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uninhabited pine-covered islands, all   with fresh herbs, her homemade beer  GETTING TO TEMAGAMI: There  are
            perfectly misty like a watercolor paint-  biscuits with local raw milk cheddar,  short flights from Toronto to North Bay
            ing.                               and her hearty homemade breads.    via Air Jazz; Temagami is 1 hour north
                                                                                  of North Bay and ground transporta-
            Another  day we wandered over to  Co- Our last night’s feast featured Caryn’s   tion to Smoothwater can be arranged.
            balt, the silver mining capital of North   Poutine,  which isn’t really the classic
            America in its heyday, where ruins of   poutine known throughout Ontario   Ontario Northland offers two daily
            old mines and character-filled buildings   that consists of  French fries covered   buses to and from Toronto to Temag-
            of an Old West town offered a different   with gravy and cheese, but instead is a   ami; Smoothwater will pick you up
            kind of landscape.                 healthier version combining caramel-  in Temagami. It is a 4.5-hour drive to
                                               ized Jerusalem artichokes and wild   Temagami/Smoothwater from Toronto,
            We would gather back at the lodge (also   mushrooms with homemade chicken  2.5 hours from Sudbury, 3 hours from
            the home of Caryn, her husband, Fran-  gravy and local Swiss cheese curds.  Cochrane and 6 hours from Ottawa.
            cis Boyes, and their daughter, Emily) to
            enjoy one amazing meal after another.  Caryn and Francis created a labyrinth   Smoothwater of  Temagami, Box 40,
                                               on their property that she calls a med- Temagami, ON P0H 2H0, Canada;
            We quickly dubbed Caryn the Alice   itative walk to help one focus.   1-705-569-3539; 888-569-4539; www.
            Waters of Temagami. Like the famed                                    smoothwater.com.
            Chez Panisse chef who revolutionized  As we meandered through its maze of a
            U.S. restaurants 40+ years ago when   trail, we understood the greatest lesson   Visitors come from all over the world in
            she championed using local ingredients,  we learned from Caryn: “It’s the pro-  summer and winter for canoeing, hik-
            Caryn has led the way in Temagami   cess that’s important, not the finished   ing, mountain biking, cross-country ski
            by using local producers of vegetables,  product,” she told us. “At the end of the   and  snowshoe adventures and  group
            fruits, honey, maple syrup, cheeses,  week, you’ll have something you want   trips, as well as  art, photography, music
            meat and fish.                     to frame just because you’ll enjoy it.”  and writing retreats. Smoothwater is a
                                                                                  complete outfitter for your adventures.
            She even grows a lot of her own organic
            produce and leads culinary workshops   She was right. I, for one, have never  This wilderness lodge has five private
            in  foraging  for and cooking  local  wild   painted before. I am not good at it. But   rooms and two bunkhouses. It also has
            edibles.                           I really enjoyed trying to paint the beau-  two backcountry cabins each about
                                               ties of what I saw in Temagami. And I   3.7 miles from the main lodge, tucked
            Breakfast, lunch and dinner at Smooth-  discovered that I want to keep pursuing   away on the 25 miles of trails that take
            water were invariably as splendid as the   it.                        off from the lodge. You may also pitch
            surroundings.                                                         a tent. Rates range from $15 a night to
                                               IF YOU GO                          pitch a tent to $1,460 per couple for
            Some of our favorite dishes were Caryn’s                              five nights and 15 meals.
            Temagami Wild Blueberry Kuchen, her   McMichael Canadian Art Collection,   Above:  The rural surroundings of Ontario’s northern
            fritters of carrots in chickpea flour  10365 Islington Ave, Vaughan, ON L0J
            served with homemade spruce jelly,  1C0, Canada; 1-905-893-1121; www.  lake region seen from the air near Deerhurst Resort,
            Lake Temiskaming whitefish encrusted   mcmichael.com.                 another classic and historic lakefront Canadian
                                                                                  getaway offering boating, canoeing, golf, tennis,
                                                                                  horseback riding, hiking and live entertainment.

            56    Wine Dine & Travel  Summer 2014
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