By:  Chris Melanson

I have been considering many of the so-called “lost routes” in Temagami for quite a few years now. It is one of the region’s great attractions that a few untrammeled areas have managed to somehow endure, despite the constant pressure of development, access and extractive land-use. It is a particularly rare thing in this day and age, that one may yet take a treasure map and embark upon a mission of high adventure, filled with questions, unknowns about The Land and mysteries of the past. 

Lest anyone construe that The Land is traversed in routes just waiting to arise from 50 or 150 years of growth, be assured that this is not the case. There are yet a few routes though, that with a bit of time and patience, sweat and suffering, may yet be found. It is with some reluctance, and perhaps a bit of selfishness, that I compose this. But it has come to light recently, perhaps in part due to my own actions, that there seems to be a renewed interest in this type of activity. Please don’t not infer from this writing that I am in any way an expert in the art of way-finding, for this is certainly not the case. In fact, had it not been for the GPS, I would have lost both my canoe and duffle, and probably myself, on some bit trail that was in fact not.