A couple from rural Nova Scotia got to experience the natural wonders of Jasper National Park last week alongside one of Canada’s most well known outdoors specialists – Les Stroud of the television show Survivorman.

David and Kimberley MacLean were the winners of a five-day “All Access Adventure” in the Rocky Mountains in an online fundraising auction for the Canadian Wildlife Federation. The trip included, among other activities, a rafting trip with Stroud last Thursday and a more intimate hike with him on Saturday.

The couple was all smiles after riding several kilometres down the Athabasca River on Thursday afternoon.

“We were able to relax and take in the vistas and actually see the mountains from the perspective of the rivers, itself,” David said.

The ride took Stroud, the MacLeans and others in the rafting group through relatively gentle waters, but there were a few rapids to run at several points.

“We got wet a few times – a few splashes here and there,” Kimberley said.

David said the rafting was “certainly one of the highlights” of the trip up to that point, but he and his wife were particularly looking forward to getting out on some mountain trails with Stroud on their hike.

“It’s just us with him,” Kimberley said. “So it’s just chatting. And he’ll have lots of stories for us, I’m sure.”

Stroud said he didn’t have a particular route planned out for their hike and figured they would just head out in whatever direction they felt like exploring that day, since there is so much terrain to explore in the park. 

“There’s only one thing that made sense and that was: Let’s just go,” he said. “I mean, this is hike land. You don’t get better hiking than here. It’s beautiful.”

And while he wasn’t averse to sharing some of his skills and knowledge with the MacLeans, Stroud said the hiking trip wasn’t intended to be a course in outdoor survival.

“I think it’s going to be more casual than that,” he said. “They can get out all the questions they have about Survivorman and that sort of stuff and we can just chat, keep it very casual.”

Stroud was also in Jasper to participate in the second annual Get to Know International Unconference, held last weekend, along with Canadian naturalist and artist Robert Bateman. The gathering of environmental groups, government agencies, NGOs and individuals focused largely on “enhanced efforts to connect youth to nature,” said Canadian Wildlife Federation CEO Wade Luzny.

The federation describes its mission as “ensuring an appreciation of our natural world and a lasting legacy of healthy wildlife and habitat by informing and educating Canadians, advocating responsible human actions and representing wildlife on conservation issues.” As such, Luzny said incorporating the “All Access Adventure” into the “Unconference” in Jasper was a perfect fit.

“Basically what we wanted to do was promote some awareness around outdoor activities, especially targeting the 20-to-35 age group,” he said. “So we kind of took it to where they reside online, using eBay as a vehicle for them to bid on and they (the MacLeans) represent the exact market that we were looking for. They’re a couple of young parents, they have a couple of young children, they’re professionals, they’re interested in the outdoors.”

In addition to the activities with Stroud, the MacLeans spent time bird watching, visiting the Columbia Icefields, meeting with Bateman at a private banquet and dining at Jasper restaurants. 

Several of the other participants in Thursday’s rafting activities remarked that the couple got a pretty good deal on the package, with their high bid of $3,968.25.

David said knowing that the money was going to support the Canadian Wildlife Federation, a registered charitable organization, helped justify the expense.

“What really means a lot to us is that it was a nice way to have an indulgent trip but the money was going to charity,” he said. “That was kind of what tipped it over in allowing ourselves the guilty pleasure of getting away from the kids for a week and going and doing these things.” 

The couple has two children, aged three and five, which they said was still “a little young” for this kind of outdoor adventure in Jasper.

“But we’ll definitely come back,” Kimberley said.