And our contest winner is? Clea! For her anecdote about seeing an “enormous” wolf in Mont Tremblant, Quebec. We were right there with you, Clea!
Thanks for sharing your dreamiest Canadian summer 2014 moment with us. Our Toque & Canoe-inspired swag bag is en route chez vous!
And thanks too, to everyone for taking the time to participate. Together, you painted one awesome picture of summer Canada-style.
Hey Canada! As we head into fall, we want to hear about your dreamiest Canadian summer moment.
Was it waking up in the wild to the call of loons? Diving into a warm lake with your best buddies? Or maybe, you finally got around to climbing that mountain you’ve had your eye on for so long.
Give us a paragraph here for a chance to win a Toque & Canoe-inspired swag bag. Contest ends the last day of summer, September 21, at midnight.
Karen Ung commented:
Our dreamiest Canadian summer moment was finally being able to take the kids backcountry camping. : ) True, we took the bus 11 km to Lake O’Hara instead of hiking in, but it was still a backcountry experience. My hubby and I met backpacking and love it, and have been missing it the past 5 years. It was amazing to camp without generators and barking dogs, and just hear the birds chirping. The girls loved the hikes and being able to share a campfire at the end of the night. It was heaven!!!
toque & canoe commented:
Great story Karen. The stuff of memories, for sure. Thanks so much for posting with us!
Clea Desjardins commented:
My dreamiest summer moment happened in Mont Tremblant, Quebec. After a long day of driving, my boyfriend and I found ourselves on a forgotten stretch of road. It was all twists and turns, rocks and rivers. Suddenly, a huge, dark shape appeared.
“Is that a coyote?” Said my boyfriend.
“No. That’s a WOLF.” I responded, astounded.
The enormous figure slowly turned its head towards us before loping purposefully into the bush.
I still get chills when I remember that magical moment.
toque & canoe commented:
What a great anecdote Clea. Wolves are so elusive! You’re lucky to have seen one at all. Thanks for following! T&C
Valerie Berenyi commented:
Our dreamiest summer moment happened on the August long weekend when we drove our ancient Westfalia from Calgary to Waterton Lakes National Park.
As we putt-putted south from Pincher Creek along Highway 6, just outside the park boundary the view of the prairies sweeping down to meet the Rocky Mountains made me gasp out loud. That awe-inspiring view triggered a full-body response as my hand flew to my throat and the hair stood up on my arms.
Later that night we sat spellbound at Waterton Springs Campground and watched an incredible light show as clouds, fog, lightning and curtains of rain swirled across the same vista.
toque & canoe commented:
Westfalias and Waterton Lakes National Park. What a combination Val. TOTALLY jealous.
Leah Santo commented:
My dreamiest summer moment was also the most eye opening, self aware and truly inspiring moment of my life.
I live in the Yukon, where life is constantly dreamy and picturesque.
Everyone knows the story of the Klondike gold rush of 1898 in the Yukon and Alaska.
Stampeders travelled through the mountains in the Alaskan wilderness and crossed our international border into Canada, seeking wealth in buried gold!
Part of the journey was to hike over the famous Chilkoot Pass.
My journey started in Dyea, Alaska where I trekked with my 50lb pack through 55km of wilderness over 5 days and summited that very mountain the stampeders did over 100 years ago, which included a 1000ft nearly vertical summit.
Retracing the history of where I live was truly, dreamy!
My heart and mind will never forget that moment.
toque & canoe commented:
Wonderful to hear from you Leah. We’ve been to the Yukon once and can’t wait to get back! Thanks for following along. T&C
Adam Hill commented:
I had a wonderful day with northern gannets while visiting home in Cape Breton this summer. I traveled around St. Anne’s Bay looking for landscape photographs and ended up by the Englishtown Ferry. I sat on the rocks and watched the gannets dive for mackerel while storms to the north and south blew past. I’ve never had gannets fly and dive so close before. It was awesome!
toque & canoe commented:
Adam! Great image. We saw these guys diving off the coast of PEI last fall. Definitely the super hero of birds. 🙂 T&C
Karen Mills commented:
Comaraderie and everyone helping everyone to close the cottages and that one last ski.
toque & canoe commented:
Hey Karen! Thanks for commenting and for following along! T&C
Paul Osborn commented:
Our dreamiest Canadian summer moment was probably our canoe trip up to a remote mountain lake in BC with our kids. The lake was nestled in a valley that was surrounded by steep, forested hills. We could see and hear the water cascading down the slopes and running into the water.
