“We’d love to see more tourists from around the world,” assistant manager Becky Molyneaux tells me, adding that 75 percent of their clientele are businesspeople and indigenous travellers passing through in the winter. The fascinating cross-cultural yarn, which again reminds me that I am not that far north, prompts me to ask Mike about the possibility of visiting James Bay. The whole scene, with the biting autumn cold, made it feel like I was leaping into the distant north. When I take a long look at Mike and see both the exertion and restraint on his face, I realize his pride may be too great to cut a unilateral retreat. Like everyone else his response is iffy: the weather would have to be nearly impeccable to risk the trip. We keep checking our phones to determine the very last place with cell phone reception – as if that were the borderline where danger begins in earnest. Mike points to his depth finder and compass. So they spent all their time crouched down looking at plants. At the height of the show, about a dozen young medical staff, out-of-towners working at the nearby hospital, show up. We believe Moose River Tours is restoring peoples connection to the outdoors being able to provide such life changing adventures to people across the globe. The winds start to howl and slam into us incessantly. Mike’s wife, who has my number, keeps texting to see if we’re OK. A speed boat comes tearing in our direction from the bay. True to Todd’s description, Mike, who refers to himself as “Spirit Buffalo Man” (his traditional name), is big, burly and loud. But that sense of extreme remoteness was an illusion. The excursion is a test for Mike who wants to see how far upriver, past a series of rapids, he can take his boat. He flips between a manner that is silent and serious with one that is comedic and tinged with a boyish mischievousness. Canoeing, camping, snowshoeing, and cultural activities are just some of the exciting experiences you can enjoy here in Moose Factory and surrounding area. But the Cree refused, owing to the dangers. Depends on how many people request a stop.”. His preppy ’80s haircut, shorts and loafers are a nice casual contrast to his formal professionalism and diplomatic manner. But we’ve covered a lot of distance – the return journey will be just as rough. In my atlas-addiction phase as a kid I’d returned to that spot on the map, time and again, wondering what could possibly be there. I’m dying to reach the sea, to smell the ocean air and feel that openness to the outside world. And when they ate, they preferred to sit on the floor and use the same plate and the same glass to drink their tea in.”. We all breathe a sigh of relief as the boat straightens. I’m staying at Cree Village Ecolodge, an architecturally savvy 19-room accommodation that was the brainchild of the late MoCreebec Chief, Randy Kapashesit. “Hmm… that’s going to be tricky,” he says. You’ll get swept out to sea.”. I’m waiting for Mike or J.P. to pull the plug on our mission. “These 40 knot winds and four foot breakers came out of nowhere. Before the Hudson’s Bay Company established its first official outpost on Hayes Island, later moving it to nearby Moose Factory, they were said to have set up an early proto-trading site on James Bay. Originally called Moose Fort, it was established in 1673 as a trading post of the Hudson’s Bay Company – arguably its first. Tourism Adventure in Moosonee Ontario. When I tell him I’d like to take a boat up to James Bay, his expression becomes tentative. At times it recedes, teasingly, before extending itself again with the furtiveness of an octopus. Getting to Moosonee is half the fun! No roads lead there. Only a few brave souls venture into the open water – and even then, they do so rarely. Scores of people, he reminds me, have lost their lives out there. Yet, even bearing that in mind, the sense of being further north remained hard to shake. The wind gusts strengthen. The post eventually moved upriver to its current location and in 1821 changed its name to Moose Factory – a “Factory” being a station where a resident “Factor” (a post merchant) transacted business. Others, hoping for a second (solar) wind, remain glued to their cameras. The names of the ad hoc stations resonate with the bygone eras of wilderness self-sufficiency: Foxville, Otter Rapids, Onakawana, and Tommyville. Hayes Island and then nearby Moose Factory was ultimately the compromise, becoming the middle ground for trade, being equidistant and well-shielded from the dangerous winds. As we transition from the murkier waters of the Moose River into the crystal clear North French, we start to encounter shallow rocks. © 2023 by Moose River Tours. more, Moose Factory Tourism: Best of Moose Factory, Create a Trip to save and organise all of your travel ideas, and see them on a map, Hotels near Cree Cultural Interpretive Center, Hotels near Toronto Pearson Intl Airport (YYZ), Motels near Toronto Pearson Intl Airport (YYZ). “Maybe we should turn back?” I shout. The stunning beauty of our traditional homelands provides the perfect backdrop for your next outdoor adventure. In spite of the dangers, a tentative decision was made the day before to make a run to James Bay. Maybe six? Todd, the manager of the lodge also emerges. Our veritable comedian has also stopped cracking jokes – a universal indicator that something’s not quite right. The two make a complimentary team. Moose Factory Tourism: Tripadvisor has 83 reviews of Moose Factory Hotels, Attractions, and Restaurants making it your best Moose Factory holiday resource. I lose myself in the spectacle, at one point realizing that I’d never spent so much time looking up at the sky in one go. Come and experience our reality. If you are a resident of another country or region, please select the appropriate version of Tripadvisor for your country or region in the drop-down menu. With every seat taken in the lounge, I milled about the lonely platform, enduring a blustery wind and staring down one end of the tree-lined tracks into what looked like infinity. Tour options available for your trip to Moosonee & Moose Factory. Get updates on my latest travel and adventure yarns, feature articles, Q&As, and book news. The conditions have to be just right. Over dinner Mike tells us about a group of Inuit from Nunavut who came to Moose Factory in 2002 to visit the graves of some ancestors who died here after coming to get treatment for tuberculosis. Even with the accolades, the sort of operational success Kapashesit envisioned has been elusive owing to the lodge’s relative obscurity. “The place just blew their minds,” he says. Moosonee, the area’s travel and services hub, sits directly across the river on the left bank. Though Moose Factory sits at the same latitude as Calgary, London and Berlin, it is a key node of aurora activity – one of the best places in the lower northern latitudes to see them. The water on the river and bay will be rough, but we’d risk it.

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