Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Ontario Trails News - adventurer making Minnesota/Ontario trek, and find your favorite Ontario Trail!

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Will Steger will make canoe-sledding trek along the Canadian border

By Sam Cook on Mar 14, 2015 at 9:24 p.m.
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This time, Will Steger won’t have to go to the North Pole, Antarctica, the Northwest Territories or the Arctic Ocean to mount an expedition.
 
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The Ely explorer, now 70, has found a formidable challenge right in his backyard. On Wednesday, Steger plans to embark on a monthlong, 200-mile solo trek by canoe-sled through spring break-up along the Minnesota-Ontario border.
“I feel so fortunate I found something where I could stretch my skills,” Steger said in a telephone interview last week. “The learning curve is really high.”
He will make the journey hauling a reinforced canoe-sled behind him over the ice, paddling open rivers where he can. He has made similar ice-out trips, often solo, several times over the past 20 years, he said.
Steger will leave from Saganaga Lake at the tip of the Gunflint Trail, travel through the heart of Ontario’s Quetico Provincial Park, then down the Maligne River to Lac La Croix on the border. From there, he’ll travel west to Namakan Lake in Voyageurs National Park, finishing either by continuing west to International Falls or traveling east along the border to his homestead north of Ely.
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Monday, March 23, 2015

Ontario Trails news - an excellent winter season on snowmobile trails, find your favorite Ontario Trail!

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Excellent year on the trails 2


By PJ WILSON, The Nugget
This winter has been “awesome” for snowmobilers in the North Bay area.

And if Mother Nature co-operates, it could last a bit longer.
“It all depends on what happens Monday,” Shawn Flindall, a director with the North Bay Snowmobilers Club, said Sunday.
“In the typical year, the trails close down by the start of March break. But we might get another week or 10 days out of it.”
The snowmobile club, which operates almost 300 kilometres of trails across the region, has downgraded its trails to yellow from green. That means there could be exposed soil, puddles or other impediments to snowmobilers.
“We’re just saying to use additional caution,” he said. “The trails are still good.”
Temperatures Sunday climbed to about 7C, which Flindall admitted can play havoc with south-facing slopes. The mercury is expected to rise to 5C today, before going down to below zero for the rest of the March break.
“If we can get through the mild weather on Monday, we can get the groomers out again to groom the trails” this week.
“There are a few bad spots.”
He said most trails in southern Ontario have closed for the season, and snowmobilers from other parts of the province have been e-mailing the local club to find out what conditions are like in this area.
“This past week we’ve been getting five to 10 e-mails a day, every day, from people down south asking if there is good riding,” he said.
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Friday, March 20, 2015

Ontario Trails News - Orillia looks at cycling tourism and find your favorite Ontario Trail!

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Mar 15, 2015 | Vote0   0

Orillia eyes cycling tourism

Orillia eyes cycling tourism

Orillia eyes cycling tourism

File photo
“Orillia has amazing trails,” but needs to develop cycling tourism, Brendan Matheson, of Cycle Simcoe, told Orillia council this week.
Orillia Today
By Frank Matys 
Orillia holds untapped potential as a destination for cyclists and a share of the substantial dollars they bring to communities, council heard this week.
“Orillia has amazing trails,” said Brendan Matheson, of Cycle Simcoe. “They have an amazing network, but they have a great opportunity to develop the tourism aspect, for sure.”
Cycle Simcoe is a tourism initiative that aims to steer two-wheeled enthusiasts onto area trails and into local communities.
It is a countywide strategy involving the Barrie/Simcoe Cycling Club, Tourism Simcoe County and Oro-Medonte Township, where the project was initially tested.
“The goal is to make cycling more safe, more memorable and more fun, county-wide,” Matheson told Orillia council during a presentation.
The cycle-centric group recently produced a map identifying safe cycling routes in the Lake Country region, which includes Orillia.
“Then we sign those routes to make sure everybody knows where they are going,” Matheson said. “The next part is to develop a safety and education campaign to make sure that everybody is riding safe out there.”
Cycling tourism is a lucrative enterprise that brings in more than $390 million annually in Ontario, Matheson added.
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Thursday, March 19, 2015

Ontario Trails News - greenbelt consultations and running trails!

