The Land
10026 Highway 28 K0L 1A0 Apsley, ON, Canada

Bushcraft zip line designed and built by 7 to 9 year olds @lakefieldcs #forestschool #noexcuses #wildchild #dirttime

Dear Friends, we haven't been as consistently active on social lately: since the spring we have found scraps of time to catch our breath, and while the end of our busy season is in sight, all of our team members are currently running programs, even as we write (mine are online students spread across East Asia, so I have a moment to write a little message ;). It is no exaggeration to say that we've been facing a threat to the sustainability of our organization, but we are doi...ng our absolute best to overcome the challenges of this season, by continuing to learn about best practices for in-person delivery; front-loading programs with significant online components and developing hybrid remote and hands-on deliverables. I can say this would not be possible without your continued support, and we are very grateful for your understanding and encouragement. Sincerely, Bretton and The Land Team

Week one of our Lakefield College School Summer Academy is done and it couldn’t have gone better. This hybrid outdoor Ed and ELL program pilot is actually working...IT’s WORKING!!! Despite being fully online for the first three weeks, kids have already learned, among other things, how to tie sheet bend and tautline hitch this week, and have some interesting interpretations of the failures of the west wind in Pauline Johnson’s The Song My Paddle Sings.

Never a dull moment! From our Land Team Builder trip last week: neophyte paddler Brie sterning a sailing trimaran, with BABY LILY managing sail duties! #proudpapa #wildchild #canoe #sailing #explore #adventure #theland #canadian #adventures

Grateful that the public boat launch featured in the plan for the bridge rebuild over Eels at Haultain. Our backyard run seems just as easy as before.

"Our first leg took us to North Rathbun lake, where we camped for two nights, and learned canoe skills, knot-tying and tarps, stove lighting and fire safety, map-and-compass navigation, and much more. We weathered a late-night thunderstorm which made our tents all the more cozy and we set off into the freshly-washed morning air on the second leg of the journey." Sound like a great summer camp experience for a young tripper in your life? Now's their chance to learn about canoe... tripping, wild edibles, teamwork, and self-reliance on our 5-day program. Session Dates: August 19 - August 23, 2020 For more info, or to register, check out our website: https://canoecampingtrips.ca/kids-camps/

It was a warm and sunny, but calm day as our Young Trippers set off across Anstruther Lake and towards their 6-day outing in the Kawartha Highlands. This was our first trip of the year, and it felt incredible to officially kick off our paddling season. We were joined by a group of adventurers aged 10-16, most of whom had come out with us before, and all of whom were eager to learn and to escape into the Land Between. Our first leg took us to North Ratbbun lake, where we campe...d for two nights, and learned canoe skills, knot-tying and tarps, stove lighting and fire safety, map-and-compass navigation, and much more. We weathered a late-night thunderstorm which made our tents all the more cozy and we set off into the freshly-washed morning air on the second leg of the journey. We braved the long (1.4 km!) portage into Serpentine Lake, which took several hours and pretty much all the energy we had in our tanks. It was only day 3, so our food barrels weren't much lighter than when we had started. That night we were rewarded with a clear starry sky and a glimpse of the comet Neowise, which won't be seen unaided by earthly creatures for another 6700+ years. The next morning involved lessons on trip leadership, risk management, and resulting rock jumping, after which we traveled to Copper lake. We spent the last two nights of our adventure there, and experienced sunny heat, spectacular lightning storms, and a few biting flies to remind us that we are indeed mortals. The last leg of the journey back to the start had us facing strong winds, which required some teamwork to negotiate, especially for our poor solo paddler! We got the chance to wash off in a waterfall (very timely ahead of the drive home), and finally disembarked at Anstruther Lake. Want to join in a similar adventure? Check out our summer camp programs on our website: https://canoecampingtrips.ca/kids-camps/

Most dramatic sunsets happen on canoe trips. Wait, maybe that’s because I never miss a sunset on canoe trips! Catch another one this season LINK IN BIO #wildchild #getoutside #exploremore #adventure #theland #canadian #adventures

