A GROUP of Bolton students are proving that it is not just the Mounties who get their man as their search for the infamous Mad Trapper of Rat River unfolds.

Bolton School sixth form pals Mike Faulkner, Jonathan Bayley, Paul Crank, Changez Khan and Jonathan Garner, all aged 18, are currently enjoying the adventure of a lifetime as they brave the rivers of northern Canada in canoes.

Over the coming weeks the famous five will travel more than 1,000 miles through some of the most breathtaking and isolated landscapes in the world.

They are first following in the footsteps of pioneering Scot Sir Alexander Mackenzie who in 1789 became the first European to explore one of the world's largest rivers which now bears his name.

And the explorer has also lent his name to the Bolton boys' trip when they called it the Mackenzie 2001 Hydrodysee in his honour.

Expedition leader Mike Faulkner, of Sudbury Drive, Lostock, got the idea for the trip while on holiday in Canada.

Having jetted off from Gatwick last month the team will explore the Mackenzie river -- the tenth longest in the world -- and will then try to recreate the daring flight to freedom of "mad trapper" Albert Johnson.

In 1931 the enigmatic trapper entered Canadian folklore by evading capture from more than 100 Canadian Mounted Police after he shot one of their number.

His flight though sub-zero temperatures, across thousands of miles and over 7,000ft mountains with little food and no fire continues to baffle historians.

He was finally cornered and killed but it took nine bullets to bring him to justice.

His flight coined the phrase "The Mounties always get their man" and exactly why he went on the rampage remains a mystery.

Mike and the team are keeping in regular contact with their families back in Bolton via the Internet and dad Malcolm Faulkner says they are having a fine time.

He said: "They have just entered one of the Mackenzie's tributaries the Hay River at Fort Providence which is about 50 miles into their trek. The conditions for them are not particularly warm but they are dry.

"Because communities are sparse in this part of the world everyone looks out for each other.

"They have befriended someone whose father is one of the area's rangers so he is a good man to know. They say the ranger has flown over the Hay River and spotted them so it is nice someone is keeping an eye out for them."

Mike and the team are expected back in Bolton on August 13.