Episode 125 is a conversation with Emma Brackett and Olivia Bledsoe - half of the team of paddlers known as the Hudson Bay Girls. In 2025 this group of four women successfully paddled and portaged their canoes over 1,300 miles, from Grand Portage on Lake Superior all the way to York Factory on Hudson Bay.

The journey took them 80 days and followed the historic fur trade route along the Border Country to Lake of the Woods, and then north to Lake Winnipeg, the Hayes River and on to the Arctic Ocean.

Emma and Olivia share their insights about 12 hour portages, team travel, navigating high water and low water, tackling the Grand Portage, Manitoba and Ontario wildfires, and how trust in teamwork got them through the many challenges of their journey.

To learn more about Hudson Bay Girls visit: www.hudsonbaygirls.com