© iStockphoto.com/DNY59

Departure: East Leaf Lake, northeast of Fergus Falls, on a cold and blustery May 8, 1979.

Leg one: Through the upland lakes of the Ottertail River, moving west to the wandering Red River, and up to Winnipeg, sixty miles north of the Canadian border.

Leg two: Lake Winnipeg--a cold, temperamental, 300 mile long beast. Civilization quickly fades.

Leg three: The historic Hayes River route to the remote York Factory outpost of fur trading lore. Four hundred miles of untamed lakes and rivers to the land of white bears. Head for home on July 17.