Hi readers! Happy New Year, it looks like we all survived and limped over the finish line. Please, pat yourself on the back, it’s well deserved. Despite all the difficulties everyone has been through, what has amazed me is the continual spirit of the travel community to keep the essence of adventure in our cores. Myself included. However, hiking and travelling in Ontario during this lockdown is a bit of a different beast. I’m not even talking about getting on a plane and going to a foreign country.
There is an ethical dilemma that has been weighing on me a lot as of late and I felt conflicted. I did not feel right writing anything new and publishing in the past month as COVID-19 cases around the Greater Toronto Area have been soaring. Simply put, I care a LOT about our outdoors and about my readers and if I am writing and providing you information, it’s meant for you to enjoy it. And enjoy it when it is safe to do so. Just because I have published a Guide to Hogg’s Falls in Grey County, I am not encouraging you to travel there from Windsor or Ottawa (or from any other distance of note) to visit right now.
I love sharing trails, insider tips and insights with everyone. Getting out in nature is so good for our health and wellbeing, especially right now. Exploring Ontario is so much fun because there’s always something new I can stumble upon. Nothing brings me more joy than promoting counties and tiny towns in the province of Ontario. Or recommending restaurants and small businesses that everyone needs to know about. I’m constantly compiling and sharing information on where to see the Best Sunsets In Ontario or where to find the Best Family-Friendly Hiking Trails in Southern Ontario. They get updated every so often.
On the other hand, information requests I have received for how to get into conservation areas that are closed for the season or due to Covid-19 measures or how to skirt paying for parking or admission in certain parks or conservation areas is not something I want to be known for. Please, do not ask me how to do that and please, do not attempt to do that.
Living through Lockdown Edition version 2021 in Ontario is not a plump bowl of cherries. I would love to pack up my Jeep and the kids and head back to Sudbury for some winter fun. It’s painful that we cannot. Full stop, I understand the desire to go out and explore. I am simply asking you to do so within the legal confines that we are currently faced with. I’m not the law. I cannot stop you from travelling from Toronto to take in a weekend away in Prince Edward County because you feel you need a weekend away.
Ethically, I will not encourage you to do that either.
Yes, I am acutely aware that transmission rates of Covid-19 from travel are low and it’s more likely to be spread indoors in close-contact settings.
I will encourage hiking, snowshoeing, skiing and travelling safely while abiding by current guidelines. If that means we are not supposed to venture far away from our home towns, that’s what I currently encourage. I’m going to resume publishing posts and have faith in the universe that soon it is safe for everyone to safely explore these destinations again.
There is hope on the horizon all. We just have to get there.
Be safe and see you on the trails at some point.
