WHERE DOES THE NORTH BEGIN? By Ralph Bice
From September 8, 1976
There have been a number of silly questions bandied about over the years. How long is a piece of string? How far is up? How far can a dog run into the woods? Where can you find a sky hook? But one that has been a topic for years is just where the northern part of Ontario begins.
There are many who think that beyond highway 7 you are getting into the woods.
Just to show how large Ontario is, a couple of years ago I was at Big Trout Lake on the west side of Hudson’s Bay. Trout, or rather Big Trout, is perhaps the best Lake Trout Lake in Ontario. It took two hours in an Otter Turbo-Prop plane to get to Sioux Lookout. Then a drive of sixty-five miles to Dryden, then on a C.P.R. passenger train and twenty-five hours to get to North Bay.
A few weeks back a writer who has an interesting column wrote some very insulting things about Muskoka. What bothered me most was that he said it was in northern Ontario. Muskoka is only half way between North Bay and Toronto. For many years the dividing line between north and south was the French and Mattawa Rivers. One thing, and many will agree, two weeks in this part of the province, even if the weather was bad and the living conditions not what many would call modern would be far more pleasant than half that time in the city, even if the weather was perfect.
Still a lot of people going into the woods. Believe that both entry points were closed as quotas had been filled by noon last Saturday. We have had an increase in the number of parties going into Algonquin Park, some of them on fairly long trips. So far there has not been reported a single deer. Fewer moose are being reported than last summer. Perhaps we are in another downward cycle? But with so many hunters and most wanting to travel where the roads are good just how can the moose or any game expect to continue with a healthy population without some sort of management?
First flock of geese were seen going south on September first. This as far as I am concerned is a record for early flights. Something must have warned them it was time to head for winter quarters.
There is some colour. I can recall one fall, or rather late summer, when the maples were in full colour before the middle of September. Early or late we will just have to take what is sent. Only it seems such a short while ago we were watching the ice go out.
