Canoe trippers volunteer to keep ‘wild places wild’ in northeastern Ontario

IN PHOTOS Keeping ‘wild places wild’ Canoe trippers of all ages work together to clear traditional Indigenous travel routes in the Temagami region STORY AND VISUALS BY FRED LUM THE GLOBE AND MAIL PUBLISHED 4 HOURS AGO COMMENTS SHARE SAVE FOR LATER Since 1995, a non-profit organization operated entirely by volunteers has been running trail maintenance programs that aim to clear and monitor the conditions of canoe routes in the Temagami region of northeastern Ontario. This is not just simple trail maintenance. Instead of clearing easier routes, the Friends of Temagami are preserving the original Nastawgan, an Anishinaabe word for the traditional network of travel ways. It is arguably the largest remaining intact network of traditional Indigenous trails in North America. “It’s a very complex land management area in that it’s a combination of seven provincial parks, 14 conservation reserves and the remaining area being Crown land,” notes Mike McIntosh, president of Friends of Temagami. The group’s volunteers work to clear the Crown land portions of the network. Over eight days, a group of six people – and one dog – covered approximately 38 kilometres, including six kilometres of portage routes. Latchford Shallow Lake Anima Nipissing Lake Eagle Lake Little Eagle Lake Trail maintenance route Shuttle McLean Lake 11 ONTARIO Camp Wanapitei Red Squirrel Lake Start/finish ONTARIO 5 km Temagami JOHN SOPINSKI AND FRED LUM/THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: OPENSTREETMAP The Friends of Temagami crew paddle on McLean Lake toward the next portage. Once they reach land, the volunteers will carry their canoes and gear overland to the next body of water, often in multiple trips to make the load more manageable. A portage connects two bodies of water, often with rocky launching points at either end. It typically involves some uphill and downhill over narrow and overgrown paths. One portage a little more than a kilometre long involved deep mud holes that threatened to pull shoes off, followed by a long boulder field to navigate. It’s a lot to manage while carrying up to 25 kilograms of gear, let alone canoes. Volunteers usually carry most of their gear – packs, food barrels, fishing gear – in the first trip, drop it at the end of the portage, and then return for the next load. Along the way, volunteers clear away brush and overgrown foliage, widening the path so future visitors can navigate the portage more easily. Volunteer Sarah Pihel…