Listen free for 30 days
-
Disappointment River
- Finding and Losing the Northwest Passage
- Narrated by: Brian Castner
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $7.99
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
You may also enjoy...
-
A Most Remarkable Creature
- The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey
- Written by: Jonathan Meiburg
- Narrated by: Jonathan Meiburg
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An enthralling account of a modern voyage of discovery as we meet the clever, social birds of prey called caracaras, which puzzled Darwin, fascinate modern-day falconers, and carry secrets of our planet's deep past in their family history.
-
-
Amazing!
- By Anna Bertagnolli on 2023-04-10
Written by: Jonathan Meiburg
-
The Company
- The Rise and Fall of the Hudson’s Bay Empire
- Written by: Stephen R. Bown
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Hudson’s Bay Company started out small in 1670, trading practical manufactured goods for furs with the indigenous inhabitants of inland subarctic Canada. Controlled by a handful of English aristocrats, it expanded into a powerful political force that ruled the lives of many thousands of people - from the lowlands south and west of Hudson Bay, to the tundra, the great plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the Pacific Northwest.
-
-
Disappointing
- By James Edwards on 2022-02-22
Written by: Stephen R. Bown
-
Where the Falcon Flies
- A 3,400 Kilometre Odyssey from My Doorstep to the Arctic
- Written by: Adam Shoalts
- Narrated by: Adam Shoalts
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Looking out his porch window one spring morning, Adam Shoalts spotted a majestic peregrine falcon flying across the neighbouring fields near Lake Erie. Each spring, falcons migrate from southernmost Canada to remote arctic mountains. Grabbing his backpack and canoe, Shoalts resolved to follow the falcon’s route north on an astonishing 3,400-kilometre journey to the Arctic.
-
-
Wondrous and brave
- By Mona_Lisa on 2024-04-10
Written by: Adam Shoalts
-
Dominion
- The Railway and the Rise of Canada
- Written by: Stephen Bown
- Narrated by: Wayne Ward
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late 19th century, demand for fur was in sharp decline. This could have spelled economic disaster for the venerable Hudson's Bay Company. But an idea emerged in political and business circles in Ottawa and Montreal to connect the disparate British colonies into a single entity that would stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific. With over 3,000 kilometers of track, much of it driven through wildly inhospitable terrain, the CPR would be the longest railroad in the world and the most difficult to build. Its construction was the defining event of its era.
-
-
Woke garbage
- By Can't Read Enough - Kindle Rocks! on 2023-12-15
Written by: Stephen Bown
-
Call of the American Wild
- A Tenderfoot's Escape to Alaska
- Written by: Guy Grieve
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Trapped in a job he hated and up to his neck in debt, Guy Grieve’s life was going nowhere. But with a stroke of luck, his dream of escaping it all to live in remote Alaska suddenly came true. Miles from the nearest human being and armed with only the most basic equipment, Guy built a log cabin from scratch and began carving a life for himself through fishing, hunting, and diligently avoiding bears. Packed with adventure, humor, and insight, this is the gripping story of an ordinary man learning the ways of the wild.
-
-
Good read!
- By Anonymous User on 2024-01-06
Written by: Guy Grieve
-
Life Lived Wild
- Adventures at the Edge of the Map (Patagonia)
- Written by: Rick Ridgeway
- Narrated by: Rick Ridgeway
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the beginning of his memoir Life Lived Wild: Adventures at the Edge of the Map, Rick Ridgeway tells us that if you add up all his many expeditions, he’s spent over five years of his life sleeping in tents: “And most of that in small tents pitched in the world’s most remote regions.” It’s not a boast so much as an explanation. Whether at elevation or raising a family back at sea level, those years taught him, he writes, “to distinguish matters of consequence from matters of inconsequence.” He leaves it to his listeners to do the final sort of which is which.
-
-
What an adventure!
- By Brendan Brown on 2023-03-08
Written by: Rick Ridgeway
-
A Most Remarkable Creature
- The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey
- Written by: Jonathan Meiburg
- Narrated by: Jonathan Meiburg
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An enthralling account of a modern voyage of discovery as we meet the clever, social birds of prey called caracaras, which puzzled Darwin, fascinate modern-day falconers, and carry secrets of our planet's deep past in their family history.
-
-
Amazing!
- By Anna Bertagnolli on 2023-04-10
Written by: Jonathan Meiburg
-
The Company
- The Rise and Fall of the Hudson’s Bay Empire
- Written by: Stephen R. Bown
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Hudson’s Bay Company started out small in 1670, trading practical manufactured goods for furs with the indigenous inhabitants of inland subarctic Canada. Controlled by a handful of English aristocrats, it expanded into a powerful political force that ruled the lives of many thousands of people - from the lowlands south and west of Hudson Bay, to the tundra, the great plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the Pacific Northwest.
