Quetico Provincial park is Canada’s sister park to the US’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Quetico is managed in a more wilderness-y manner than BWCA. The Quetico has fewer and more restrictive permits and entry locations. In the BWCA you must camp in established campsites, each with a fire grate and a latrine. In the Quetico the campsites are informal and established by use (some by centuries of use). Trips in the Quetico and BWCA formed much of the foundation of my relationship with the natural environment. Traveling through these glacial filled lakes on silent canoes, I felt a connection not only to my natural surroundings, but to the people who had traveled these waters before me. Basalt bluffs towered over deep dark water, and along the water’s edge ocher and bear grease pictographs mark events from long ago. Learning more about the history of the area, I read about the stories and legends of the area, discovering that we traveled and camped at some We traveled portages and camped at sites that had been used by tribes, traders, and lumberjacks before us. To their stories, I’ve added my own memories of the places, companions, and my own life circumstances when I visited there.
Many years ago, we were traveling west following long striations of lakes that form the US-Canada border. We had set out to cover many miles that day, but a persistent rain and breeze had made our travels slow. The chill sapped us of our strength and spirits, we started to look for camp. One-by-one we would reach a site marked on the map only to find it occupied – the rain was causing everyone to hunker down – and we would paddle on. Each time a little colder and a little more disheartened. So when we finally saw a site location marked on the map, but without any signs of habitation, we headed for land to camp no matter what awaited us.
Continue reading “A Quetico Reflection”
