Live Life In Tents' Blog is dedicated to helping people get out to explore Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Top picks of food, travel
&
adventures. Camping, Hiking, Fishing, Paddle Boarding, Kayaking, and more.
Building BASECAMP: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Cape Breton’s New Winter Refuge
In the fall of 2024, I started building a pitch for Parks Canada. The vision was to establish a temporary winter camping village on the backside of Franey Mountain—something inspired by The North Face’s annual winter basecamps out west. The concept was simple: a snowshoe- or ski-in-only destination that could serve as a jumping-off point for alpine missions, cross-country ski loops, snowshoe routes to White Hill, or just a unique place to spend a few nights off-grid.
On guiding: why hire a guide for your backcountry adventure?
A guiding service has many different layers to it (keep in mind that I am a guide, writing a blog on why guides are worth paying for). I will attempt to portray the information in which you see the value added by having a guide, both for yourself and for the environment.
the storytelling series pt.3 // Exploring home
Like the tourism slogan goes: Cape Breton Island; your heart will never leave. As you can tell, mine sure didn’t. I know the world has opened up, but I’m pretty stoked to continue to explore my home.
Why you come off the mountains different than you go into them
In February my friend and I did a four day trek through the Rwenzori mountains that border Uganda and the Congo. For four days we did nothing but hike, laugh, eat, splash in icy rivers, stand wide eyed at the sleeping beasts of mountains around us. We were sweaty and muddy, miles away from cell service. We squatted over holes in the ground for the bathroom and warmed water over a fire for bucket showers. We stood under a sky blanketed by the brightest stars I have ever seen and we fell asleep at 9pm, laughing until we couldn’t stay awake anymore.
Four options (that don’t suck) for mapping and planning your outdoor adventures
We are probably all familiar with Google Maps and Google Earth. These platforms are useful when sharing general location data however the downside is their off-line versions are not always reliable. There is nothing worse than being in the middle of the words without any service when your map refreshes and you have no idea where you are. Below we have created a list of some of our favourite apps for planning backcountry and off-line excursions so that you don’t get lost on your next adventure!
3 Easy Ways to Save With Live Life In Tents
Here are some super easy ways to save on your next Cape Breton adventure with Live Life In Tents!