The Paddler Autumn/Fall issue 2017

ThePADDLER 108
One of the benefits of my world of adventure is meeting ‘my kind of people’
and it definitely felt like moments of serendipity and synchronicity meeting this
generous hearted husband and wife team
We were excited to explore Temagami, the
world’s largest pine forest, with Hap and
Andrea Wilson (and Oban their collie). Hap is
a mine of information and wrote the guide
books to this magical wilderness, documenting
the history, wildlife and trails throughout the
park and many other areas over a lifetime of
trail blazing.
One of the benefits of my world of adventure
is meeting ‘my kind of people” and it definitely
felt like moments of serendipity and
synchronicity meeting this generous hearted
husband and wife team. Sharing these slow
motion opportunities in life with such people is
one of the reasons we have chosen our
lifestyle and felt like the perfect retreat.
We arrived at Lakeland Airlines to find their
‘Beaver Float Plane’ tethered to the dock and
ready for action. Whilst you can access the
park by canoe it is a long way to Cabin Falls
Eco-Lodge so usually people fly to one of
several more convenient access points. Having
spent years on expeditions with float planes
landing and flying over me in Alaska and British
Columbia, I was truly buzzing to be flying into
the wilderness with our canoes strapped to
the struts.
Hap and Andrea departed first with a roar of
the engine, out over the lake system whilst we
waited checking out the Temagami Canoe
Company, founded in 1929, and the second
oldest in Canada still making cedar and canvas
Ash Kenlock, Oban the collie and Andrea Wilson on a portage.
The team inside the de Havilland Beaver.