Mountain Life–Blue Mountains drops the summer 2024 issue.
An Outdoor Life
Maybe it’s the zip of a tent door, the narrow line of steam from a campfire coffee and the gentle bump of a paddle bouncing from a gunwale. The high-pitched zing of a bike hub, the crunch of wheels on dirt and cool beer shared with après friends.
The sights and sounds, tastes and smells of our outdoor pursuits are the backdrop of friendships nurtured and memories formed. They’re experiences that encourage us to protect the environment that provides for us.
In the summer issue, we explore what it means to be a part of the active outdoor culture. From parents encouraging young athletes and including children on wild adventures to pursuing your passions well into retirement—and working to ensure your great-great-grandchildren have the opportunity to do the same. A life spent in nature is a life well spent. –Kristin Schnelten
Some Issue Highlights:
TRIPPING TEMAGAMI
Generations have paddled the fabled waters of Temagami, a region of Ontario known as much for its pristine, interconnected lakes as the hard-fought effort to protect the old-growth pine forests surrounding them. In a week-long fly-in canoe adventure, eight middle-aged strangers traversed the bug-free (and bear-free) northern backcountry with fresh, young guides at the helm, discovering a shared love of quiet paddles, evening swims and ancient stories.
ANIMAL VISION
Maxime Légaré-Vézina has traversed Canada in his career as a professional wildlife photographer, gaining an understanding of the wilderness, a range of ecosystems and animal behaviour—not to mention honing some serious outdoor skills. One thing Légaré-Vézina has learned is that when it comes to wildlife, luck truly comes to those who are prepared. The insight he shares about the required patience, knowledge, skill and dedication just might help us transform our own outdoor adventure photography from terrible to terrific.
OLIVIA SHREDS
Tiny athlete Olivia Watson is a fierce competitor and consummate fun hog. Introduced to wakeboarding and snowboarding at just 3 years old, Olivia has big goals—Olympic ones. Taking the podium at both Wake Ontario Provincials and Wake Canada Wake Park Nationals, the 8-year-old dynamo seems to be well on her way.
PADDLING HOME
Setting out from his Ottawa home in early summer, author Dan Rubinstein had little more than his paddleboard and a few essentials. The adventure ahead of him—to Montreal, New York City, Toronto and back—would take ten weeks and find him paddling 1,900 km on his inflatable SUP. Rubinstein worked to make connections with locals, learning the significance of those waterways to individual lives and discovering the history, evolution and future of these once-industrial routes.
ZEROING IN
Spearheaded by ML Contributing Editor Scott Parent, the Three Waters Foundation is a grassroots initiative dedicated to removing plastic pollution from Lake Huron, Georgian Bay and the North Channel. Born from his experiences paddling the lakes and encountering staggering amounts of trash, the foundation focuses on remote islands and shorelines where plastic and other debris accumulate.
BIKING NIRVANA
Bentonville, Arkansas, may not be situated in jaw-dropping mountains, but it boasts more than 100 km of mountain bike trails winding through the city, endless amenities and, most importantly, a community deeply entrenched in the sport. Check out this whirlwind adventure of food, culture and whooping turns on manicured trails—in a town that entirely transformed itself to embrace mountain biking.
PLUS: Major Bruce Trail improvements, fly fishing therapy, inside the Great Lakes mussel invasion and more.
Pick up a print issue at the usual rad spots in the Blue Mountains region or from any of our advertisers.
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