Outdoor Adventure Show 2020

This year was my third time attending the Outdoor Adventure Show as a blogger, and although there are familiar booths to visit and people to catch up with, there is always something new to keep things interesting – not that familiar booths and people aren’t interesting! Below I will highlight some of the events I participated in, the booths that I visited, as well as speakers at the show. I hope you can enjoy the show through my eyes.

Fun Events

There are numerous activities for both the young and young at heart at this show. For example, the climbing wall, which my son loved climbing the first year we attended the show. Every year when I walk by the wall, I think to myself “I really want to try this”, so this year I finally gave it a go. Big thanks to Camper Christina for taking a photo of me at the top of the wall.

• 

• 

After climbing the wall, I stopped at the Northwest Territories virtual reality tour. Both Christina and I donned the VR glasses and went for a lovely tour around The North. It was both amazing and beautiful and I had chills down my back at the amazing views I was witnessing. Both of us agreed this was a place that is now on our bucket list for visiting.

• 

• 

From virtual reality to reality, we headed over to the GoRVing.ca booth which had this cool camping display with over sized marshmallows to “roast” on the fire. They also brought in a couple of rescue animals – a ferret and a skunk!!!! – to help promote an educational program on what happens with abandoned or injured animals that can no longer be released into the wild.

• 

• 

• 

Another favourite of mine was the Parks Canada Red Chairs. If you have followed along with previous blog posts, you’ll know that we have visited parks around Canada, from the East Coast to West Coast that have these red chairs – and we take every opportunity to sit in these chairs and get pictures. My next mission is to visit a park up north and get a picture from there. Their booth also included a display showing different animal hides and how to clean them, what tools are used to do it and such.

• 

• 

Booths and Displays

There are so many booths at this show, it’s hard to showcase them all, so here is a sampling of the different booths and displays that I visited over the weekend. At the bottom of this blog post I have attached web links for the companies highlighted.

As I wandered around the booths, I was of course drawn to the section from my home of Newfoundland and Labrador. I chatted with people at just about every booth which made me miss home and want to back for another visit.

Some booths offered lots of products for purchase, as well as some free samples. I tried the Happy Bees Honey and sampled the Giggy Yo chocolate (a favourite for sure).

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Purchases

As you have seen above, there were booths with products for purchase and my credit card exited my wallet a few times during the show. At the Newfoundland Booths (Adventures Newfoundland) , I purchased a pair of trigger mittens for Dan. His old pair are wearing out and have been darned multiple times so a replacement pair was needed. After my samplings of the Giddy Yo chocolates, I bought myself 6 of their bars (that will last me a long time) since they are dark chocolate so I can eat them despite my dairy allergy. Another purchase from the weekend was my Friends of Temagami t-shirt and finally I acquired a Dragonfly Wingman.

• 

• 

• 

Presentations

Another great part of this weekend is listening to all the awesome presentations throughout the day. It is difficult to get to every single presentation, so I will highlight the ones that I did manage to see.

1. Dan Wong (Jack Pine Paddle): Dan discussed his adventures in the Northwest Territories and the formation of the newest park in the north called Thaidene Nene National Park.
2. David Bain: David talked about solo paddling for adventures and where to find easy places to go for beginners.
3. Camper Christina: Christina discussed Temagami, highlighting her trips from the past couple of years. She included places of interest, easy to challenging portages and shared her experiences with two of her major routes. (Her presentation will be available on YouTube later in the spring)
4. Sean Rowly (Paddling Adventures Radio): Sean talked about redefining adventure by leaving the tracking devices behind and going back to map and compass. He also focused on the idea that adventure can be found close to home without having to travel a long distance.
5. Alex Traynor and Noah Booth (The Northern Scavengers): These two gentlemen plus two others travelled across Labrador in an amazing journey with lots of challenging and exciting moments. Their documentary can be found on Vimeo for purchase or rent.
6. Leah and Brad Jennings (Explore the Backcountry): Leah and Brad brought us stories about paddling together as a couple and the many misadventures it can bring. Their story ended with a wonderful trip in which they got engaged.
7. Randy Mitson (Algonquin Outfitters): Randy talked about canoe camping, highlighting the many services that Algonquin Outfitters offers such as rentals, trip planning, trip information and so much more.
8. Les Stroud (Survivorman): Les brought us all back to his Survivorman days with his very captivating introductory video. I was transported back to my old apartment where I would watch his program all the time. Les is starting a new series from PBS called Wild Harvest. I am going to have to try to get access to his new program as it looks very interesting.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I was leaving the Outdoor Adventure Show full to the brim. I had talked with lots of very cool people, bought myself a few items from the show and also left with thoughts of excitement for next years show.

• 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read about the show. I’m looking forward to next year and I hope you have enjoyed the show through my eyes.

Web Links

Ontario Highlands, Agawa Canyon, Outdoors Oriented, Swift Canoe and Kayak, H2O Canoe Company, Frontenac Outfitters, Happy Bees Honey, Canadian Outdoor Equipment, Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, Bruce Trail Conservation, Friends of Temagami, Earthroots, Giddy Yo, Jack Pine Paddle, Kevin Callan, Jerry Vandiver, Mike Ranta, Cabin Falls Ecolodge, Preston Ciere (Portageur.ca), Hailey Sonntag (Wild Canoes), Taiga Boards, Qwick Wick, KIHD Products, Madawaksa Kanu Centre, Camper Christina, Algonquin Outfitters, Paddling Adventures Radio, The Northern Scavengers, Explore the Backcountry, Les Stroud.