Mike Ranta will soon follow in Alexander Mackenzie鈥檚 footsteps and canoe wakes.

Ranta, living and training in Lumby, will set out April 1 - No Fooling 鈥� on his third cross-Canada canoe portage with his beloved, soon-to-be-nine-year-old Finnish Spitz sidekick, Spitzii.

鈥淚鈥檓 going to mimic Alexander Mackenzie鈥檚 routes from Bella Coola to Cape Breton,鈥� said Ranta, 45, originally from Canada鈥檚 Canoeing Capital, Atikokan, Ont., about 200 kilometres west of Thunder Bay. 鈥淭he first portage is 823 kilometres. I have a cart for my canoe and I tow it behind me. Everything I do is by foot and by paddle.鈥�

In 2011, Ranta paddled solo with Spitzii from Rocky Mountain House, Alta. to Montreal and, in 2014, he and Spitzii canoed and portaged across the country from Vancouver to Tatamagouche, NS, falling about 150 kilometres shy of reaching his goal of Cape Breton.

(Both trips are the subject of Ranta鈥檚 book, Mike and Spitzii Great Canadian Adventure. He鈥檒l be signing copies of the book Saturday at Bookland in Vernon from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.)

Set in a canoe by his mom and dad at a young age, Ranta is rarely without a paddle. His cross-country trips have been inspired by a pair of brothers from his hometown, Don and Joe Meaney, and by a group of six women and two men he encountered who were in the midst of their own across Canada portage.

鈥淚 always wanted to do it, thanks to Don and Joe Meaney, they were cool guys,鈥� said Ranta. 鈥淭hen I met up with these young girls who were paddling from Vancouver to St. John, NB. That sparked my interest. I wondered if it was possible to do solo and starting looking into it. Nobody had gone coast-to-coast.鈥�

Ranta says he鈥檚 the only solo canoeist to cross the North American continent. A successful trip this year will be his third such excursion, accompanied this time by David Jackson of Canoe and Kayak Magazine, who will record the entire trip to produce a photographic journal.

His last trip raised awareness and funds for Canada鈥檚 veterans. This year鈥檚 trip, which will take Ranta about 200-plus days to complete (hopes to arrive in Cape Breton Oct. 31), is raising funds and awareness for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, as well as his and Spitzii鈥檚 way of celebrating鈥檚 Canada鈥檚 150th birthday.

A self-proclaimed 鈥渕odern day voyageur and explorer,鈥� Ranta runs up and down Lumby鈥檚 Saddle Mountain twice a day to prepare his legs for the seven-month journey.

鈥淏.C. is a tough province to go through by canoe,鈥� he said, adding he keeps up his paddling skills by dropping his 18-foot lark carbon fibre canoe into Kalamalka Lake.

Ranta鈥檚 portage looks something like this.

Starting at Bella Coola, he traverses over mountains to Kinbasket Lake near Golden. He paddles up the Columbia River and walks from Golden to Lake Louise.

Ranta then takes the Bow River from Lake Louise through Canmore, Calgary and down to where the Bow meets the Oldman River, which is the start of the South Saskatchewan River, and takes that all the way down to Lake Diefenbaker. He continues from there til he gets to the North Saskatchewan River which takes him to Cumberland House. From there, it鈥檚 into The Pas, MB., into Cedar Lake which will take him and Spitzii to Lake Winnipeg.

From there, it鈥檚 around the shores of Lake Winnipeg to Traverse Bay, up the Winnipeg River to Kenora, Ont. and Lake of the Woods. He鈥檒l follow the old voyageur routes to his old stomping grounds near Atikokan, then it鈥檚 into 鈥渢he big lake,鈥� Lake Superior.

From the big lake, it鈥檚 on to Georgian Bay then taking the Trent-Severyn Waterway through Peterborough into Lake Ontario, through Kingston and into the Rideau Canal into Ottawa. Ranta will jump into the Ottawa River, paddling to the St. Lawrence Seaway and into Montreal, hugging the south shore to Riviere-du-Loup. He鈥檒l portage to Lake Temiscouata, then down the Madawaska River in St. John.

For the final part of the journey, Ranta heads north to Cambridge-Narrows, up the Canaan River and portage to Shediac, NB before finishing at Cape Breton and Bras d鈥橭r Lake.

鈥淭he toughest part is B.C. through the mountains,鈥� said Ranta. 鈥淟ake Superior is really challenging, so is the St. Lawrence Seaway. Really challenging in some areas. It鈥檚 pretty brutal.鈥�

On his trips, Ranta has found a body in the North Saskatchewan River; rescued a drowning baby moose in Saskatchewan鈥檚 Qu鈥橝ppelle River; was nearly hit by lightning; and encountered rain for 170 of his 214 days on the road.

The most spectacular part of the trip, he said, without hesitation: Lake Superior.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very beautiful. It鈥檚 a good energy lake,鈥� said Ranta.

A former labourer, Ranta is not one to 鈥渟it in a mill or work in a cubicle.鈥�

鈥淚 worked in a mill and on the rigs, and I was not liking what I was doing. It was killing me,鈥� said Ranta, who decided to make a go out of portaging across the country.

He sold off 鈥減retty much everything I owned鈥� and has learned to 鈥渓ive without a lot of money.鈥�

鈥淲ith great sacrifice comes great reward,鈥� said Ranta. 鈥淐anada is a beautiful country to travel through.鈥�

Ranta鈥檚 future excursions, he hopes, include spending a year in each province鈥檚 paddling seasons, hitting up every waterway and river he can to get a really good understanding of Canada in the back country.

You can get updates on Ranta鈥檚 upcoming trip at his website, www.mikeranta.ca.