PHOTOS BY JOHN FRYMAN / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
BOOK COVER … Pictured is the cover of “Paddle Across America, The North-South Canoe and Kayak Passage,” written by Montpelier resident Joe Altaffer. The 144-page book is now available through Page Publishing Company and can be purchased through Amazon.
LOCAL AUTHOR … Joe Altaffer (above) of Montpelier wrote his first book, “Paddle Across America, The North-South Canoe and Kayak Passage,” which was published on June 9, 2026.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
What started out as a fishing trip eventually turned into a 2,740-mile adventure for Montpelier resident Joe Altaffer, who has written and published a book, “Paddle Across America, The North-South Canoe and Kayak Passage,” reflecting his experiences of canoeing across the North American continent spanning over two decades.
The 144-page book, which was published by Page Publishing Company of Meadville, Pennsylvania, on June 9, 2026, chronicled Altaffer along with Montpelier residents Carmon Knepper, Dallas Dick, and Ned Snyder who took part in the adventure stretching from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico.
Altaffer, 82, commented that he intended to write a book soon after reaching Mobile Bay, Alabama, near the Gulf of Mexico in 2008 to finish off the adventure.
“I had kept a journal every day of the trip,” said Altaffer. “I absolutely couldn’t have done it without having that journal.
“I wrote in the book at the end saying I had to be the worst procrastinator in the world that I waited this long.”
The mission of the trip was to paddle a canoe from the land of the Polar Bear to the land of the Alligator, to observe and document a cross section of the North American continent and to enjoy every day, every mile, and every paddle stroke.
In a review published by Page Publishing, the book described their adventure as taking in the scenery and fishing and enjoying the everyday experience.
The review also wrote about the guarantee by the world’s foremost authorities on the routes that it was the shortest route across North America.
Altaffer admitted that he started writing the book a few times in handwriting, but it worked differently for him after he purchased an iPad.
“The hardest part was getting to the introduction,” commented Altaffer. He began writing the book in May 2025, and it took him three months to write it.
“I had called Page Publishing because they had told me earlier to go ahead and write the story,” Altaffer commented.
“I can’t believe how slow that process was because they went through a month that was supposed to be editing it which they didn’t do a very good job.”
The adventure started in 1986 at James Bay, and it took five weeks to get across Canada before Ned Snyder and Dallas Dick decided they didn’t want to go any farther.
“Carmon (Knepper) would only say I do what the rest of you wanted to do and our trip stalled,” said Altaffer.
“At that time, I was talking about paddling home and Dallas (Dick) and Ned (Snyder) didn’t want any part of that.”
Unfortunately, in 1999, after a two-hour crossing from Fort St. Joseph, Ontario, to Detour Village, Michigan, Dick and Snyder decided not to continue. Five days and 74 miles later, Altaffer and Knepper had arrived at Mackinac Bridge.
Over the next three years, Altaffer and Knepper, who later passed away in 2015, would paddle their way through Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River and Lake Erie before arriving in Toledo in November 2002, where they paddled up the Maumee River, which took them into Indiana.
From 2004 to 2008, Altaffer and Knepper paddled down the Wabash, Ohio, and Tennessee Rivers before finally reaching their destination at Mobile Bay, Alabama, on May 13, 2008.
Having encountered some recent health issues, Altaffer said that he was going to write a book or else it’s not going to get done.
“The main reason that I wanted to write the book is to tell about the route because there was a person that I know by the name of Verlen Kruger and he’s the one who told me about the Tombigbee Waterway and had canoed 100,000 miles and wrote a book about it.”
Now that the book is published, Altaffer hopes to have a book-signing event, which will most likely be arranged by Page Publishing Company.
