SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The first person to paddle across North America alone in one season was in the city last weekend gathering signatures of veterans and forces members before attempting the voyage again.

Mike Ranta - an Ontario man who became the first person to paddle solo across the continent in one season in 2014 - was in Yellowknife Saturday, speaking at the Elks Lodge. He was giving talks about his adventure in support of veterans and forces members before he attempts the journey again in April. - photo courtesy of Alan Poelman

Mike Ranta, a 44-year-old from Atikokan, Ont., recounted the tale of how he crossed the continent by canoe over the course of 214 days in 2014 to a gathering of the Somba K'e Paddling Club at the Elks Lodge on Saturday.

Ranta said he travelled far enough to claim the title but fell short of his target - Cape Breton, N.S., - due to heavy winds and a particularly tough portage just short of the finish line.

He said he's gearing up again to take off from Vancouver in April and hopes to both reach his intended target and beat his time set in 2014, all while raising awareness for veterans.

"I really want to make Cape Breton Island," he said, adding he'll take the signatures and present them to the House of Commons with a demand to improve services for injured members and those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Ranta said he ought to be training for his journey but he took time off to visit the North at the request of the paddling club.

Club member Dan Wong - who received a birch-bark cap Ranta made as a gift - said the club members heard Ranta was in Edmonton preparing to begin training and jumped at the chance to bring him to the city.

"There was the opportunity to divert him up here so the paddling club pitched in to help cover some gas and Ecology North helped with the hotel," he said.

"I had heard about Mike before. I remember following him on Facebook. He attracted a lot of attention."

Since he arrived, Ranta said he met Jan Stirling, a veteran of the Korean War, and managed to get her signature supporting his trip.

He's also enjoyed exploring the city.

"I could see myself moving here," he said.

While he holds the solo title recognized by the World Paddle Association, Ranta did have some company on the trip - an eight-year-old Finnish Spitz, aptly named "Spitz".

Ranta said he and the pup braved a number of bear encounters, covered mammoth portages more than 200 kilometres long in some cases, were nearly struck by lightning and were besieged in camp by a pack of coyotes one night.

The bugs were bad, he said, getting hungriest near Kenora, Ont., close to his home in Atikokan.

Ranta said his gear - a canoe, camping supplies, a solar panel to charge his cell phone and a wheeled-push cart for long portages - weighed around 220 pounds.

He said he crossed the country using its rivers and lakes as a highway, tackled the enormous waves of Lake Superior and shot the Lachine Rapids on the St. Lawrence River near Montreal.

"The water was so rough I had to be careful of which side of my face I put my tongue on," he said.

In the salt water of the St. Lawrence, he said they saw seals and right whales.

"I couldn't believe the size of the critters in those waters," he said.

When he passed through Ottawa, coming within site of the Parliament buildings, Ranta got a call from the top.

"Justin Trudeau wants to meet with you," he recalls the voice on the other end of the line saying. "But he is busy tonight, can you meet with him around 3 p.m. tomorrow?"

Ranta told the prime minister's aide he would be about 10 hours down-river by that time, but could meet with Trudeau soon because he was nearing his offices.

"And they said, 'But, you wouldn't wait for Justin?'" said Ranta. "And I said 'there's an apple tree on Cape Breton Island I really want to climb.'

He never did meet the prime minister.

"I guess some canoer who hasn't had a shower in five days wasn't the top of his agenda," he said. "But I told them to tell him that, 'His father would have come down and met me.'"

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