"I like hunting for waterfalls," Shayne Thiessen has big plans

Explorer, photographer and experienced hiker Shayne Thiessen has big plans this year, to locate undocumented waterfalls in Manitoba.

“Some people like bear hunting, some people like hunting at thrift stores, and I like hunting for waterfalls,” he says.

Thiessen is no stranger to hiking rough terrain, having spent a lot of time trudging through the province, photographing the stunning scenery he comes across.

Even with all his experience, this next trip will be an exciting adventure.

“So, right now in northern Manitoba, there's Kwasitchewan Falls, which is supposed to be the largest waterfall in Manitoba. It's about 14 meters tall. And when I was looking at the World Waterfall Database, what I noticed is that they had two waterfalls, one was listed at 19 meters, one was listed at 18 meters and their status was both set as unconfirmed. And so, it's possible that there's this 19-meter waterfall out in Manitoba that no one's ever really been to, at least not in modern times.”

Near the end of May, Thiessen and his brother plan to head out with hiking gear and cameras, in search of this 19-meter waterfall. They will drive a 4x4 as close as possible, utilizing an old logging road.

“What I had to do to find it was scroll through a bunch of satellite imagery. I knew what river it was on so pretty much followed the river on satellite until I found the spot where it is. And so, I know where I'm going, and I have a rough idea of how to get there. We'll just have to go up there and see how it goes.”

Thiessen is not sure how much hiking they’ll need to do, suggesting it could be anywhere from as little as 7km to as much as 20km.

He plans to take three days to get there and another three days to get back.

With footage from his cameras and a drone, Thiessen plans to piece it together and then release a documentary of the search for the true largest waterfall in Manitoba.

-With files from Carly Koop

*All images submitted by Shayne Thiessen