By Kevin Callan
Published by the Boston Mills Press
(2007, 192 pages, $24.95 Softcover)
Reviewed by George Boody
Kevin Callan’s most recent book weaves entertaining yarns about famous routes in Quetico Provincial Park and other Ontario parks to the north and northwest. Callan is obviously an experienced tripper who easily engages people
he meets to gather facts and stories.
Callan’s book describes 11 routes in Quetico and 5 additional routes in Woodland Caribou, White Otter Lake and Upper Albany River. Each chapter highlights a different route, featuring a map with portage distances and a chart recapping the route, the number of days, number of portages, longest portage, trip difficulty, access points, and maps. A “Before you Go” section includes information about permits, maps, outfitters and fish species in many Quetico lakes. The information is useful for someone planning a trip, and Callan’s descriptions of the trips, environments, people and places he experiences are entertaining reading even for those not planning a trip.
The story of Callan’s trip on the Wawiag River route ends on Saganaga Lake, where a scout troop set up camp near a site he had already occupied. Humph. They were noisy of course, with adults bellowing commands and a camp full of kids busy with requisite Northwoods chores. Fuming, he became angry and depressed at this intrusion of people after days of solitude. But then the youth enthusiastically broke into song, and he realized they weren’t
the young vandals who loosened his wheel bolts on the way out of civilization; they were kids learning positive values. He ended up calling out, “Do you know Camp Fires Burning?” The scout troop silenced, then took up his request, and he again felt able “to appreciate the good in humankind.”
In addition to such entertaining stories, Callan provides helpful route descriptions, including alternate route choices, scenery, potential pitfalls, and tips on great campsites and fishing. He gives helpful clues about which portages to take, and if a portage was terrible, he says so. The book also includes the names and stories of many portages. The Yum Yum portage, for example, was named after a character in Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera, The Mikado. Callan’s system for pegging the difficulty level of a trip, however, is too nuanced for me. I would keep it simple.
Throughout the book Callan describes the contributions of native people, loggers, missionaries, early environmentalists, and park leaders that helped make Quetico the historic and fascinating place it is today. He also shares a bibliography of literature about the conservation, the parks, and the impassioned debate leading to the creation
of Quetico.
Three chapters are written by friends, some of whom are more spiritually-oriented than Callan. They are all worth reading for insights into special places and routes in parks outside of Quetico, though they may not be quite as colorful as Callan’s descriptions.
The book is full of beautiful pictures of scenery, humorous and self-deprecating poses, and chance meetings with other trippers. They capture the essence of the Quetico experience, and beyond. Callan writes, “Some paddlers endorse the idea that canoe-tripping in a wilderness area is an absorbing, emotional, life altering experience… And I agree. But our films and my writing always highlight the unpleasant experiences more than the pleasant ones. The more disasters you experience and survive, the more connected to the land you feel, and perhaps the better you understand its importance to us.” His book of tales, told with humor and laced with information, might help you more easily take the unpleasant parts of your next trip in stride. And sometimes, his way of taking busy entry routes in stride might include a shuttle ride, even though he is sure Sigurd Olson would not approve.
This article appeared in Wilderness News Summer 2008