GIBBON – Childhood friends and canoeists Sam Gatton and Jesse Rider on Monday talked about their recent 50-day, 2,000-mile canoe trip inspired by former CBS news journalist Eric Sevareid’s book “Canoeing with the Cree.”

The men talked about some of the mental challenges of the trip.

“We craved food that we didn’t get enough of, like cheese, and talked about it a lot. We ate about five big jars of peanut butter,” Gatton said.

Their meals often consisted of oatmeal, instant mashed potatoes, powered milk and tortillas.

The pair had a fishing rod and shotgun but never used them.

Making friends along the way was a highlight.

“We have tons of fond memories of people we’d meet while paddling by, beginning at Granite Falls. We had a great time there,” Gatton added. “We made lots of friends. People were really very much interested in talking to us and meeting us.”

The men said the Minnesota River was easiest to travel on because of its sandbars that created good rest areas and deep valleys that sometimes protected them from wind, plus it wasn’t as muddy and buggy as some other rivers and lakes.

Some of the cleanest river they found was the Minnesota River near Ortonville. “It was the first place we wanted to go swimming,” Rider said.

The weather was favorable for the men most of the time. When high winds and big waves forced them off Lake Winnipeg, they were able to stop at a fish station, where large numbers of pelicans often fed near commercial fishing nets.

“It was great to be able to stay in a staff house there, not being out in that storm,” Gatton said.

They saw a good amount of wildlife, including a coyote along the Minnesota River, a moose calf and mother on the Hayes River in Manitoba, a small black bear cub, a bull moose while riding a helicopter with firefighters in Northern Manitoba, wolf tracks but no wolves themselves, and surfacing Beluga whales from a distance on Hudson Bay.

As they reached Hudson Bay, Gatton and Rider endured cooler, even cold temperatures that forced them to put on all their gear in an attempt to stay warm.

“I was still shivering with all my gear on in the wind and rain,” Rider said.

The men’s strengths and weaknesses balanced out their experiences. “Sam liked the rapids while I preferred big, open bays which we had to cross on Lake Winnipeg,” Rider added.

Near York Factory, one of the first fur-trading posts established by the Hudson’s Bay Company on the southwestern shore of Hudson Bay, the men found cannon balls and grape shot (a mass of small, metal balls).

Rider said the weapons of war were likely left from the French and British army battles after the English Hudson’s Bay Company built trading posts on Hudson Bay and the French tried to drive them out in the late 1600s and early 1700s.

What next? The men plan to publish a book about their travels and are considering future kayaking trips to a number of places. “Kayaks are more secure than a canoe,” Rider said.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/Voyage-To-Hudson-Bay 889708974488258/, and www.facebook.com/events/107025464720810/

Fritz Busch can be e-mailed at fbusch@nujournal.com.