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Hap Wilson: “If there’s no risk then there’s no adventure, right?”

Hap Wilson: “If there’s no risk then there’s no adventure, right?”

Update: 2024-05-13

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Description

Ontario explorer, mapmaker, and conservationist Hap Wilson on drawing 400 guide maps across 50 years, traveling more than 40,000 miles of Canadian wilderness by canoe, the one digital tool he likes (it’s Google Earth), saving lives by creating a map that, unlike the one it replaced, did not send tourists over a waterfall, retracing thousand-year-old trails to prevent their effacement by dams and clearcuts, what you discover after 200 trips down the same river, learning from the mapmakers of 1700 and the indigenous of 700, and why if a portage on his map doesn’t match the territory it’s likely a force majeure situation (“I don’t control the beavers.”) See his work at hapwilson.com

Temagami Wilderness Guide

Lake Superior To Manitoba By Canoe

Stay at Hap’s eco-lodge: Cabin Falls

Original illustrations by Hap

David Thompson

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In Channel

Reynold Mackey: “When you pick up the globe, you feel time.”

Reynold Mackey: “When you pick up the globe, you feel time.”

2025-02-0543:34

Neil Allen: “Making a map in isolation is never a good idea.”

Neil Allen: “Making a map in isolation is never a good idea.”

2024-10-2454:17

Hap Wilson: “If there’s no risk then there’s no adventure, right?”

Hap Wilson: “If there’s no risk then there’s no adventure, right?”

2024-05-1346:29

Erick Ingraham: “I guess I gravitate towards difficulty.”

Erick Ingraham: “I guess I gravitate towards difficulty.”

2024-04-3029:49

Stephen Walter: “Maps are inherently political if they’re interesting.”

Stephen Walter: “Maps are inherently political if they’re interesting.”

2024-02-2042:36

John Tauranac: “I seldom think macroscopically; I think microscopically.”

John Tauranac: “I seldom think macroscopically; I think microscopically.”

2023-12-2636:00

Andrew Middleton: “There’s something poetic about running a map store.”

Andrew Middleton: “There’s something poetic about running a map store.”

2023-12-1250:09

Lionel Portier: “What I'm trying to convey with my maps is the pleasure of seeing beautiful things.”

Lionel Portier: “What I'm trying to convey with my maps is the pleasure of seeing beautiful things.”

2023-12-0428:33

Isaac Dushku: “A map has to evoke a feeling of adventure or a feeling of home.”

Isaac Dushku: “A map has to evoke a feeling of adventure or a feeling of home.”

2023-11-2738:13

Sam Usle: “Slowly but surely we’re starting to recover the built environment.”

Sam Usle: “Slowly but surely we’re starting to recover the built environment.”

2023-11-2046:35

Naomi Rosenberg: "Get out of your sighted bubble.”

Naomi Rosenberg: "Get out of your sighted bubble.”

2023-11-1333:37

Matthew Dean Shaffer: “My approach is to try and be as accurate as possible.“

Matthew Dean Shaffer: “My approach is to try and be as accurate as possible.“

2023-10-0952:22

Jamshid Kooros: “These maps are based on walking, walking, walking.”

Jamshid Kooros: “These maps are based on walking, walking, walking.”

2023-10-0256:05

David Kulbeth: “It's taken so long to get everything just right because there's no guidebook to this.”

David Kulbeth: “It's taken so long to get everything just right because there's no guidebook to this.”

2023-09-2535:53

Sophie Parr: “I have to mathematically scale it, plan it, sketch it, draw it.”

Sophie Parr: “I have to mathematically scale it, plan it, sketch it, draw it.”

2023-09-1832:00

Lee France: “It was fun to try to achieve those paper map elements in this new digital space.”

Lee France: “It was fun to try to achieve those paper map elements in this new digital space.”

2023-09-1141:13

Gregor Turk: “I always focused on the map’s ability to simultaneously represent and distort reality.”

Gregor Turk: “I always focused on the map’s ability to simultaneously represent and distort reality.”

2023-09-0449:32

Tom Patterson: “Right now is the golden age of cartography.”

Tom Patterson: “Right now is the golden age of cartography.”

2023-08-2101:12:22

Melinda Clarke & Deborah Young Monk: “The beauty of the whole project is that we had no idea what we were doing.”

Melinda Clarke & Deborah Young Monk: “The beauty of the whole project is that we had no idea what we were doing.”

2023-08-1501:23:32

Neil Gower: “Twice a week I’ll make a mark on paper and think ‘I wouldn’t want to be doing anything other than what I’m doing.”

Neil Gower: “Twice a week I’ll make a mark on paper and think ‘I wouldn’t want to be doing anything other than what I’m doing.”

2023-08-0852:34

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Hap Wilson: “If there’s no risk then there’s no adventure, right?”

Hap Wilson: “If there’s no risk then there’s no adventure, right?”

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