Unplug and recharge with heavenly Haliburton’s Summer Hiking Tours

Since the pandemic was announced, I’d been running full-steam ahead.
As a small business owner, all of my colleagues and I had to find a way to pivot our businesses to survive something none of us had experienced. It’s been an exhausting nearly two years and I was looking for somewhere to unplug and recharge for a couple of days.

I connected with Tanya McCready, owner of Winterdance Dogsled Tours.
Wait, wait, wait; I know…dogsled tours, Jay? In summer? What the ?

Remember I spoke of pivoting? Tanya’s innovating was to create a hiking and relaxing experience for those looking to get away from city life for a few days via her “Summer Overnight Hiking Tours.”
After a couple of weeks of chatting and coordinating schedules, I took the (mostly except for that horrid 401 traffic) relaxing three-is hour drive from Mississauga to Haliburton.

Shoutout to Hyundai Canada for flipping me their all-new 2022 Santa Cruz compact pickup truck for the drive.

I was joined by a colleague, Adrian Brijbassi, and once we parked the Santa Cruz, we were warmly greeted by our guide, Ryan, a longtime team member, terrific person, expert hiker and wise beyond his young years.

To get to our cabins, we each used two feet and a heartbeat in the woods, also known as hiking. Our bags were taken via truck by Tanya and would be waiting for us upon arrival.

The hike was 90% level ground and the remaining 10% was oh-so-slightly on an incline.
Along the way, Ryan showed us their maple syrup shack where they utilize around 2,000 taps, a gravity-based system to get it from the trees and impressively, it’s been in the family for nearly a century.
It really is quite the sight to see the maze of taps and lines that are part of the process.

It may sound cliché but it’s true; we literally rounded a bend on the path and there stood serenity in the form of Eagle Lake, four hand-built cabins and a gazebo.

After snapping some pictures, settling into our cabins (where were quite nicely stocked with cheese, crackers and grapes) we took the two minute walk with Ryan to the dock for some quality time on the water via canoes.
Ryan is a master in a canoe with a plethora of experience so naturally, he went solo while Adrian and I paddled (mostly) in tandem.
As it was approaching golden hour, we quickly took our pictures and video, paddled for about 30 minutes in total and then navigated back for dinner and a fire.

We were joined by Tanya for dinner along with her daughter, who was quite talented in handling the BBQ, and we had burgers, corn and salad for dinner as the sun descended into the trees.

Just before sunset, we went back out on the water for a pre-fire paddle and it was just as good as the first one. For me, being on the water is one of my favourite ways to spend time during warmer months.

The conversation was easy with the four of us, Tanya and Ryan shared stories of the dogsled tours, how they’ve got 150 dogs and Adrian and I shared how our worlds have been impacted.
The commonality over food and wine was that sometimes, in the midst of a seemingly non-stop life, slowing down and escaping to somewhere remote and peaceful really is needed.

I’ll mention this now: there’s no cell reception here. So make sure your out of office is on, you drop a note on social media saying you’re off the grid for a couple of days (so people don’t think you’re ignoring you) and enjoy the great outdoors.

After dinner, Ryan chopped some wood and started a fire for us, complete with S’mores.

Aside from the snap, crackling and popping of the fire, the sea of quiet was utterly peaceful.
We’d have a string of conversations, then become quite to enjoy the silence, and then pick up conversation again.

As the fire dwindled, we called it a night and got in our extra comfortable beds in our cozy cabins.
I couldn’t fall asleep right away, so I went to the dock, laid down and gazed into the abyss of sparkling stars for about half an hour. With no light pollution and the gentle swaying of the dock, it was one of my favourite parts of the experience.
When I did fall asleep, I did so quite soundly in my Queen sized bed, plethora of pillows and awoke well rested.

Might I add, I didn’t set an alarm and waking up to the sounds of nature and the warmth of the sun was particularly peaceful.

In the morning Tanya and her daughter were back on the BBQ and whipped up a delicious breakfast of eggs, toast and bacon, plus coffee and tea.

Adrian and Ryan went back out on the water while I opted to hang out on the dock and get photos.

Once back at the cabins close to 11:00 am, we packed up our things, gave them to Tanya to bring back to the main lodge via truck and began our hike back.
FYI: Bring bug spray! There’s not a lot of mosquitos but there are a few fluttering along the path.

There’s an option for a nearly two-hour hike back for those that want to boost their step count.
We opted to return the same way we arrived via the shorter, one-hour route.

The walk back seemed shorter for me; I think it’s because I didn’t fully want to come back to city-life just yet so despite trying to walk slower, it didn’t feel like it.
(Maybe it’s a sign I should go back before autumn’s arrival…)

We said our goodbyes at the lodge, thanked them for their gracious hospitality, loaded up the Santa Cruz and off we went, away from serenity and back to our entrepreneurial lives in the city.
Adrian and I joked that about 30 minutes from leaving, both of our phones would be buzzing incessantly once we had reception again…and we were right.

Yes, life keeps soldiering forward regardless of where you are in the world.
Emails and calls will keep coming. Social media notifications will accumulate.
Being always accessible is a blessing and a curse, at least is is to me as an entrepreneur.
But for a couple of days in Haliburton, I was happily unreachable, the world kept spinning and it was a terrific break that I wanted and needed.

To experience you piece of remote happiness: winterdance.com/summer-hiking