Born to love the bush
True Wild Northerner
BY SCOTT HADDOW
Wild Northerner staff
Lynn Bulloch is a true Wild Northerner.
In late summer, Bulloch found herself on a ledge in the gorge created by the Montreal River North of Sault Ste. Marie. Bulloch had pulled over near the river on her way back from a “last minute” solo camping trip at Lake Superior Provincial Park on the way home to Sudbury to explore the area. It was something she just had to do to satisfy her nature and passion for exploring outdoors.
For a few minutes, Bulloch was stuck on the ledge, not sure of a route down and if she could get back up. Bulloch never panicked. She’s been in worse situations. Bulloch was also raised in the bush and taught to pay attention to details and work through any situation calmly and safely.
In no time Bulloch found her way to the gorge bottom and back to the top safe and sound.
Bulloch got what she needed from the impromptu side trip.
“You have to do things that make you feel alive,” the 38-year-old Cambrian College communications officer said. “Exploring the gorge at Montreal River on my way home was the best day of my trip. I was happy I decided to choose my own adventure. I needed to unwind and that did it.”
Bulloch has no problems adapting to any situations outdoors – she was practically born into it. From the time she was born until the age of three, Bulloch and her family would go to a one room, water-access only camp on Tyson Lake near Killarney. She fondly remembers playing on the dock, boating around the lake and falling asleep listening to crickets and whippoorwills. The family sold the camp and got property in Whitefish on the Vermilion River. It was a former farmstead and featured fields, forests, beaver pond and access to crown land. Bulloch’s father, Fred, was the single biggest influence in her passion for the outdoors and nature. Fred taught Bulloch and her two sisters about animal tracks and scat, identifying trees, plants and shrubs, making fires and leaving minimal to no trace when camping. The family did camping trips either by canoe or horseback. These lessons were valued and have stayed with Bulloch.
By the time she was a teenager, Bulloch was planning her own trips for friends and going out on solo excursions. She has never stopped. Being outdoors is the main key to Bulloch for the life she wants to live.
“I’ve learned it is essential for me,” she said. “When I’m alone in the wilderness, it is my ultimate way to decompress and be myself. When you’re alone out there you don’t conform to anything and you get to know the real you. You find out what is important and what is not. My adventurous spirit comes from curiosity. I like to see things not a lot of other people see. It’s like finding treasure for me. It’s satisfying my curiosity. I want to know what is around the next bend or over the hill. You just don’t know. You might find a moose.”
Being adventurous, spontaneous and having a deep love for the backcountry fuels Bulloch.
“Being in nature and doing whatever you want is so rewarding,” she said.
Bulloch loves to canoe and camp in the spring, summer and fall. In the winter, she loves cross-country skiing. She especially likes paddling smaller lakes so she can take time to investigate the shorelines for hidden natural beauties. She loves to try balancing tricks when skiing and has a keen interest in Kivi Park.
She has also travelled to other countries and seen lots of wild places in Canada, but it is northern Ontario for Bulloch first and foremost.
“We have accessible wilderness here,” she said. “You don’t need special or fancy gear to get outdoors and have a good time. It’s cheap, too. You don’t have to pay much or travel far to be in an amazing place. We are lucky to have it.”