Boreal Odyssey: A Northwoods Vision Quest Paperback – February 22, 2026

Sometime in his mid-teens, Steve Simpson decided he wanted to become a hermit. Socially awkward and athletically inept, he felt isolated from his classmates in a huge suburban high school. Finding no joy in the company of his peers, he sought his joy in nature; in the forest preserves and state parks of the Midwest and in kayaking the waters of the region. He read Walden at an impressionable age, and the movie Jeremiah Johnson helped to reinforce the notion that true happiness could be found alone in the wilderness. This book describes his experiences as he paddled a Klepper kayak 3000 miles through Lakes Michigan and Superior and along the Canadian network of rivers, lakes, and portages commonly called the “Voyageurs Highway.” During those travels he experienced fear and triumph, depression and joy, profound loneliness and the growth of true friendship. It became the defining experience of his life. Read more