When we arrived at one end of the lake, we stopped at a stream inlet for lunch and exploration. The kids explored a beaver dam, went fishing and listened to loons calling. We had the lake to ourselves and created some awesome family memories. Here’s a video I put together of the adventure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdxFhLGyHs4
toque & canoe commented:
AWESOME video Paul! Brought a tear or two to our eyes. What lucky kids you’ve got. Thanks so much for following along! Keep your comments coming. 🙂 T&C
Chelsea McPherson commented:
All in all the whole summer was an amazing one! The most memorable moment of the summer was when I got to take my little brother (not so little, he’s 16 and 6’1) on his first ever real camping trip. I had scouted out the perfect location, near White River in Northern Ontario, and we got to spend 3 days exploring, fishing and sleeping under the stars in pristine boreal forest. My brother went fishing for the first time ever and promptly caught his first three fish. The fishing was amazing the whole trip and we didn’t see anybody except for our group for the entire time we were there. We woke up to loons every morning, cooked all our meals over a campfire and relaxed under star filled skies. It was a completely magical weekend.
To read more, check out this: http://the-northern-life.tumblr.com/post/94627474920/a-weekend-in-heaven
toque & canoe commented:
Chelsea! What an awesome story. It’s “Canoe” here. You totally make me want to take my bro on a fishing expedition. Thanks for following along!
Canadian Voyageurs commented:
Originally from Ontario, we set off on an adventure to explore the west coast – we finally got to experience the amazing Canadian Rocky Mountains for ourselves.
We left the 27 foot trailer, aka home base, at the campsite and set off for a seven day backpack. My husband, my Pomeranian and I hiked about 7 kilometers in Whitehorse Provincial Park located in Cadomin Alberta. We headed towards the Miette Hot Springs, following the Whitehorse Pass Trail. We crossed paths with the odd pack horse dudes and backpackers, but mostly it was just us and the amazing beauty of the wild Rocky Mountains.
We found “the right spot” to set up camp high on a ridge overlooking Whitehorse Creek winding it’s way in the valley below. The Rocky Mountains towered in the background, their presences like parents watching from the shadows, as the children play.
The memory that I carry with me the most and the one that I cannot share with you, sadly is the sweet sweet fragrance of the mountain meadows. When I first took a breath of that indescribable scent – the first thing I wanted to do is bottle it and take it home. I have never smelled anything so wonderful, nor have I experienced anything like it since. I’ll be back again my sweet meadows….
The nights got cold in the mountains, but the beauty that the warm sunny days surrounded us with made up for it. This wilderness experience truly was one of the most memorable Canadian vacations we ever had. Here is a video we can share from our personal collection of that trip:
http://youtu.be/_-1m1w8Y6mQ?list=UUzMIIrG2Nq32VeHanxAfGUA
toque & canoe commented:
Hey Canadian Voyageurs. Beautiful story. You paint some fantastic images of our home province. Makes us want to gas up the car and hit the road. Thanks for following, and for all of your social media love. T&C
Sarah commented:
My dreamiest Canadian summer moment is yet to come….
I have been fortunate to travel back and forth across the country twice. Driving to Dawson City Yukon 3 times in 10 months with my 5 and 7 year old. Back country canoed. Spent 3-6 weeks at a time camping in the Yukon andAlberta. Spending 2 months every summer on northern Georgian Bay but my best summer/moment is yet to come…so many more Adventures ahead and now I get to share them with my children and husband. My kids have set foot in PEI to Tombstone Mountains and many places in between but there are so many adventures and places to see.
toque & canoe commented:
Wow. You get around Sarah! You should be an honourary Toque & Canoer. 🙂 Thanks for commenting! T&C
Paula Worthington commented:
Some may consider the wet, northwest coast of British Columbia to be the antithesis of summer, but my dreamy moment this summer came on a spectacular visit by boat to the Khutzeymateen Valley, located just north of Prince Rupert.
As we silently rounded the bend, our boat cut the motor and in the distance emerged a mother Grizzly and cubs, peacefully eating sage grass on the shores of the Inlet. Undisturbed by our presence, I felt my soul become immediately enriched by theirs.
These are the places and moments we treasure and remember forever.
Maybe Henry David Thoreau said it best: “We need the tonic of wildness…At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature.”
I can’t wait to keep exploring.
toque & canoe commented:
Hi Paula. This is wonderful stuff. You know we love the Khutzeymateen. Every Canadian should find their way to this amazing wild grizzly bear sanctuary. Thanks for posting! T&C