucket-list worthy? We say yes! 🏞️🏕️🌲🚵
Unrivaled views and noteworthy adventures leave you with richer memories and many stories to share!

🗺️ Black Feather’s Broken Skull Paddle & Cirque Hike

14/06/2024

Kick off summer with an experience of a lifetime!
You can enjoy 10 days of remote beauty descending Nahʔa Dehé (the Nahanni River) on our exciting “Nahanni Getaway” trip. Explore whitewater, fascinating day hikes, and the chance to spot incredible wildlife.

🗓️Two departure dates are available in Summer 2024!
Learn more - https://blackfeather.com/our-trips/nahanni-getaway/

14/06/2024

Do you know a youth living in the NWT who could benefit from these scholarship opportunities? Please share with them! They are still accepting applications!

10/06/2024

🚣‍♀️ Embracing the scenic wonder of Baja, Mexico ⛰️ Paddle through crystal-clear waters with the colorful Baja cliffs as your backdrop. From the smallest tropical fish to 40-tonne gray whales, you’re sure to encounter the thriving marinelife as you trade winter chill for a kayaking adventure of a lifetime!

Plan ahead for the next winter season!
Departures: January-May, October-December

Have a question? Feel free to DM us 📩

07/06/2024

Camp 🏕️ & Canoe 🛶!
This two-week Nahanni “Classic” trip is a must for any paddling enthusiast! From the rare Tufa Mounds at Gahnîhthah Mįe (Rabbitkettle Lake) to towering Náįlįcho (Virginia Falls), you’re in for action-packed days as you traverse the Nahʔą Dehé (South Nahanni River).

Detailed Itinerary - https://blackfeather.com/our-trips/nahanni-classic/

📍Nahʔą Dehé

12/03/2024

Longer days have us thinking about spring trips! Join us to explore the East coast of Baffin Island and newly created Agguttinni Territorial Park on a self-supported ski traverse!

Baffin Island - never easy to get to but always hard to leave 🗻❄️😎

Check out our website to find out more!
https://blackfeather.com/our-trips/clyde-river-big-wall-ski-expedition/

08/03/2024

You belong here! And here! And here! And everywhere in the outdoors!

Happy International Women's Day to all of the adventurous, courageous, eager, timid, bold, confident, uncomfortable, apprehensive, excited, vulnerable, and competent women who have joined us or led us on the rivers, lakes, trails and ocean over the years (and all the ones who have yet to join us!). We see you, and want to remind you that YOU BELONG HERE and you make the outdoors and Black Feather a better place! We will continue to raise each other up, be each others' cheerleaders, make this space more inclusive, and acknowledge all of the awesome that you bring to the world. Thanks for being here.

06/03/2024

Women in Tourism video! Watch the whole YouTube video (link in bio) to hear Wendy talk about leading Black Feather for 38 years and what it was like trailblazing in an industry dominated by men and check out some awesome footage from the Broken Skull River in the NWT!). Thank you Wendy! ✨

As an organization we are now much closer to 50/50 men and women employed as guides, and our leadership team is still predominantly female.

We also offer women-specific trips, both in the North and in Ontario, for those looking for a fantastic and fun-filled all-female adventure!

https://youtu.be/2TgTUIVfKv4?si=pcZLHhhVNOXlWgAU

08/02/2024

Excited to once again sponsor the Paddling Film Festival! If you have a chance to check out an in-person screening we highly recommend, although the at-home online viewing option is a great choice as well!

15/01/2024

Did you know this?

08/01/2024

We're not surprised! Is it time to see for yourself what makes the NWT so spectacular?

You can check out our lineup of canoe and rafting trips in the NWT here: https://blackfeather.com/our-destinations/northwest-territories/

Spectacular NWT Black Feather - The Wilderness Adventure Company

01/01/2024

Happy New Year to our Black Feather family! May your 2024 bring laughter, adventure, the right amount of challenge, camaraderie and time for growth and learning. And may you get outside lots this year, no matter the conditions! We hope to see you on an adventure with us again soon!

24/08/2023

Thanks to super guide and videographer Jake Fell for sharing the magic of the Wind River this July with us in a new video posted to our YouTube channel! Join him and the rest of the team as they experience the wonder of the Yukon! Click on the link below to watch!

https://youtu.be/RvNbhutGdCI

Two trip departures available for 2024 - we hope to see you there!

19/04/2023

We love reading about the NWT! What an amazing place!

