Lin and I are just stunned by this news – we were aware that Karl had some health issues – we were not aware of the seriousness of his condition. Thankyou Bev for introducing us to Karl – you literally marched him up to our front door many years ago and signed him up for a northern trip – right on the spot. We are grateful for the time we have shared with Karl – and Erik. Karl brought such grace and generosity of spirit to our adventures. He had patience, he brought calm, he shared his vast knowledge of all things related to fish and the natural world, he was kind-hearted, he told beautiful stories – from National Parks to the family farm in Caledon. Karl had an underhanded sense of humour – I know deep inside he was Laughing Out Loud – on some occasions he would almost burst! Karl was incredibly modest – on the Mountain River, it did not take long for some of our female paddlers to realize that Karl was a real pro paddler and absolutely bomb-proof in the stern and so, the day we were running the Cache Creek Canyon with some pretty serious white-water, there was literally a line-up of swooning wannabee bow-mates for Karl – guaranteed safe travel! He was sooooooo embarrassed by this extra attention. You could not wipe the boyish smile from Karl’s face on that day – it was priceless!

On a personal level, I considered Karl a mentor – a wise-owl with a great power of observation and sensitivity. I watched one day as Karl coached my young son Taylor on a few fly-fishing pointers – “Taylor, just let your fly drift a little further into the slack water – that is where the trout will be” – and bingo, next cast Taylor hooked into a big bull trout – and it was at this moment that Taylor learned from Karl, how to respectfully handle a fish and release it back into the wild. To this day, Taylor is both determined and dedicated to sharing this knowledge – so generously offered by Karl – with our many Canoe North Adventures clients.

Sending our Love,

Al & Lin