Each year we give a yearly rundown of some of the biggest news while looking ahead to the next year. Join us as we portage to 2022!

Top 10 Most Read Articles in 2021

Last year’s top articles highlighted companies such as MEC, Nova Craft and COVID… this year at Traversing.ca, the most read articles were...

#10 - 'Hunter and Harris' Returns To Handcraft Canoe Paddles

We couldn’t be more delighted to see Hunter and Harris return after closing in 2020. If you are looking for a fine handcrafted paddle, look no further.

#9 - New Official Map For French River Released

While there is no longer a French River map by Jeff’s Map, canoeists were looking for an updated map for their adventures. This new official one directly from Ontario Parks was very welcome.

#8 - MEC Rebrands To "Mountain Equipment Company" As Iconic Logo Returns

Despite all of their hardships in 2021, MEC not only celebrated their 50th Anniversary this year, but renamed from Mountain Equipment Co-op to Mountain Equipment Company (and brought back their iconic logo to boot!).

#7 - Swift Teases Two New Canoes For 2021

Every year Swift canoe keeps pushing the envelope of canoe development and this year was no different. This year Swift showed off two “Super Canoes”.

#6 - Crown Land Camping Reopening In Ontario On June 11th

Shutting Crown Land camping down in the first place caused quite the kerfuffle, and re-opening it was much celebrated.

#5 - Here's A Fantastic New Map For Woodland Caribou Provincial Park

Woodland Caribou is a beautiful backcountry park and that is reflected in this creative map.

#4 - Gear Review: MSR Lightning Ascent Snowshoes

MSR makes our favourite snowshoes and this iteration fixed some of our tiny complaints from previous models. If you’re looking for a rugged set of snowshoes, check out our review.

#3 - Ostrom Outdoors Returns With New Canoe Packs And A Barrel Harness

Ostrom Outdoors made some of the best canoe packs on the market and we were sad to see them close in 2013. Much to our surprise they have returned bringing back their iconic packs and barrel harnesses.

#2 - Helle To Release 'Morgon' Special Edition Knife For 2021

Helle makes some incredibly well made knives and their ‘special editions’ are no different.

#1 - MSR Updates Hubba Hubba Tents for Spring 2022

Looks like we’ll be in for a treat when MSR releases updated versions of their classic tents in 2022. Stay tuned for our review of the Hubba Hubba 2 in the new year!

Other 2021 trends…

2021 played with everyone’s heartstrings as trade-shows and symposiums all cancelled, followed by lockdowns that closed everything from crown land to backcountry camping. Reservation dates got bounced around, and debates returned as to the ethics of actually being in the backcountry to begin with during these crazy times.

With no outlet for the pent-up demand to head outdoors, online communities really started to thrive. Facebook Groups became a popular destination (especially the Ontario Backcountry Canoeing group) for people to ask questions, help one-another and buy & sell gear. Both Paddling Adventures Radio (who hit their 300th episode and even recorded it while out on a trip) and Canoehound’s Outdoor Adventure Show both had fantastic seasons with weekly interviews and news that were worth while tuning in to.

Speaking of gear, supply chains were still up and down like a yo-yo and availability was spotty, thank goodness that fuel hasn’t been in short supply like last year.

Algonquin Outfitters celebrated their 60th Anniversary!

One of the trails in Canada was rated as one of the best in the world!

10th Anniversary Canoeing photo contest

Traversing

We can’t believe that Traversing has been around for ten years! Thanks to all our readers for joining us on the journey and all of your kind feedback and comments.

Our 10th Anniversary Canoeing photo contest was our most successful yet, and we were pleasantly surprised at all of the e-mails and messages from people who truly enjoyed looking at everyone’s photos.

We enjoyed researching and writing an article this year entitled “Do Canoeists Have a Good Sense of Direction?”. While we weren’t very prolific with our videos this year we did come up with three that we are proud of… 7 Tips For Backcountry Camping With Your Toddler, Crown Land Camping at High Falls and a recap of our end-of-year trip to Dividing Lake.

New maps and books

2021 brought lots of new maps and ways for trippers to plan and enjoy their adventures. We saw new maps such as the Woodland Caribou map, French River map and Wabakimi Canoe Routes guidebook, as well as an announcement from the Friends of Temagami that they will be creating their own maps in-house! Paddle Planner came out with a new version of their online mapping website. There were also cookbooks such as Backcountry Eats by Kevin Ride and Feast on Adventure by Paul Shipman.

For those looking for a good read, check out Hudson Bay Bound, The Politics of the Canoe, Canoe for Change, The Explorer's Guide to Algonquin Park, The Whisper on the Night Wind and The Last Forest Ranger which all came out this year.

New Gear

Canoeists were treated to new gear from Recreational Barrel Works AND the return of Ostrom Outdoors.

What3Words

What3Words became popular and was even recommended by the Ontario Provincial Police (and is already in use by the Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, British Columbia and Alberta Police services). We did a little write-up describing what all the fuss is about and what the app does (and doesn’t).

Provincial Parks

It seemed that every provincial park system had a late start due to closures, but made up for it in droves with each province reporting record camping reservation numbers. Alberta Parks set a new controversial standard by charging fees for Crown Land use. Ontario Parks kept popping back up in online debates with such topics as “Testing flat rate fees for backcountry camping” (such as in Temagami), and “Killarney moving to site-specific campsite reservations” as well as “Algonquin Park also moving to site-specific campsite reservations for their backpacking trails”. Saskatchewan Parks kicked off their first ever winter camping reservations.

Store Closures

Every year we tip our hat to outdoors gear stores that closed and although 2021 was a tough year for all of retail, we didn’t notice any closures. If we missed one, please let us know. One closure that we missed last year that we wanted to thank for years of service was the Cowan Canoe& Kayak Livery in Paisley, Ontario.

Other 2021 Wrap-Ups…

Looking ahead to 2022…

Some trade shows such as Canoecopia in the U.S. and the Outdoor Adventure Shows here in Canada are still trying to forge ahead despite the looming numbers of infections out there. Thankfully Canoecopia has been able to pivot and also provide online access via virtual tickets so that we still have something to look forward to.

While Lure of the North closed their online store this year, we look forward to what is to come.

The Weight We Carry are headed across the great Canadian Rocky Mountains.

The Canadian Canoe Museum has already started construction at their new location in Peterborough.

There is a new Canadian outdoor adventure series headed to T.V. and the casting call has already gone out.

We have a new book from Kevin Callan to look forward to in 2022. The second edition of the Paddler's Guide to Killarney and the French River comes out in March.

Will this be the year that we finally see the Unlostify Algonquin Park maps? A little birdy told me that they are close!

Did we miss anything? Let us know!