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We would like to invite your organization to attend a special Stakeholder Workshop for the co-ordinated review of the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, the Greenbelt Plan, the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan, and the Niagara Escarpment Plan. 
Monday, March 23, from 1:30 – 4:00 PM
Daniels Spectrum (Ada Slaight Hall)
585 Dundas Street East, Toronto (east of Parliament Street)

The co-ordinated review is looking at how the plans can better achieve the following goals:
·         Protecting agricultural land, water and natural areas
·         Keeping people and goods moving, and building cost-effective infrastructure
·         Fostering healthy, livable and inclusive communities
·         Building communities that attract workers and create jobs
·         Addressing climate change and building resilient communities
·         Improving implementation and better aligning the plans

We want to hear your ideas on how to make the plans stronger and work better together. We also want to know what parts of these plans you see as working well and should remain as they are. The document Our Region, Our Community, Our Home is intended to help inform and guide discussions.

We can only accommodate one individual per organization.

We hope you can attend.

Sincerely,
The Honourable Ted McMeekin
Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
17th Floor, 777 Bay Street
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 2E5
The Honourable Bill Mauro
Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry
Suite 6630, 6th Floor, 99 Wellesley Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 1W3      
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Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Ontario Trails News - find your favorite trail, editorial about canoes

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Canoe tourism preferable to windmills

To the editor:
With all of the subsidizing factors prevailing in hydro today and the rate that our citizens are getting gouged to the limit so they can send the excess production to the U.S. and Quebec for others to profit, we need a moratorium on all hydro issues until such time as major questions are dealt with and answered.
Maybe it's time to realize that they (Hydro) in conjunction with sister resource industries have essentially killed industry and commerce throughout all of Ontario and that it's time to dissolve the status quo and return it under new and true organization where the primary motive is to return Ontario's competitiveness and help our citizens stave off economic demise. Critical energy resources such as hydro power supply should not be allowed to be plundered for the personal gains of those within and used for political purpose and doling out favouritism and reward.
I am particularly distressed by the very suggestion that they propose a wind farm on our Mattawa watershed route, which happens to be one of the most beautiful and pristine historic resources in our area.
We talk about tourism, economic development and job creation for our area. Let me propose an idea that I believe has great potential for the North Bay/Mattawa historic canoe route that would have very minimal environmental impact.
If an entrepreneurial outfitter (preferably native) enterprise were to organize guided, hosted and accompanied canoe journeys from Trout Lake to Mattawa taking in at times the Moose Grass, White Throat, Werewolf, Big Fish, Tilliard, (not in order) Mouth of the North River to Talon Loop and overnight hosted camping at predetermined beaches and historic sites (i.e. Talon Shoots/Pimisi) it would provide tempted tourists an experience of a lifetime. I can envision this type of enterprise providing employment and business opportunity especially for our experienced First Nation paddlers and native entrepreneurs who cherish this route. They could do so in historic native regalia and customs that define their heritage and culture. If organized and marketed correctly, freighting the canoes, gear and clients back to the Trout Lake Gateway a vacationing family could arrive in North Bay with zero voyageur provisions and experience an adventure of a lifetime hands free or hands on. Expeditions could last anywhere from an one night to a four-day expedition.
The hotels/restaurants in the North Bay/Mattawa areas would be the primary benefactors second only to those who paid for the voyage. Who knows, it could even be expanded over time to include the French River/Georgian Bay route that I am much less familiar with. We could use the Chief Commanda to get them over to a calmer starting point.
There has got to be a better way with far more continuous reward than taxpayer-subsidized windmills for subsidized production to be sold cheaply elsewhere at our expense.
I only wish I was a lot younger.
Miles Peters
North Bay
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Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Ontario Trails News - Ontario Trails Council Facilitates Accessible Trails Day - Simcoe County


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Monday, March 16, 2015

Ontario Trails News - Trailwise - sign up for our weekly newsletter.

http://www.ontariotrails.on.ca/connect/newsletter

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Friday, March 13, 2015

Ontario Trails News - Ontario Trails Council Facilitates Accessible Trails Day - Simcoe County


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