Bear Rock Sinkhole
"Between the towns of Tulita and Norman Wells, in the great roadless core of the Northwest Territories, dozens of sinkholes pit the forest – odd, disfiguring pockmarks in the face of Mother Earth. The most famous is this one, northwest of Bear Rock, with plunging sides and deep aquamarine waters. Scientists say it was formed by the collapse of a vast subterranean cave."
For more information on the sinkhole, go to https://spectacularnwt.com/story/15-strange-and-dangerous-places-canadas-northwest-territories

🇨🇦❤🍁

01/02/2023

Wally Schaber, the founder of Black Feather and long-time past owner of Trailhead, has changed his focus since retirement to the protection of the Dumoine River through Friends of Dumoine. They are a not for profit group of volunteers, and their latest effort is the creation of the Dumoine Tote Road Trail - a four season trail that links historic Anishnaabe portages to an old loggers' road.

They are hosting an auction to raise money for the trail's completion, and we have donated a trip down the Dumoine River with Black Feather for this summer. There are also a ton of other great items to support this initiative!

The auction opens for registration on February 1, and items go live on February 14. Check it out here: https://app.followmybid.com/en-CA/dumoinetrail

01/02/2023

The far north has a mysterious draw for many. Find out what makes our trips at the top of the world - both in the western and eastern Arctic - on the Thomsen and in Quttinirpaaq so special. Read more on our blog: https://blackfeather.com/going-for-the-cold/

02/01/2023

Do you want to sea kayak on Georgian Bay, but have no idea where to start? Check out this month's blog post on the different trips we offer, and come paddle with us in the largest freshwater archipelago in the world!

Lake Huron’s eastern coast is Georgian Bay, or Mnidoo Gamii, and is known as the Great Spirit Lake to the Anishnaabek Peoples, in whose territory it sits.

https://blackfeather.com/georgian-bay-choosing-the-perfect-trip/

28/12/2022

Wow!

Indigenous ingenuity! Traditional snowshoe-making techniques and designs vary widely from community to community, adapting to specific climates, materials, terrains, and purposes.

01/12/2022

We've just finished polling a few of our long-time guides for their favourite piece of gear that is not as commonly found on the gear list.

Check out our latest blog post to see what they are, and add your favourites to the comments, below!

https://blackfeather.com/5-guide-favourit…our-packing-list/

31/10/2022

Final day to take advantage of our early bird pricing!!

Have you been thinking about booking a Black Feather trip for 2023? Today's the day to say yes! Our early bird pricing changes to our regular pricing at midnight EST tonight! Whether it's a canoe trip in the NWT, a hiking trip in Nunavut's high arctic or a sea kayaking trip in Georgian Bay or Greenland, save on your adventure of a lifetime by booking online at www.blackfeather.com, or call our office at 1-888-849-7668.

01/10/2022

Today is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and while today we definitely will take time to reflect on what that means, and why we need to have this day, we also think about our place as an expedition company working on Indigenous and Inuit lands all throughout the year. We know that Black Feather staff and participants have the immense privilege of experiencing incredible wild places and benefitting from being out on the land, lakes, rivers and ocean of Turtle Island. We want to make sure that we are giving back in meaningful ways to the communities we work in, and the nations on whose land we travel on.

Some of the ways we are working towards this are:
🌎 we offered free apprentice training to a number of Indigenous and Inuit who are interested in working with Black Feather, and hope to have them attend and join us as staff on our trips in 2023
🌎 we hired our first Dene Nahanni River guide for the 2022 cultural rafting trip, and are so grateful to her for sharing her stories, knowledge, laughter and traditional practices with our guides and group
🌎 we hired a great team of Inuit in Pond Inlet to guide our Floe Edge trips
🌎 we put aside $50 per person who registered on a trip in 2022 to be distributed to the communities we work in based on the number of participants on trips in each region
🌎 we ran cultural sessions for our Nahanni guides and participants to introduce important Dene cultural practices and the significance of the land and water, and how to respect it
🌎 our guides participated in a session run by Anishanaabe women on land acknowledgements and their lived experience working around Mndoo Gamii (Georgian Bay)
🌎 we donated money to a number of indigenous organizations/ charities, such as Indspire and Raven Trust

We also know we have more work to do. Send us a message or write us a comment below if you have ideas for meaningful action we can take.

We're also map geeks, so love this post about how to "divide" North America.

Why do we recognize the borders that should be irrelevant, while we're oblivious to the ones that actually matter? Undoing colonial borders is a mental practice as much as a physical one. Tear down the walls. Decolonize the mind.

02/07/2022

Summer is here! Our first sea kayak and canoe trips of the season went out last week and have come back safely with stories to tell and memories to cherish. Thank you to all of our 2022 registered trip participants - we're excited to get out on an adventure with you soon!!

