Legendary Nahanni Supporter Tribute

Our business has a family feel and some of you knew my mother. Others benefited from the loving care she contributed to her son’s (and his friend’s) expeditions. Mom passed away peacefully on Oct 10. We celebrated her life with hundreds of her friends and shared some memorable stories that told of her beautiful personality. If you are more recent to our family, I can tell you of some of the adventures my mom shared with me.

Mom (Lois) grew up on the prairies and actually had a great fear of water (kids were told the sloughs were poisoned so that they wouldn’t try swimming and drown – that was the “water safety program”) of course it was no small irony that her son’s interest focused around whitewater. But she loved to have young people in the house and would go to great lengths to support any enterprise they pursued. Nahanni was one of those. Many of my river guide colleagues spent more than a few nights camped in her house. Les Parsons even camped for a winter in a snow cave in the back yard!

In the “old days” we built our own boats. The garage was a fiberglass factory and the back lawn was soon destroyed with resting canoes, kayaks and paraphernalia. Many parents would have evicted the offending child and the ner-do-well friends. Lois fed them coffee and tea. She fed them lunches and dinners.

In the beginning years, we worked for satisfaction and little more. Today you would say we were “undercapitalized”. Basically we didn’t have nearly enough money to be doing what we were doing. Perhaps her greatest contribution was the years that Mom ran the office (out of the goodness of her heart!). Taking phone calls and counseling prospective clients, describing riverine adventures that she wouldn’t have considered for a minute herself. She must have been convincing though, being the booster that only a mother could be.

In fairness, I must report that she did come on one trip to the Nahanni. It was a classic “Lois story” through and through. I was bringing Lars, my 2 year old son and she was afraid I would drown him! BUT more importantly, one of the participants was a woman in the last stages of cancer. She had dreamed of this trip for much of her life. She could not have picked a better trip, as my mother nurtured her and her troubled husband as no one else could. She put every ounce of her energy into looking after this woman and ensuring that this was the trip of their lifetime. That was Lois!

Her loyalty continued on even after she retired from the office. One day my mom learned that Chapters Bookstore had copies of one of my books. BUT – they were the edition with the out-of-date address for the company office. In a stealthy covert operation, my mom and dad went into the store. While my dad stood watch at the end of the aisle, my mother installed stickers with the correct address in every copy!

My mother grew up in the small Prairie town of Delia, Alberta. Her father ran the local grocery and they lived above the store (perhaps where I got my “entrepreneurial genes”) It was there that a most dramatic story occurred.

In the dark of the winter in 1942, the store tragically burned down. Few people know of the incredible rescue that took place that night. The family lived above the store and Lois and her sister Helen were asleep while her parents were at a near-by curling game. The fire started in another building in the block and every building burned to the ground. The girls would have died had it not been for a miraculous circumstance.

As it happened that night, the Canadian National passenger train was rolling through town at precisely that moment and the passengers spotted the blaze. The girls were awakened and dressed by strangers from the train who rescued them from the burning building!
As you can see, Lois was no stranger to adventure!

She may not have had an affinity for water, but she embraced the “business of adventure”. Her encouragement, enthusiasm and wisdom “kept the fires burning” in the early days and saw us through the wilderness of the start up years and celebrated the successes when they happened.

Her spirit is a big part of the success of the company, it is part of the fabric of who we are and one of the reasons why every one of our guests feels so well served. I will miss her dearly, but I know she will be pleased with the good things we are doing for the earth and each other.

Nahanni River Adventures, Nahanni offers exceptional expeditions by raft and canoe on the great rivers from Alaska to Nunavut including: South Nahanni River, Tatshenshini River, Alsek River, Firth River, Snake River, Wind River, Stikine River, Burnside River, Coppermine River, Horton River, Mountain River, Yukon River, Taku River, Gataga River and Sea Kayaking and whale watching at Point Adolphus, Alaska, over-looking Glacier Bay National Park.

Our expeditions encompass Nahanni National Park (South Nahanni River), Kluane National Park (Alsek River), Ivvavik National Park (Firth River), Glacier Bay National Park (Alsek River), Herschel Island Territorial Park (Firth River).

Nahanni River Adventures operates in Alaska (United States of America), Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and British Columbia (Canada).

Nahanni.com is the online presence of the company, Nahanni River Adventures Ltd.

Nahanni River Adventures works with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society to ensure the environmental integrity of our wild places.

Neil Hartling, founder of Nahanni River Adventures, is also the author of: Nahanni, River of Gold...River of Dreams. Alaska to Nunavut - The Great Rivers. Nahanni River Guide. These books may all be purchased through Nahanni.com.

Common misspellings of the name are Nahani, Nahannie, Nahanie, Nahoni, Nahonni.
Nahanni River Adventures.