2015 was quite a big year for us! Here's a recap of some of the things we did...

The biggest change was our branding. After a considerable amount of pondering (isn't the outdoors a great place to brainstorm?) we decided to change everything. Trail Swag was a great way to dip our toe in the water and see if this sort of site actually worked... and you as readers sure proved that it did! That was the basis to grow the site even further and to do that we honed in on what we loved the most. We also turned five this year which takes a lot of endurance, but has been nothing but rewarding the entire way.

Some of our most popular posts of the year were (in no particular order)...

Abitibi & Co Relaunch Scott Canoe, Bluewater Canoes and Impex Kayaks. Although this was an article from the tail end of 2014, a new Canadian canoe company is always welcome, especially if it means that Abitibi & Co shares both the Quebec canoe building tradition and the return of well loved brands such as Scott and Bluewater.

Here Are The Five Potential Designs For A New Canadian Canoe Museum. We were one of the first sites to reveal the new potential designs of the Canoe Museum's exciting move. They hope to pick their final choice within the next month as well so stay tuned!

Congratulations to Langford Canoe who turned 75 this year! Pretty amazing, and their cedar canoes reflect their heritage and hard work through the years.

Seaward Kayaks: One Year After Dragons' Den. We interviewed B.C.'s own Seaward Kayaks a year after they entered the Dragons' Den to make their pitch to see how things turned out.

Jeff's Map Announces Canadian Topo Maps. Finding the right topo map for your next adventure can be a bit of a fiddly chore, but Jeffrey McMurtrie sure made it much easier this year! It's now a just a few clicks to find the right map of your destination across Canada in 1:50,000 or 1:250,000 scale and you can download it for free or have Jeff print you a copy on regular or waterproof paper. It doesn't get any easier than that!

Interview: Jennifer Gosselin & Pierre Pépin From Wild Raven Adventure. Here's an interview with two people who sold everything they owned to go Canoeing! Pretty crazy... and heartwarming, when you hear their story.

Photo from Sean Hootz's adventure in the Manitoba Backcountry

Thanks again to all of our guest bloggers who sent in everything from trip reports to detailed accounts of their adventures. Keep us in mind on your next trip out, we'd love to share your adventure.

2015 was an interesting year for Esquif who announced both that their were closing after being in business for 15 years AND that they were able to sort everything out and continue business.

It looks like the number of people enjoying the outdoors is on the rise which is a welcome trend to see. Saskatchewan Parks reported a record number of people in 2015 hitting a new attendance record of almost 3.9 million visits! B.C. Parks saw a new, all-time record for the number of reservations made for provincial campgrounds.

A huge shout-out goes to Hotcore Products who have been a long time sponsor of the site and help keep it running. We also pushed the hardest this year to tailor the ads that you see on the site to be outdoors exclusive. Something we hope is of best interest to our readers.