July
6
2010
By Greg Sacks
It's hot here in the city—Africa hot. But since you've heard all about Africa these past few months, it's time we focus the Trufflepig lens on pleasures closer to home, for we Canadians have a safari version of our own.
Right around this time of year, as the summer hots up and the urban jungle bears down on us more fiercely than any predator, the pristine wilderness areas of northern Ontario beckon with promises of cool water, granite and pine. In place of Land Rovers we take to canoes, paddling and portaging in wide northern arcs with rarely another soul in sight.
For many of us, these canoe trips were a right of passage growing up, and have become a summer ritual repeated yearly without fail. We head north in our cars to national parks like Algonquin and Temagami, where the Great Canadian Shield sheds its ground cover and takes over with rugged assertiveness. The sheer scale of this wilderness is humbling—Algonquin Park alone is over 750,000 hectares—and there is no better place to recalibrate the soul.
As I write in this moment there is a wilderness map next to me, a thousand adventures ready to be had. I can almost hear the loons call, smell the campfire cooking under the stars. It's July in the city, and I'm dreaming of up north.
Greg Sacks and his faithful hound are planning their next camping trip in between all the other trip planning that goes on here at Trufflepig. Get in touch with us for some pointers from the pros.