-
-
Disappointing
- By James Edwards on 2022-02-22
Written by: Stephen R. Bown
-
Where the Falcon Flies
- A 3,400 Kilometre Odyssey from My Doorstep to the Arctic
- Written by: Adam Shoalts
- Narrated by: Adam Shoalts
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Looking out his porch window one spring morning, Adam Shoalts spotted a majestic peregrine falcon flying across the neighbouring fields near Lake Erie. Each spring, falcons migrate from southernmost Canada to remote arctic mountains. Grabbing his backpack and canoe, Shoalts resolved to follow the falcon’s route north on an astonishing 3,400-kilometre journey to the Arctic.
-
-
Wondrous and brave
- By Mona_Lisa on 2024-04-10
Written by: Adam Shoalts
-
Dominion
- The Railway and the Rise of Canada
- Written by: Stephen Bown
- Narrated by: Wayne Ward
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late 19th century, demand for fur was in sharp decline. This could have spelled economic disaster for the venerable Hudson's Bay Company. But an idea emerged in political and business circles in Ottawa and Montreal to connect the disparate British colonies into a single entity that would stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific. With over 3,000 kilometers of track, much of it driven through wildly inhospitable terrain, the CPR would be the longest railroad in the world and the most difficult to build. Its construction was the defining event of its era.
-
-
Woke garbage
- By Can't Read Enough - Kindle Rocks! on 2023-12-15
Written by: Stephen Bown
-
Call of the American Wild
- A Tenderfoot's Escape to Alaska
- Written by: Guy Grieve
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Trapped in a job he hated and up to his neck in debt, Guy Grieve’s life was going nowhere. But with a stroke of luck, his dream of escaping it all to live in remote Alaska suddenly came true. Miles from the nearest human being and armed with only the most basic equipment, Guy built a log cabin from scratch and began carving a life for himself through fishing, hunting, and diligently avoiding bears. Packed with adventure, humor, and insight, this is the gripping story of an ordinary man learning the ways of the wild.
-
-
Good read!
- By Anonymous User on 2024-01-06
Written by: Guy Grieve
-
Life Lived Wild
- Adventures at the Edge of the Map (Patagonia)
- Written by: Rick Ridgeway
- Narrated by: Rick Ridgeway
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the beginning of his memoir Life Lived Wild: Adventures at the Edge of the Map, Rick Ridgeway tells us that if you add up all his many expeditions, he’s spent over five years of his life sleeping in tents: “And most of that in small tents pitched in the world’s most remote regions.” It’s not a boast so much as an explanation. Whether at elevation or raising a family back at sea level, those years taught him, he writes, “to distinguish matters of consequence from matters of inconsequence.” He leaves it to his listeners to do the final sort of which is which.
-
-
What an adventure!
- By Brendan Brown on 2023-03-08
Written by: Rick Ridgeway
-
Cache Lake Country
- Or, Life in the North Woods
- Written by: John J. Rowlands
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over half a century ago, John Rowlands set out by canoe into the wilds of Canada to survey land for a timber company. After paddling alone for several days, he came upon "the lake of my boyhood dreams", which he named Cache Lake because there was stored the best that the north had to offer-timber for a cabin; fish, game, and berries to live on; and the peace and contentment he felt he could not live without.
-
-
Everything you’d except, Everything you would not except
- By Sam on 2023-06-11
Written by: John J. Rowlands
-
Bush Runner
- The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson
- Written by: Mark Bourrie
- Narrated by: Jeff Burling
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sourced from Pierre-Esprit Radisson’s journals, which are the best firsthand accounts of 17th-century Canada, Bush Runner tells the extraordinary true story of this protean 17th-century figure, a man more trading partner than colonizer, a peddler of goods and not worldview - and with it offers a fresh perspective on the world in which he lived.
-
-
So disappointed.
- By Mary Louise Colquhoun on 2020-02-08
Written by: Mark Bourrie
-
The Whisper on the Night Wind
- The True History of a Wilderness Legend
- Written by: Adam Shoalts
- Narrated by: Adam Shoalts
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Traverspine is not a place you will find on most maps. A century ago, it stood near the foothills of the remote Mealy Mountains in central Labrador. Today it is an abandoned ghost town, almost all trace of it swallowed up by dark spruce woods that cloak millions of acres. In the early 1900s, this isolated little settlement was the scene of an extraordinary haunting by large creatures none could identify. Strange tracks were found in the woods. Unearthly cries were heard in the night. Sled dogs went missing.
