• Age: 10 to 18
• Grade: 5 to 12

Experience the joy and wonder of the wilderness.

The blue lakes and rocky shores of northern Saskatchewan have fed Ric Driediger’s soul for nearly fifty years. Here he recounts his most memorable canoe trips, and introduces the reader to many of the people with whom he has travelled—either literally or vicariously—on these wonderful wilderness adventures. Ric brings a spiritual sensibility and a genuineness to his storytelling—and his wisdom, sense of humour, and profound respect for the land shine through on every page.

Ric Driediger started guiding canoe trips in Northern Saskatchewan in 1973. If he hasn’t been on a canoe route in Saskatchewan, he has talked with several groups who have. His stories and information are an asset to any canoe trip in these parts. In 1976, Ric started a non-profit company called Wilderness Trails, which primarily took church youth groups on canoe trips. While guiding a canoe trip in the summer of 1978, Ric met his future partner, Theresa, and they were married in 1979. That same year, Ric began a for-profit company called Horizons Unlimited. Horizons worked alongside Wilderness Trails to offer canoe trips to the public. In 1986, Horizons Unlimited purchased Churchill River Canoe Outfitters. Ric is still there. Up until the early 1990s, Ric spent most of his summer days guiding. Since then, he has spent more of his time in Missinipe, meeting hundreds of people as they start and finish canoe trips. He loves hearing their stories and telling a few of his own. Most of all he longs to be out on the water in his canoe, retracing favourite routes or exploring those he has yet to paddle. During the winter, Ric works as a pastor in the Mennonite Church. His sermons are full of references to a lifetime spent in the wilderness.

Ric Driediger's profile page

Paul Mason has written two novels: Battered Soles and and three plays: The Discipline Committee, Circles of Grace, and Sister Camille's Kaleidoscopic Cabaret, which took first prize in an international competition sponsored by Christians in Theatre Arts. He lives in Peterborough, Ontario where he teaches English and Drama.

Paul Mason's profile page