Garrett and Alexandra Conover have been professional

canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles. In British English, the term ' ...

and

snowshoe Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footw ...

guides since 1980. They are

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

authors and registered

Maine Guide Maine Guides are individuals certified to accompany travelers on a number of outdoor activities in the wilderness of the State of Maine, in the United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or Am ...

s, who have specialized in traditional

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plurale tantum, plural) are Earth, Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human impact on the environment, human activity, or any urbanization, nonurbanized land not u ...

travelling techniques of the boreal north woods.

Background

Alexandra

In 1977 Alexandra received a degree in

Human Ecology Human ecology is an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary study of the relationship between humans and their natural, social, and built environments. The philosophy and study of human ecology has a diffuse history with advancements in ecolo ...

from College of the Atlantic. She handcrafts North Woods paddles, based on a pattern used in this region for over 100 years. When not guiding, Alexandra enjoys her musical pastimes by playing, composing, and performing on

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

, and

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of t ...

Garrett

Garrett studied

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

and

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...

at University of Montana, and graduated from College of the Atlantic. He has extensively studied the

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

and

ethnology Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Sci ...

of the boreal regions and northern travel skills. A talented

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

, Garrett's slide shows are in demand by many

museums A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers ...

colleges A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary education, tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding academic degree, degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further educatio ...

, corporations, nature centers, and other organizations.

North Woods Ways

Before founding North Woods Ways in 1980, the Conovers had the good fortune of an extended apprenticeship with renowned Maine Guide "Mick" Fahey and have refined their skills by living in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

with several

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

families in

the bush "The bush" is a term mostly used in the English vernacular of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, where it is largely synonymous with hinterlands or backwoods. The fauna and flora contained within the bush is typically native to the regi ...

. The Conovers have specialized in using traditional wood/canvas canoes with handmade paddles of ash for summer travel, and ash/

rawhide Rawhide may refer to: *Rawhide (material), a hide or animal skin that has not been tanned * Whip made from rawhide Entertainment * ''Rawhide'' (1926 film), a Western directed by Richard Thorpe * ''Rawhide'' (1938 film), a Western starring baseball ...

snowshoes and handcrafted wood

toboggans A toboggan is a simple sled used in snowy winter recreation. It is also a traditional form of cargo transport used by the Innu, Cree and Ojibwe of North America, sometimes part of a dog train. It is used on snow to carry one or more people (of ...

and canvas heated

tents A tent is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over or attached to a frame of poles or a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using g ...

for winter travel. In an age given to the use of ever higher technology, they have chosen to employ, where possible, the more efficient and reliable materials developed by generations of woods travelers. Practicing what they preach, the Conovers live in the North Maine woods in a permanent walled tent.

Books

Garrett’s first book, ''Beyond the Paddle'', was released in 1991. This guide to the skills of poling, lining, portaging, and ice maneuvering is praised as the first and only of its kind to provide clear, precise, and detailed explanations of these techniques used by wilderness canoeists. ''A Snow Walker's Companion'' was written with Alexandra in 1995 and quickly became an authoritative text on winter travel. The book was reprinted in 2001 as ''The Winter Wilderness Companion'', and in 2005 ''A Snow Walker's Companion: Winter Camping Skills for the North'' was republished to include an insert about Garrett and Alexandra's epic 350 mile snowshoe trip across the

Ungava Peninsula The Ungava Peninsula (), officially (), is the far northwestern part of the Labrador Peninsula of the province of Quebec, Canada. Bounded by Hudson Bay to the west, Hudson Strait to the north, and Ungava Bay to the east, it covers about . Its ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. In 2006 Garrett published his first novel, ''Kristin's Wilderness: A Braided Trail''. This story of a girl growing up among wilderness researchers earned several prestigious

awards An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

, including the Lupine Award of the Maine Library Association, the Independent Publishers Association’s National Bronze Medal, the Midwest Independent Publishers Association Top Honor, and the Bronze Medal in the Young Adult category of The Moonbeam Awards.

Booklist

* ''Beyond the Paddle - A Canoeist's Guide to Expedition Skills: Poling, Lining, Portaging and Maneuvering through Ice'' - Garrett Conover (1991) * ''A Snow Walker's Companion'' - Alexandra & Garrett Conover (1995) * ''The Winter Wilderness Companion'' (reissue of ''A Snow Walker's Companion'') - Alexandra & Garrett Conover (2001) * ''A Snow Walker's Companion: Winter Camping Skills for the North'' – revised, Alexandra & Garrett Conover (2005) * ''Kristin's Wilderness: A Braided Trail'' - Garrett Conover (2006)

Books that include ''contributions'' from the Conovers

* ''On Wilderness – voices of Maine''; essay by Garrett Conover * ''Wildness Within, Wildness Without''; chapter by Garrett Conover

Television guest appearances

* Maine Magazine with Russ Ottey - WCBB-TV (1985) *

Evening Magazine ''Evening Magazine'' is the name of various news and entertainment-style local television shows in different markets in the United States. Concept On August 9, 1976, Westinghouse (Group W) Broadcasting-owned KPIX in San Francisco debuted a lo ...

with Barry Nolan -

WBZ-TV WBZ-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, serving as the market's CBS outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent WSBK-TV (channel 38). Bo ...

(1985) * Made in Maine with Lou McNally -

Maine Public Broadcasting Network The Maine Public Broadcasting Network (abbreviated MPBN and branded as Maine Public) is a network of public television and radio stations located in the U.S. state of Maine. It is operated by the Maine Public Broadcasting Corporation, which h ...

(1992) * Made in Maine with Lou McNally -

(1993) * Color Me Green with Bill Green - WCSH-TV (1994) * Winter Camping Studio Interviews -

WABI-TV WABI-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Bangor, Maine, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW Plus. Owned by Gray Media, the station has studios on Hildreth Street in West Bangor, and its transmitter is atop Peaked Mountain in D ...

(1995) * Bill Green's Maine - WCSH-TV (2005)

Books that include features ''about'' the Conovers

* America's Wild and Scenic Rivers -

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

(1983) * A Canoeist's Sketchbook - Robert Kimber (1991) * Through the Woods: A Journey through America's Forests - Gary Ferguson (1997) * The American Wilderness - Stephen Gorman (1999) * Northern Wilds: Journeys of Discovery in the Northern Forest - Stephen Gorman (2002) * Living Wild and Domestic: The Education of a Hunter-Gardener - Robert Kimber (2002) * Vanishing America - James Conaway (2007)

Notable magazine features

* Snow Country – article
Sometimes Life Isn't Weird Enough
(1990) * GQ (1993) * Yankee – article
Bragging Cold
(1995) *

Outside (magazine) ''Outside'' is a magazine focused on the outdoors. The first issue of the ''Outside'' magazine was published in September 1977. It is published by Outside Inc., a company that also owns various other ventures. History ''Outside'' founders were ...

– Profiled in article; The Great Ones: 20th Century Heroes for a New Millennium (1999) *

National Geographic Traveler ''National Geographic Traveler'' is a magazine published by National Geographic Partners, NG Media in Armenia, Belgium, the Netherlands, China, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Latin America, Israel, Poland, Romania, Slov ...

– article
Call of the Loon
(2001) *

– article; Lake Onawa in winter (2008)

External links

* The Conovers' own web site �
North Woods Ways
Classic Wilderness Guiding
Wooden Canoe Heritage Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conover, Garrett And Alexandra Writers from Maine