November 11/23
I really hesitate to write about one of my favorite hiking areas. This area is still little known and retains the quiet and peace of a true backcountry site. While I understand the expansion of ATV trails, I still believe strongly that there needs to be areas that remain free of the snarl of engines and the destruction of pristine wilderness. Areas that are not meant for the motorized groups and allow only foot traffic through areas of wilderness where the footprints of humans are minimal. After all, if you truly love nature and the outdoors, you will want the environment to remain as little impacted as possible. That is my rant, though you will get the full impact if I ever catch you tossing your garbage out your car window or littering the trails with your garbage. Bring on that Karen moment!!!
The Torrence Barrens is one of the most serene and beautiful areas I have ever been to. I stumbled upon this area years ago while on one of my many road trips exploring areas I did not know, and while taking random side roads that led off into the unknown. I followed a very narrow and incredibly winding road through marsh and Canadian Shield, and then noted a very weathered sign indicating that I was in the Torrence Badlands. Well, of course I needed to check this out. I found a small parking area and pulled in and put on my hiking shoes. The trail at this time was minimal, and I spent many moments looking for the markers through the mounds of rocks and scrub. It was even more interesting when I came to an old and dilapidated bridge needed to cross between two land areas separated by a swamp. In total this trail led me across 12 kms of large rocks and through marsh, across a sketchy boardwalk where you could reach down and pluck a cranberry, and next to a still lake. Unfortunately, more people are now aware of this area, and the evidence of ignorant humans are everywhere, from the discarded water bottles on the side of the trail to the Tim Horton’s cups hung in the trees.
My most recent trip to this gorgeous area was this weekend. A relatively warm November day had my family and I heading to the now named Torrence Barrens. The small parking lot was full except for one spot, which I was grateful to take as there is no parking on the narrow road. We headed down the trail, with the warm sun shining down and a cool north breeze wrapping its icy fingers around us. Hoar frost covered the scant vegetation and a thin skein of brittle ice lay over the small areas of water. This area is as beautiful as I remembered, with a calm lake surrounded by the hard granite of the Canadian Shield and strands of oak, juniper, and larch. The silence out here is complete, as there is no noise of radios, cars or other motorized vehicles. This, this is what I crave; that silence of backcountry hiking, where the only noise is the rustle of brown leaves in the cold wind. My teenage son felt the connection to this backcountry, and as we gazed across one calm lake with that silence settling between us, he confided that he could spend hours out here just listening to that silence. My heart.
The Torrence Barrens is the worlds only dark sky preserve. The world’s only…. say that again, the world’s only… dark sky preserve. This area is unique in that there are few houses or cottages and there are no large urban areas nearby. This area is a haven for night sky watchers of stars and northern lights. Hence why I don’t want people out here lighting campfires and tearing around on motorized vehicles, and why I am hesitant to tell the general public about this area. We need to respect the environment, and especially those environmentally sensitive areas that are becoming increasingly rare as subdivisions pop up in previous green areas. Our green areas are becoming smaller, and fractured, and hurt, and as we lose green areas, we lose ourselves and to our connections to our world and our place within it. Respect.
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