Keepers of the Trail [Traditional Winter Camping Expedition on Missinaibi River]

This is the story of something old that exists in a new world. A story about adapting traditions and recognizing their use before they are forgotten. But this is not a story about living in the past.
Keepers of the Trail is a documentary film by David Hartman that follows a group of nine winter travellers as they walk north between Canada’s two great rail lines. The group travels by traditional methods handed down by those who used this land to survive. These methods have been developed and fine-tuned for centuries and they simply work better than anything else in this landscape. Garrett Conover is an underground legend among those who still travel the boreal forest in this manner. Keepers of the trail silently witnesses him passing on the torch to the next generation as the group navigates a harsh and beautiful winter environment.
Production Company: Hayfire
Director: David Hartman
Producers: David Hartman, Lure of the North, Laurentian University
Edit: David Hartman
hayfiremedia.com

[@LostLakes]

Very little content out there like this...extended winter trip in bitter cold, covering distance, skilled campers, and with this calibre of filming & editing. Totally fantastic. The thought of hitting significant slush on a trip like this (not that I've even attempted such a thing) strikes fear into my heart. "Finally I get to sleep with Garrett Conover"...too good. Wicked beard-cicles.

[@pogamasing]

A wonderful depiction of the challenges and rewards of this winter expedition.

[@drbsmokelake5564]

As stated below..... awesome. Algoma country in the winter through traditional travel and Garrett Conover to boot. Paid to watch it on and Vimeo and a second time on KZbin. A Shout-out to Lure of the North..... well done !

[@keastinmiller8163]

I honestly think these videos deserve more adoration. When I checked the views on Nine Rivers I expected millions.

[@ThePursuitofPassion]

Loved it. What a honour for the torch to be passed on and the priviledge of being in the company of a legend. One essence of humanity is the passing on of information, which is wonderfully demonstrated here.

[@davidhartman2717]

It was pretty inspiring to be able to watch this happen in person.

[@PineMartyn]

A magnificent film. Thank you for uploading this. - Martin

[@stevebraun4682]

That was excellent. Beautiful photograph and legacy. So well done! Thanks.

[@JustinBarbournlexplorer]

Excellent work capturing the essence of a winter snowshoe & toboggan journey. And a difficult one at that. Awesome film all around I loved it. Thanks 👍

[@jb1934]

I've had my snowtrekker for a few years, but I only had the cold pole thing happen to me for the first time just a few weeks ago. I had never heard it mentioned in all the various content I've consumed on snowtrekker. Not even Jim Baird in Baffin or Justin Barbour in the labrador made so much as a peep about it. In my case, I had thought I had gotten water in some of the joints during handling in the snow during setup, but I guess I can see now that for a given temperature coefficient, the radius of the large tube will contract more than the small tube. Which makes even more sense because my cold pole episode actually happened with my converted summer hot tent, not the snowtrekker, and the poles are smaller diameter so the ratio of the external to internal radii is even worse. So the argument is presumably that when setting up camp in the late afternoon, temperature will be near the daily high, while breaking camp in the morning it is near the daily low. That's why it's only ever a problem when breaking camp. But on a cold day, it could be problem setting camp. And that is an absolute non-starter for me. I think the easiest way to work around it with standard polesets is just bump the diameter another notch or two so the ratio of the radii is closer to 1. But in the long run the pole manufacturers could participate, by specifying winter and summer polesets separately, just like we have different rubber for winter and summer tires. The winter polesets would start off with a couple thou of extra tolerance at room temperature, and only be rated for durability below a certain max temperature.

[@saxdonkey]

This is absolutely fantastic!

[@gschwendinger]

Fantastic. Wonderful presentation showing what it’s really like. Thanks so much for sharing. Love it.

[@clintonconley2459]

wonderful film-- highly detailed and richly evocative

[@PaulKirtley]

The real deal. Nicely captured David. That's something not to be underestimated in itself.

[@DavidHartmanFilms]

Thank you Paul! Filming seems to make the hardship more exciting, ha. At least for me.

[@Naughtz]

Bloody brilliant! Just what the dr ordered while locked inside. Beautiful production🤟🏻

[@Lonelake]

Fantastic. Thank you for making this available. We were proud to be able to premiere this with Dave and kie at our WCS event a few years' ago! Thanks again!

[@DavidHartmanFilms]

My pleasure. Great to hear from you.

[@hardwatercamper]

Amazing

[@keastinmiller8163]

Nine Rivers was a top of the line documentary to me, and it kept me waiting for another from you. This is it!

[@DavidHartmanFilms]

Glad to hear Keastin and sorry for the long delay!

[@rpillz]

I'll show this to my american friends and tell them this is daily life in Canada ;)

[@DavidHartmanFilms]

It's a simple life, ha.

[@leighhunter7922]

9 person tent tho!

[@antoinevilleneuve7460]

What an inspiring and beautiful film it was, thanks guys! Now I'm trying to find the song playing around 19:43 but I can't find it. "Reflection by Family is that right?

[@DavidHartmanFilms]

Thanks for the comment @antoinevilleneuve7460. I wrote and recorded that song for the film so you won't find it anywhere else on the internet. Glad you like it. I think that was the night I discovered the great feedback from my new Gretsch guitar.