Celebrated explorer John Dunn is coming to Courtenay to share images and stories from his 8,000-kilometre journey from Vancouver Island to the northernmost tip of Canada.

On Friday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. John Dunn will present Journey North at the Stan Hagen Theatre at North Island College, Courtenay.

Dunn has been exploring Canada鈥檚 Arctic for 30 years and has skied and sled-hauled 12,500 km over the course of 25 expeditions. His journeys include a six-month skiing, kayaking and hiking expedition along the length of Baffin Island. A photo essay from that journey was published in National Geographic, and his Baffin traverse presentation was part of the National Geographic Society鈥檚 Quest for Adventure lecture series. Over three months in 1990, Dunn and Comox physician Graeme Magor were the first to complete a ski traverse of Ellesmere Island, sponsored in part by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. In recognition of his contributions to Arctic exploration, Dunn has been awarded fellowship in that society. For an illustrated overview of his varied and amazing expeditions visit .

On Oct. 25 join Dunn as he canoes up the Inside Passage, hikes across the cordillera from the Pacific to the interior plains, skis and packrafts through the boreal forest, paddles down the Back River to reach the Arctic Ocean, and hauls his sled up the chain of Canada鈥檚 High Arctic Islands to reach Cape Aldrich within 750 km of the North Pole.

Journey North is a presentation of the Wild Places Fund, a registered charity with a wilderness education mandate. Tickets are $15 inclusive of GST and are available online at or at the door subject to availability.