Purists

We see LOTS of snowshoes here over the course of the winter. More and more, we're seeing the 'new fangled' ones made from metal and plastic -- light weight, with excellent traction, affordable and tough. Nothing wrong with progress...

But from time to time, the purists arrive, with the snowshoes that you simply cannot match these days for good looks, classic lines. Snowshoes that whisper about untouched woodlands and wild places and the sheer elegance of form meeting function.

Jennifer has such a pair of snowshoes. Doug admits that his finally succumbed to the years, and he had to invest in a new set. His are, well, shall we say, semi-pure? Certainly a good compromise, and easy to maintain.

One of the first settlers here on Lake of Bays was Tom Salmon. He was born in 1850, in India -- where his father was in charge of the 57th Native Bengal regiment, in Simla. In fact, this was the Regimant that began the Indian Mutiny, 1857 - 1859. Tom was whisked out of danger by one of his father's faithful Sihks. The Colonel himself avoided being killed with his brother officers because he was in the hospital, with a case of whooping cough. That saved his life, and he was invalided to England, along with his family. England was far too small to hold Tom for long - he went to sea with ports of call in Africa, China, and all in between. In his 30's he found himself in Canada -- and decided to stay. Liking far places, he started walking into virgin territory, and eventually fetched up on the Lake of Bays, on a rocky peninsula with a fox sitting out on the point. He named it (wait for it) Fox Point, and became one of the first settlers in these parts. From the local Indians, he learned to make bark canoes, paddles -- and snowshoes.

Tom Salmons' snowshoes were famous as far away as Russia, Norway and the Klondike. If you were lucky enough to get a pair, they soon became family heirlooms.
Tommy's mark was easy to recognize -- stamped into the snowshoes, the paddles, the bow of the canoe. You can still find some of his work around the Lake of Bays -- but the purists, the true purists who are fortunate enough to treasure his handiwork, usually keep the items hanging on a wall.

They, like Doug, have bowed a little toward progress and ease of maintenance. But, like Jennifer, won't sacrifice the sheer beauty of the snowshoe... We think Tommy, who was once a playmate of Rudyard Kipling, would be pleased.