We got these photos in from guide and director Wendy Grater from Nailicho (Virginia Falls) on the Nahanni River, where the group celebrated Canada Day in style.

We're so grateful to be able to travel across this amazing land we all call home in such unique ways and get to experience so many incredible places. We thank the many past generations of First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples who have been stewards of this land, and those who continue to work to protect and live harmoniously with it now.

All three 📸 taken at Nailicho (Virginia Falls) on Dene land in Nahanni National Park Reserve.

24/06/2022

Interested in a sea kayaking trip this summer? Georgian Bay is an incredible paddling destination. Warm water, interesting history, stunning sunsets and big open skies, and great kayaking! Whether you are an introductory paddler or have lots of trips under your belt, we have a trip that would suit!

For newer kayakers looking for a shorter trip, our Georgian Bay Getaway is for you. 3 days long, it's an easy way to get out and experience the magic of the Bay! Only one spot left on our Aug. 13-15 trip!

If you are looking for more of a challenge, consider our North Channel trip - the most remote Georgian Bay trip with a real wilderness feel, this 5-day trip leaves July 24.

Another amazing expedition is our 7-day Georgian Bay Islands trip (departure July 31) is an amazing way to be immersed in the archipelago.

If you are interested, give our office a call at 1-888-849-7668 or go to www.blackfeather.com for more details!

22/06/2022

We are so privileged to move across the land and down the rivers of Canada. Today is Indigenous People's Day. Today and every day we encourage you to take the time to get to know an Indigenous person from the area you're living in. To hear their stories, to listen, watch and learn. To say thank you for being a steward of the land, and to ask what to do next to support them.

We know that building relationships takes time and effort, and courage.

We are working to create long-term connections with the communities we work out of, and the Indigenous people who live there and through whose traditional territories we travel. This won't happen overnight, but we hope that small splashes grow into a wave. This year we have invited indigenous youth to join our trips, to learn and to share, and hope that they join the next generation of Black Feather guides. Small steps, but steps we hope are taking us in the right direction.

What other steps do you think we should be taking? Share your thoughts in the comments below 👇

13/06/2022

We’re continuing to work on getting everything into tip top shape and ready for the summer season. Today, while participants were at Palmer rapids on a canoe clinic and on Georgian Bay on a sea kayak clinic, it was wrist gasket replacement day for a number of lucky Kokatat paddling suits back at the ranch!

22/05/2022

Navigation is such an important skill when you are on an expedition. Whether it is on a hiking or sea kayak trip when the fog rolls in and you can’t see very far or a river trip where you always need to know where you are relative to the big rapids coming up, our guides pride themselves on these skills.

Here, the guide team takes a moment in the morning to practice how to take a bearing - and then used it to travel back to the take out!

Have you ever had an experience where navigation skills got you out of a tricky situation? Share in the comments below! 👇

📸 by BF guide and manager Stef MacDiarmid in Anishinaabek territory, paddling on Waaseyaagami-wiikwed (which translates to Shining Waters Bay in Ojibway) - (Georgian Bay, Ontario)

We still have spaces on many of our Sea Kayak trips this summer. If you’d like to check out Waaseyaagami-wiikwed for yourself, visit our website for more information or contact us at [email protected], 1-888-849-7668.

21/05/2022

Our guide team is getting ready to welcome its first guests to Pond Inlet, Nunavut, and the Floe Edge this weekend! Today they went out on the ice, checked out conditions and route to the edge, and set up our basecamp.

We work with a team of Inuit who are local to the area as well as seasoned Black Feather staff to provide a one of a kind experience in the north!

If an arctic wildlife safari is on your bucket list, check out our website https://blackfeather.com/our-trips/floe-edge-basecamp/ and get in touch about being put on the pre-registration list for 2023!

16/05/2022

Can anyone help us figure out the weather phenomenon we saw last night on Georgian Bay? This thin but very long line of clouds approached and then rushed overhead and past us. It happened three times over the course of about 20 minutes! None of us had ever seen anything like this before!

10/05/2022

While a portion of our guide team is currently on the Upper Magnetawan River for our annual warm up, others are putting their minds and energy towards preparing for our first Floe Edge trip of the season, starting at the end of May!

Although this season's trips are full, you can let us know your interest in having us hold a spot for you in 2023 by sending an email to [email protected]! 2023 dates to be released soon, but likely around the same schedule as in 2022 - end of May and into early June!

📸 taken by Black Feather participant Bruce back in 2019 showing a row of tents at our basecamp, on the ice outside of Pond Inlet, Nunavut.