Quote:
Originally Posted by trueviking
personally i wouldnt trade the lakes and cottage country of manitoba for the tourist infested mountains....outdoor opportunities are just as available here, especially if you are not part of the 1% who downhill ski....i have never actually seen the recreational opportunity of mountains...
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Funny you should mention all that in a single sentence.
I moved out here to be closer to the mountains BECAUSE they're nowhere near as "tourist infested" as the lake country around Winnipeg. Sure, if you think mountains=Banff and skiiing, then yeah - tourist hell. However, there are thousands of square kilometres of mountains, and it takes all of a 15 minute walk in most directions to leave nearly everyone behind. Most mountains that I hike up, I see maybe 20 people in an 8 hour day. Very outdoorsy, very quiet, very relaxing.
After enough years of seeing the Whiteshell turn into a tourist hell (jeez, last September I was in TRAFFIC JAM there - this is relaxing!?), and the LOTW area get far too overcrowded, I actually found the mountains to be a refreshing change. It helps that I don't stick to the car-accessible areas. The last few years in Winnipeg, I was going further and further out (3+ hour drive to Vermillion Bay) just to escape the throngs. I've managed to find a small unknown lake, no road access and no development, in Ontario (and no, I won't share where!) and that's my summer vacation spot now. But most of it? Lined with cottages, noisy boats/Seadoos going all day long, and hordes of people everywhere. It seems like every damn lake has a road in to it these days, and cottages spaced closer together than many city neighbourhoods.
I'll give you the beaches, the fishing (although the trout fishing here is AMAZING), and the joy of 10,000 lakes within a couple hours drive. I miss all that. But tourists? There are far fewer of them in the mountains than most people think. You just need to get off the Trans-Canada.