Introduction Temagami Canoe Country Temagami. Even the name conjures up the notion that this is an ancient land once inhabited solely by ancient peoples. "Deep water by the shore," or Te-mee-ay-gaming, as it was known to the local Ojibwa, Lake Temagami formed the core, the body of a giant spider with outstretched legs, with deep bays pointing out to all directions of the compass, its ancient trails leading to lands beyond. The Temagami "wilderness," or backcountry that once formed the intricate travelways of the Anishinabe, was defined by the Montreal River in the north, the Sturgeon and Wanapitei rivers to the west, and the Marten and Ottawa rivers to the south and east. This rather unique geophysical arrangement of waterways covers an area of well over 10,000 sq km. The size alone makes Temagami one of the country's most extensive backcountry canoeing regions -- certainly one of the most celebrated and controversial. When someone speaks of Temagami they could be talking about a small village at the eastern terminus of the northeast arm of the lake with the same name, or they could be referring to Temagami as the commonly accepted title of the defined wilderness area. To confuse things further, political boundaries quarter this region into four administrative districts: Temagami, Kirkland Lake, Sudbury and North Bay.

This book tries to relieve the confusion by not dissecting routes by arbitrarily drawn boundary lines, even though politics and resource management tend to regulate parcels of this natural region. The distinction that makes this adventure ShangriLa unique and special could be encapsulated in one night camped beside any one of its clear-water lakes. The sound of the wind in the pines, the crackling of spruce as it burns in the firepit, a circling osprey, the beckoning sound of a cold-water spring on a long portage, a red canoe pulled up on a rocky shore, spring peepers, the smell of wood smoke, camaraderie. all meld together to characterize the Temagami experience. There is more, but then there is always more; each time you dip your paddle or line your canoe up the same rapids there is always something you missed the time before. And that's what typifies Temagami -- the fact that it grows on you, envelopes your very soul, presents new challenges and reveals new secrets each time you visit. There are lakes and there are rivers in Temagami, each neatly intertwined into a contiguous web of adventure possibilities. Lake Temagami alone possesses one of the longest undeveloped coastlines in Canada, making it one of the best kayak touring destinations in North America; and with more than 3,500 km of additional canoe and kayak routes, it's one of the largest collections of water trails in Canada.

For the hiker, Temagami has some of the finest wilderness trails in the province, certainly the most challenging, as this is the "rooftop" of Ontario. There are over forty backcountry trails and viewpoints, and new trails are constantly being developed. This new edition of the book contains information on twenty-seven canoe and kayak routes, with at least a dozen additional side or link routes. The first section contains basic canoeing and general interest matter only, and it's recommended that you browse through the bibliography for current publications and websites that keep you up-to-date with conditions, equipment and what's cooking on the environmental front.