-
-
Well written and frightening
- By phdjiggs on 2021-10-21
Written by: Adam Shoalts
-
A River Never Sleeps
- Written by: Roderick L. Haig-Brown
- Narrated by: Phil Williams
- Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few books have captured the haunting world of music and rivers and of the sport they provide as well as A River Never Sleeps. Roderick L. Haig-Brown writes of fishing not just as a sport, but also as an art. He knows moving water and the life within it - its subtlest mysteries and perpetual delights. He is a man who knows fish lore as few people ever will, and the legends and history of a great sport. Month by month, he takes you from river to river, down at last to the saltwater and the sea.
Written by: Roderick L. Haig-Brown
-
Adventure North
- Written by: Sean Bloomfield, Colton Witte - foreword
- Narrated by: Roger Wayne
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After accelerating their studies and graduating high school early, two teenagers set off from their hometown in Minnesota to embark on a 2,200-mile canoe journey up the heart of North America. Their destination: the permafrost shores of Hudson Bay. Inspired by a passion for the simple life, where gadgets and schedules are replaced by nature and its harsh beauty, the duo found something that many believe is lost: a true adventure.
-
-
A Well Told Adventure
- By J Dave on 2024-03-16
Written by: Sean Bloomfield, and others
-
Canoeing with the Cree
- A 2,250-mile voyage from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay
- Written by: Eric Sevareid
- Narrated by: John Farrell
- Length: 3 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1930, two novice paddlers - Eric Sevareid and Walter C. Port - launched a secondhand 18-foot canvas canoe from the Minnesota River at Fort Snelling for an ambitious summer-long journey from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay. Without benefit of radio, motor or good maps, the teenagers made their way over 2,250 miles of rivers, lakes, and difficult portages.
-
-
A Great Tale Of Exploration
- By J Dave on 2024-03-16
Written by: Eric Sevareid
Publisher's Summary
In 1789, Alexander Mackenzie traveled the 1,125 miles of the immense river in Canada that now bears his name, in search of the fabled Northwest Passage, only to confront impassable pack ice. In 2016 the acclaimed memoirist Brian Castner retraced Mackenzie's route by canoe in a grueling journey - and discovered the passage he could not find.
Disappointment River is a dual historical narrative and travel memoir that at once transports listeners back to the heroic age of North American exploration and places them in a still rugged but increasingly fragile Arctic wilderness in the process of profound alteration by the dual forces of energy extraction and climate change. Eleven years before Lewis and Clark, the Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie actually crossed the North American continent with a team of voyageurs and Indian guides. Before that he was the first to discover a route to the Arctic Ocean from the Great Lakes, along the river he named Disappointment because he believed he'd failed in his mission to find a trade route to the riches of the East. In fact he had - he was just two-plus centuries early.
In this book, Brian Castner not only retells the story of Mackenzie's epic voyages in vivid prose, he personally retraces his travels in an 1,125 mile canoe voyage down the river that bears his name, battling exhaustion, exposure, mosquitoes, white-water rapids, and the threat of bears. He transports listeners to a world rarely glimpsed in the media, of tar sands, thawing permafrost, remote Native American villages, and, at the end, a wide open Arctic Ocean that is quickly becoming a far-northern Mississippi of barges and pipelines and oil money.
More from the same
What listeners say about Disappointment River
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Alex White
- 2024-03-29
The up's and downs of the unknown
Amazing listen and recommend it to all people who love history and adventure. It had me hanging in right till the end, love how the author flipped from the past to present! Great read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Marcella Matzeit
- 2020-05-22
Great juxtaposition between the past and the present
I really enjoyed this story, I rarely go for adventure tales but I couldn’t stop listening to this one!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- C.
- 2023-01-03
Midnight Sun From the River!
I enjoyed listening to this book very much. The intersperse of the authors experiences with the historical accounts of Alexander’s was very effective and realistic.
I experienced the Mackenzie River myself in the 70’s as a Smoke Jumper stationed at Fort Simpson. I canoed the river in my limited spare time and flew over the entire length. Yes I jumped out of an airplane while in view of the river, only to land in the river and have to swim ashore. With gear on! It was for practice they said.
Thank you for refreshing my memories, it has been quite emotional book for me!
CRS
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J Dave
- 2023-03-14
Great Book
What a great idea to paddle a historical and import river and tell the historic story and your current story together. Mackenzie’s story needs to be better known, the trip alone is only half the story, the encounters tell so much more about the people and how they lived and interacted. Thanks.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!