This five-day ADVENTURE CAMP is a unique opportunity for kids ages 12-16 to embark on a journey this summer and forge life-long friendships in the context of an unforgettable backcountry canoe trip. Our guides are ORCKA Instructors, and offer flatwater paddling certifications designed to turn beginners into effective paddlers while gaining valuable WILDERNESS LIVING skills and canoe tripping experience. A canoe camping trip is a perfect opportunity for kids to CONNECT WITH N...ATURE while learning about themselves and others. They upgrade their skills of self-reliance, TEAMWORK, and determination, and achieve goals that will serve as personal touchstones in the face of life's obstacles. The natural and cultural heritage of the landscape and waterways of this rugged yet accessible paddlers’ park offers a perfect occasion for kids to connect with nature through water, fire, WILD EDIBLE FORAGING, spotting a far-off galaxy, or gliding silently alongside the wildlife that call the park their home. We are acutely aware of the COVID-19 situation, and have adapted our programs and policies to maximise the health and safety of our participants. We are enforcing social distancing and NEVER INDOORS: fresh air, outdoor skills, canoe tripping experience, rustic accommodations: tipis, wall tents and covered shelters with maximum bug-proof ventilation. SESSION 1 INFO: Dates: July 25-29, 2020 Trip Location: Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park TO REGISTER: go to canoecampingtrips.ca > click ‘TLCA Waiver’ button bottom-left > fill out waiver and participant information forms > send deposit or payment to [email protected] For more information please email us at: [email protected]

Happy national paddling week, folks! Hope all’s well and you’re having a great season so far. This time for the last several years we’ve been running the largest float of paddle craft through the world’s largest hydraulic liftlock, and we’re feeling a bit nostalgic for the community that this start up event managed to create. Peterborough is the birthplace of the recreational canoe, and a signature stop along Canada’s storied waterway, the Trent Severn Waterway, so from the... perspective of community engagement, this type of event seemed destined for success. We were fortunate to be able to partner with @parks.canada and @cndncanoemuseum to create an experience which resonated around the world and spawned spinoff events from Sault Ste Marie ON to Falkirk, Scotland. If you’re still home bound and looking for a way to connect with this canoe culture, we’ve still got some national canoe day puzzles for sale: drop us a line! #canoe #culture #criticalmass #kayak #paddleon #explore #theland #canadianadventures See more

Eels Creek Eels Creek is a waterway steeped in paddling lore, from its history as the passage leading to the Petroglyphs’ teaching rocks to its significance as a site for Champlain’s rest. Accordingly, our Eel’s Creek paddling trips have been accredited as a signature experience of Ontario 400, because it celebrates centuries of cultural heritage in the area. I’ve paddled Eels quite a bit for sure. Usually there’s a really nice downstream run about 8 km from Haultain t...o Northeys Bay road where there’s an MNR administered parking lot and trailhead upstream to High Falls. The route At the moment, the put in at Haultain is inaccessible due to roadworks as the province is rebuilding the bridge for Hwy 28. As a result, lately I’ve been paddling upstream to the falls and a bit beyond, only to shoot back down for a half-day tour. This river is a perfect slice of the boundary between The Shield and the St. Lawrence Lowlands, where each bend shows a different facet of the land between. The impressive High Falls is surrounded by rolling granite shield and white pines, while at points both up and downstream, the cedar-choked shorelines, and massive willow overhangs briefly transport paddlers to Ontario’s deep south. Of course the teaching rocks are very nearby at Petroglyphs, and there’s evidence of ancient Anishnaabe passage from the Long Lake Rock barrens down through the present day TSW via Eels, as well in the form of old rock fishing weirs along the banks, and ancestral hunting grounds around High Falls. These were also known to the Huron/Wendat people, who routinely traveled the waterway. There’s evidence that the Wendat led Champlain and his crew to Haultain to level out after their defeat at the hands of the Haudenosaunee in upstate New York, although a leading theory puts Champlains Rest near the grand portage between Katchewanooka and Chemong, near present day Bridgenorth. Also, since May 2015, we’ve been running the friends of Eels creek an informal group dedicated to maintaining the route for paddlers by cleaning up garbage and detritus left by careless visitors, and some light pruning of downed trees and sweepers. @ Apsley, Ontario See more

