A Trail Less Traveled by Don Reddick

Don Reddick is an award-winning author of historical fiction, whose books include Dawson City Seven and Killing Frank McGee.

In his new book he returns to the famous story of the famous Stanley Cup challenge from the Yukon, more specifically the re-enactment nearly 100 years later, in The Trail Less Traveled.

This book is not fiction. It is an amazingly true story where the author lives out his own story. The book is part history, part adventure story, part travelogue, and a whole lot hockey. It all adds up to one of the most unique contribution to the great Canadian game!

On December 18, 1904, the upstart Dawson City Klondikers began a 4,000-mile trek to wrest the Stanley Cup from the Ottawa Silver Seven. Twenty-four days later, after trudging 350 frozen miles by foot, bicycle and dog sled, steaming their way down the famed inside passage, and long days crossing the country by train, the players staggered into Ottawa’s Union Station. In less than thirty-six hours they would meet their fate against the greatest hockey team ever assembled, creating a most enduring legend in hockey history.

Ninety-two years later a team of oldtimer hockey players from Dawson City re-created that epic journey, inviting author Don Reddick to accompany them. They traveled more or less the same route, surviving the frigid Yukon and Alaskan winter in order to play against the Ottawa Senators alumni team.

It is a great read, combining the history of the original event with the introduction of fascinating characters who are recreating the journey. There is much history to be learned, about hockey and Canada but especially about the Yukon, Dawson City and the Klondike gold rush.

The book is available at DonReddick.com. It is a very enjoyable read that even non-hockey fan will enjoy.