After 90 days and 3,000 km, TA Loeffler completes her canoeing adventure

On a beach, watching the sunset, trying to stay warm. It sounds like a typical summer evening in Newfoundland and Labrador, but for TALoeffler of St. John's it was actually the end of a long trek that took her from Jasper, Alta., to Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T. in a canoe.

Loeffler and her paddling partner, Marian Wissink, reached Tuktoyaktukon Monday, marking the end ofa 90-day, 3,080-kilometre journey from Jasper via the Athabasca, Slave and Mackenzie rivers, and the Arctic Ocean.

"We are just filled with so many different emotions," she told the St. John's Morning Show on Tuesday from the beach on the outskirts ofTuktoyaktuk, where the pair had camped for the night.

"We're elated, we're excited, we're feeling quite proud. And we're also sad and transitioning out of this amazing wilderness and back into cellphones and obligations of a different kind."

Similarities to Everest

Loeffler is no stranger to long and tough expeditions, having attempted three times to climb Mount Everest. Those experiences served her well on her expedition, she said.

"They require the same kind of mental fortitude and strength and perseverance to go at it every day."

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Out of the expedition's 90 days, 75 were spent paddling, Toeffler said. Every paddling day involved covering the distance of a marathon, at least 42 kilometres. On their last day the pair paddled for 16 hours and 60 kilometres in order to reachTuktoyaktuk.

Despite it being the middle of August, the conditions were tough. The weather started to turn a couple of weeks ago, she said, and as she spoke from the beach it was just one degree above freezing with flurries falling.

"The last week we've been basically paddling in almost winter conditions," Toeffler said.

"That also added to the challenge because you've got wind, you've got cold water, you've got rain, and you put that all together it's a pretty good mixture for hypothermia."

The last push

That's where the outdoor skills developed on those Everest treks also came in handy, she said, especially for the extra push to get toTuktoyaktuk, which meant a long day of paddlingin conditions that involved surf and breaking waves until they rounded a "pingo" pingos arehill of earth-covered ice that looklike "little grassy volcanoes," Toeffler said, and have been pushed up by permafrost and found the beach at their destination.

"Many folks who paddle the Mackenzie make the choice to stop in Inuvik," Toeffler said.

"Because Tuktoyaktuk has always sort of been this thing in my imagination, we had to make the big decision to go for it."

But as the pair sat on the beach, warming up by a fire and watching the sun set abovethe pingoat 1:30 a.m., it was all worth it, she said.

"Every bit of hardship, and working so hard to get there, was magic in that moment."

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