Dear friends, would you mind sharing some of your memories of your experiences with us on our Trip Advisor profile? We’re just starting out on that platform and it just might help someone find us! https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g3442290-d1559

Pacific Rim National Park, Vancouver Island British Columbia This was a sweet trip for the Land boys, as it fell over father’s day, and, among other folks, both Andrew and myself were joined by our fathers, Ross Clark and Dan Sernasie. I still struggle to type Dan’s name, since we’d been referring to him by the code name Duke Shadow for months leading up to the trip. He was keeping it a secret to surprise Andrew, who had just joined our team full time, and so we’d had to ke...ep it under wraps, and only speculate what kind of man someone named Duke Shadow could possibly be. Turns out he’s a highly resourceful doer and maker who definitely lives up to the badass epithet. The purpose of this trip was to explore the Broken Group, an immaculate archipelago comprised of more than 100 islands creating a stunning maze of channels, secluded lagoons, shell covered beaches, old growth rainforest islets, and exposed reefs. A host of inner islands offer white sand-fringed bays, biologically rich tide pools, quiet coves and sheltered waterways, while along the outer rim of islands, the rolling seas from the open Pacific Ocean crash against towering cliffs and bare, wind-swept rocks. On the outer reaches of the group lies Clark Island, which is often regarded as a highlight of the park, so there were several reasons we had to try. While crossing the mighty Coaster Channel required a 5:00 am wakeup call and a solid hour of white-knuckle paddling, our boats rolling like the devil’s canoe, it lived up to its reputation as a far-flung oasis in the roaring sea. It brought back my dads memories of his rock and roll whitewater career that helped shape his son’s interest in wilderness travel. We really emphasized the Canadian part of our name by traversing the nation to explore it’s wild west coast, and learned a lot about how exciting and how difficult it is to run trips in another province. All told, we laid a good foundation for the future of this trip, including travel logistics, where guides can post up for the prep days in advance of the expedition, get gear and groceries, and greet arriving paddlers before the launch. See more

Trip Report Spring Training 2019 Last year's spring training marked our third year offering ORCKA and leadership certification courses on wild whitewater rivers for budding wilderness guides and outdoor leaders. This trip has run on the French River and Madawaska River in years past, and last year was supposed to run on the mighty Mad again, however flow rates of 400m/s threatened to deposit any dumped paddlers so far down river that we wouldn’t see them until the pullout! ...We waited until the last possible moment for the flow rate to reach reasonable levels, and then feverishly began to reroute our course. After exploring options further south and much further north, a bit of help from Brad Jennings at Explore the Backcountry helped us finally settle on the Black River, which runs from Haliburton, through QE2, and into Washago. None of us had actually paddled the entire watercourse with a view to training, so it was a risky venture, but our team and our participants decided that the show must go on. Our candidates were challenging a leadership training course designed and delivered by Bretton Clark from the Land who assesses the canoe tripping and leadership portions, and Mike Richardson from Challenges Canada, who assesses white water and Canadian style paddling skills. Accordingly, we tend to see some very experienced and high performing participants in this program, with trip logs containing rock and roll rivers across Ontario, in the Yukon, and the Barrens. Being able to help shape their practice and bump their leadership skills is an honour. We have big goals for this program, and plan to move it in the direction of an even more comprehensive wilderness guide training program, with more certifications. Our north star has always been taking high quality instruction across disciplines as diverse as nature therapy, bushcraft, wild edible foraging and language instruction, and exploring ways to deliver it in as remote a location as possible, to fully leverage the benefits of safe and swift travel in the backcountry. @ Vankoughnet, Ontario