Photo by amytoensing | Words by freddiewilkinson: When James Ehlers (seated, left) decided to spend his summer paddling the 740-mile (2,000 km) Northern Forest Canoe Trail across the northeastern United States, he decided to invite a few friends along for the fun. "It felt like it was somewhat of a leap into the unknown,” says Emily Jahn (center), who helped Ehlers organize the adventure, “but because I had complete faith in the people I was going with before hand, it felt doable.” Ultimately the band of eight friends, seven of whom worked as canoe guides, spent 43 days paddling from Old Forge, New York, to Fort Kent, Maine, in three vintage aluminum canoes. Along the way, they endured days of upstream travel, more than 60 miles of portages, emergency field repairs to one of their vessels, and several days of unintended starvation rationing. "We relied on and trusted each other so much, you were never worried about thinking: Oh man, they’re not going to think I’m tough enough or strong...