EPIC TRIP
SHELTER IN PLACE A long-lost canoe route becomes a place of wintery solace during dark times
words & photos :: Conor Mihell Winter refused to release its grasp on northern Ontario in the spring of 2020, just as Covid-19 tightened its grip on society. Cold, northerly winds were the rule through late March and early April. The snow slowly melted on sunny south-facing slopes but the ice lingered on the inland lakes north of Lake Superior well into May. Stuck at home, the passage of time slowed to standstill. Like so many others, I took solace in escaping into nature. When the confusion of the pandemic’s early days became too much, I packed up my canvas tent, woodstove and toboggan and took to the woods, feeling self-conscious as I drove on deserted streets and
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beyond city limits to a secret oasis of backcountry lakes and little-used portage trails located within a 25-minute drive of my house in Sault Ste. Marie. My anxiety disappeared the moment I cinched a weekend’s worth of food and gear to the toboggan and became lost in the crunch-step rhythm of walking on crispy snow. The sensation of freedom was palpable; the weekends never lasted long enough. It’s serendipitous that a friend and I had discovered this forgotten Crown-land canoe route on an early January reconnaissance trip, my first winter outing of the season. In hindsight, it’s almost like we were preparing for the chaos that would force us to stay close to home only a few months later. Like others, the lure of faraway
