After Deciding on Canada the next step of the planning was to choose a location and route. We had a simple list of criteria that needed to be fulfilled.
- It combined multiple aspects of canoeing including incorporating tradition skills
- It needed to have a remote wilderness feel
- It needed to be in easy driving distance from an international airport.
- It needed to have a lovely canoe outfitters to help us with all our troubles.
About Temagami:
After a lot of questioning and a lot of research we settled on Temagami. Temagami is a small town about 500km north-east of Toronto. The location is easily accessed by car from Toronto Airport and with a range of canoe outfitters available. Not only does Temagami boast a huge 4000km of navigable canoe routes the area is also famous for its history. Since the east to west trade route bypassed Temagami to the south, the area remained unaffected by Europeans right up to 1834. Prior to this time the land was inhabited by the Anishnabai people who have called this area home for the last 6000 years. With the arrival of Europeans trade was soon opened up. At the turn of the century in 1903 discoveries of gold, silver, nickel and copper lead to accelerated development in the area and the construction of mines. This went largely unopposed and unnoticed by the western population despite the great impact it had on the Anishnabai people. That was until 1907, A man by the name of Grey Owl arrived in Temagami. Despite being born in Britain as Archibald Belaney he took on a first nationer identity after his migration. His work on conservation is known the world over and is one of the reasons that Temagami remains so untouched to this day.
The area around Temagami lake is very popular with tourists and travelers. It is also the location of multiple summer camps that can take thousands of children... As such this does not really appeal to somebody seeking a wilderness expedition. To get away from the main lake we have chosen to charter a float plane. This will take us 120km from the town where we aim to finish the expedition. After being dropped off we will truly be in back country Canadian wilderness. From here if we get into trouble it could be up to 36 hours before we get rescued. From the start point at Scarecrow lake (just visible in the top left corner of the second image) we will navigate down the sturgeon river tackling long rapids and hard portages. After 5 days of down river travel we tackle the crux of our expedition. From the Sturgeon we then spent a day travelling up-stream on the Obabika river. If ray and I are still talking after this challenging upstream leg we are then rewarded with miles of big lakes and a few short portages. Before long we will end up back where we started in the town of Temagami. For a full route plan with a daily breakdown of what we will be getting up to click here, Or see the entry below.
Thanks for reading,
Ray and Nathan
- It combined multiple aspects of canoeing including incorporating tradition skills
- It needed to have a remote wilderness feel
- It needed to be in easy driving distance from an international airport.
- It needed to have a lovely canoe outfitters to help us with all our troubles.
About Temagami: |
| Temagami: Middle right |
The area around Temagami lake is very popular with tourists and travelers. It is also the location of multiple summer camps that can take thousands of children... As such this does not really appeal to somebody seeking a wilderness expedition. To get away from the main lake we have chosen to charter a float plane. This will take us 120km from the town where we aim to finish the expedition. After being dropped off we will truly be in back country Canadian wilderness. From here if we get into trouble it could be up to 36 hours before we get rescued. From the start point at Scarecrow lake (just visible in the top left corner of the second image) we will navigate down the sturgeon river tackling long rapids and hard portages. After 5 days of down river travel we tackle the crux of our expedition. From the Sturgeon we then spent a day travelling up-stream on the Obabika river. If ray and I are still talking after this challenging upstream leg we are then rewarded with miles of big lakes and a few short portages. Before long we will end up back where we started in the town of Temagami. For a full route plan with a daily breakdown of what we will be getting up to click here, Or see the entry below.
Thanks for reading,
Ray and Nathan
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