Quick Quiz

• What is the Sourtoe Cocktail Club?
• Where do you find the Ghost Town Trail?
• Who was Hubert Darrell?

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If you had to look those up, don’t feel bad. When I began my journey down this particular rabbit hole, I’d never heard of any of these facts.

Truth be known, the reality of Canada is more intriguing than we give it credit for: dinosaur graveyards, lost Arctic expedition ships, ancient villages now sitting beneath the sea, and towns with a population of five. This is a land of stories, with a rich history going back thousands of years before its political creation in 1867.

But Canada is more than facts and history. It’s people, small towns, unique traditions, long drives where distance is measured in hours instead of kilometres.

So what makes Canada unique?

As the second-largest country on Earth, Canada is a country of remarkable contrasts: prairies that stretch out as far as the eye can see, a vast boreal forest, the cliffs and rocky shores of the Atlantic coast, steep-sided fjords and lush rainforest along the Pacific, and Arctic tundra, where a seemingly barren landscape bursts with life.

Nanaimo bars • the Screech-In ceremony • Sgt. Bill, a Saskatchewan goat who became a First World War mascot
The Iniskim Umaapi medicine wheel in Alberta • the world’s largest pyrogy • Roads that seem to stretch forever 

This is also a country of extremes. From freezing cold to scorching hot. Snow and wind and ice and rain, wildfires and tornadoes, and all the creative ways Canadians have learned to live with it.

You can watch a whale breach off Vancouver Island on a Monday, be walking through a multicultural neighbourhood in Toronto two days later, and become an honorary Newfoundlander by week’s end.

So who am I anyway?

I’m Fiona: writer, mom, grandma, and graphic designer living in small-town Saskatchewan. I grew up in the Alberta foothills and lived in Churchill. I’ve splashed in both the Pacific and Atlantic, watched ice floes drift along the shoreline of Hudson Bay, and lost my heart to the Yukon’s wild beauty.

Canada is home.

I’ve worked as a journalist, gone back to school, run a print shop, and raised a family. Along the way, I’ve met people from all walks of life, in all sorts of places. I’ve been blessed to see how differently people experience life, and I’ve learned that the best stories aren’t always the loudest ones…the best stories are the ones hiding in plain sight, waiting for someone to slow down long enough to hear them.

Why Trek?

Creating Written Trek wasn’t a conscious decision. I think it got its start one day when I was driving through the Big Muddy on my first visit to the area. I pulled over to read one of those roadside points of interest and learned about the Outlaw Caves.

I kept tugging on threads:

• The Willow Bunch Giant
• The St. Victor petroglyphs
• The Tunnels of Moose Jaw
• The Snowbirds
• Mammoths in the Yukon
• Polka dots on Spotted Lake in BC
• Hopewell Rocks flowerpot formations in New Brunswick
• A prospector’s close encounter at Falcon Lake, MB

… the list kept growing

I always thought I knew a fair amount about Canada. Yet, the sheer volume of what I didn’t know surprised me. If I could be this unaware of what my own country has to offer, I began to wonder how many others were in the same boat.

Written Trek is my attempt to fill in the gaps, one story at a time.

What You’ll Find Here:

• Side Roads – Life in Canada and being Canadian
• Mile Marker – Opinions, nostalgia and all that other stuff
• Wander Canada – Travel-related stories and lists from across the country
• North of the Page – Canadian books, authors, and other reading-related things
• The Local Guide – Getting to know our lesser-known towns
• Tracing Canada – The stories that made us what we are today
• Canadian Critters – An exploration of the wild things living in our backyard
• Branch and Bloom – Bullet points on native flowers and trees
• Artists & Artisans – Coming Soon
• Canadian Snippets – Brief looks at the stories of the day, past and present
• Canada At a Glance – A look at each province, one by one
• Mind Snacks – Trivia, word searches and puzzles

There’s a lot of Canada to explore, and I’m only getting started…

Come along on the trek.

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Drop Me A Line

One thing I’ve learned since starting on this project: History is not always that clear on the details.