How I Fell in Love With Canoeing
Canoeing has quickly become one of my favourite pastimes. Unlike many Ontario outdoor enthusiasts, I didn’t grow up doing this and I hadn’t even heard the phrase portaging until the summer of 2019 (for anyone else unfamiliar, it means carrying your canoe and gear over land, either from one lake to another or around an impassable section of river like a waterfall for example).
That year my partner Jake had just moved to Canada for work while I was still living in London. I came over to visit for a few weeks to see if Ontario was somewhere I could picture myself living. We toured around Toronto, Niagara and the Bruce Peninsula, but the highlight was a three day canoe trip with Voyageur Quest in Algonquin Provincial Park’s northwest corner (about a 4 hour drive north of Toronto).
Sunrise paddle on North Tea Lake on our first ever canoe trip, Algonquin Provincial Park, August 2019
In our twenties we had already started to get more ‘outdoorsy’, often spending weekends camping or hiking in the UK, usually because a rainy camping trip in North Wales was all we could afford when living in London. When I pictured us moving to Canada I always imagined the mountains and ocean of the west coast. Ontario doesn’t exactly have mountains, but what it does have is fresh water, and plenty of it. The more I read about how Ontarians spend their summers, the more intrigued I became.
Our First Trip
We didn’t have the confidence or the gear to head into the backcountry alone at that stage. Backcountry was another word I hadn’t heard before. In the UK we just call it ‘the countryside’, though it’s not quite the same when you add bears into the mix! So we signed up for a guided 3 day trip where all we had to bring were our clothes.
I don’t think either of us had ever been in a canoe before. Within the first hour of that trip we spent most of our time going in circles on a lake appropriately called Round Lake. After six months of living apart, our communication wasn’t exactly dialed in! Somehow we managed to make it across to the Amable du Fond River, and eventually carried our gear over our first portages (70m and 280m). When the forest opened up to reveal North Tea Lake, it honestly took my breath away.
That three day trip hooked me. We camped on beaches, practised self rescue in the shallows, and soaked up everything about being outside. It was one of the things that really swayed me to move to Canada. This is how Canadians spend their summers? Count me in.
View across North Tea Lake from the end of the portage from Amable du Fond, Algonquin Provincial Park, August 2019
Learning As We Went
After I officially moved in March 2020 (just before the first covid lockdown, great timing I know) we couldn’t wait to get back on the water that summer. Feeling slightly more confident that we probably weren’t going to get eaten by a bear (though I still slept with my whistle around my neck and my paddle next to me - more likely to hit myself in the face than fend off a bear) we decided we didn’t need to go with a guide.
We still didn’t own any gear, so we rented everything from Algonquin Outfitters. They set us up with a canoe, lifejackets, camping gear and food, and helped us plan a route for our 5 day trip. This was one of the most valuable things we did as the wonderful lady who helped us at their Oxtongue Lake location swiftly removed half of the gear we had intended to pack, reminding us that our trip was starting with a 1km and 1.6km portages on day one and we had to carry all this stuff! We would have packed all sorts of crap that we didn’t need had she not helped us.
Since then we have gradually bought our own gear, though we still don’t own a canoe (yet!) Over the years we have done trips just the two of us (and now with our dog Tess), with friends, family and even a whitewater trip with MHO Adventures which was fantastic. Every trip we learn something new, whether it is a paddling skill or general camping skills, though our tarping during wet weather still needs some serious work!
Portaging the canoe on one our later canoe trips, Algonquin Provincial Park, August 2021
Why I Love It
There are so many reasons I love canoe tripping. You reach lakes and campsites that feel extra special because hardly anyone else gets to them. Portages are never easy, but the effort makes arriving at the next lake even more satisfying. I love the stillness, a swim at sunrise, morning coffee by the water, and times when everything feels completely calm. I also love the connection, whether it’s sharing the experience with Jake and now Tess, with friends, or simply feeling more in tune with the nature around me.
Tess enjoying the early evening calm, Killarney Provincial Park, October 2022
Looking Back
I never thought I would fall in love with canoeing. We went in with zero experience in our early thirties, relied on help from guides and outfitters at the start, and slowly built our knowledge from there.
The biggest lesson for me is that you don’t have to know what you are doing when you start. You also don’t need all the gear. There are so many resources out there to help you learn, and outfitters that can set you up until you are ready to go on your own. What matters most is being willing to give it a try and get stuck in.
Canoeing has given me a whole new way to enjoy the outdoors, and I can’t imagine a summer without it. And because the story doesn’t end here, next week I’ll be sharing a glimpse into our most recent 8 day adventure in Algonquin.
Setting off from Kioshkokwi Lake on our 8 day Algonquin trip, Algonquin Provincial Park, September 2025
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