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The latest issue of explore features the “Life List 100: Things you have to do out there”:

The list of great Canadian hikes, bikes, paddles, climbs and must-see destinations is long, long, long. Life , on the other hand, is short. So get going.

So without further ado here are the ones I’ve done (and would highly recommend to others):

Update: Our recent trip North has pushed that number up to 21.

Done

• 1 - Spend a month on the road: I’ve done several long road trips, the most memorable being the two month long cross-Canada trip I did with Agnes the summer before we got married.
• 6 - Do a 5,000 foot portage: Nothing like hauling a canoe over 1.5km. Kejimkujik National Park, 1998.
• 7 - Drive the Dempster: The highlight of our cross-Canada road trip, we tackled this 720km long unpaved road all the way to Inuvik, enjoying some of the most spectacular scenery and solitude this country has to offer.
• 11 - Tour Kluane’s icefields: We took an amazing flying tour of the Lowell and Kaskawulsh glaciers on our recent trip North.
• 19 - Get a midnight suntan: Mid-July nights in Inuvik are surreal. We’d forget to go to bed, staying up reading until 2am before we realized the time.
• 20 - See the Fundy tides: Growing up in Nova Scotia, this was an easy one.
• 22 - Share the high life: I’m proud to have introduced Agnes to the joy of hiking in the mountains. She doesn’t like the climb as much as I do, but who can argue with the view at the top?
• 33 - Paddle in Killarny: What a beautiful park. I’m glad that most Ontarians head to Algonquin so that the rest can enjoy the white mountains of Killarny in peace & quiet.
• 41 - Get close to a grizzly: The article suggests doing this with a guide (I suppose you can use the guide as bait? I dunno). We did this from the secure confines of the car and didn’t stick around very long enough to find out what those claws can do to metal.
• 46 - Learn first aid: Don’t wait until someone you love needs it.
• 47 - Pedal a century: You haven’t done a real century until you’ve done it with a fully-loaded touring bike. And then done another the next day. And the next.
• 50 - Live in an ocean town: Growing up on the outskirts of Cole Harbour, NS, the salt water marshes were about 1km through the woods behind our house and the pounding surf of Lawrencetown was just down the road.
• 57 - Go hard for 24 hours: Ah, adventure racing. Don’t get me started on this topic or I’ll never stop. I tried my hand at a few 36-hour races in 2000 and have volunteered at many more since.
• 59 - Sleep on a mountaintop: My first overnight hike was the Vancouver Lions in 1997 and we camped on the ridge just past Unnecessary Mountain. You can’t beat a sunset like that.
• 60 - Take a kid: Easy one for a Scout leader. It’s fun to help them discover the outdoors, and they never complain as much as adults do.
• 63 - Dive to a sunken ship: Lake Huron in mid-July is probably colder than the Arctic Ocean. Maybe. But it boasts some very well-preserved wrecks. Nothing like practicing fin pivots on the deck of a sunken ship.
• 67 - Visit L’Anse aux Meadows: The site of a Viking settlement on the northwestern tip of Newfoundland, well worth the drive.
• 79 - Do the Grind: No, not that one, the Grouse Grind. I wish people would stop making this a must-do. It’s a crowded, steep slog straight up Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver. If you’re counting, I did it in 49minutes (my one and only attempt).
• 84 - Bike the Icefields Parkway: If you’re ever going to cycle one place in Canada make it the Icefields Parkway. There is no greater ride. Bring cycling warm clothes (mornings are pretty cold even in summer) and plenty of film. And watch out for those damn RV’s.
• 91 - Hike the Chilkoot Trail: Simply the best hike I’ve ever done. Photos and notes coming soon.
• 94 - Hit PEI’s best beaches: Family trips to PEI were a yearly ritual when I was young. This is how I developed my ability to sunburn so quickly.

Honorable mentions

I think these are close but don’t quite match the spirit the article was shooting for.

• 4 - Howl with the wolves: Camping in Gros Morne, we heard them howling on a clear night. Eerie and beautiful.
• 5 - Jump off a cliff: Pretty stupid for someone afraid of heights. In this case it was swinging off a rope from a 5m cliff into a lake. Somehow I managed to foul it up and land head-first.
• 37 - Ride downhill fast: I’m not a big fan of downhill mountain biking. I prefer the challenge of the climb. But I’ve ridden downhill kinda fast…
• 44 - Go out alone: There’s something magical about being by yourself in the wilderness. This one only rates an honourable mention because my solo trip was in Yosemite National Park in California.
• 52 - See our tallest waterfall: I’ve seen Takakka Falls in Yoho National Park, the second-tallest waterfall in the country.
• 61 - Ride off into the wild: We did a short horseback ride in the mountains near Cache Creek, AB. I’m not a big fan of horses but it was an interesting experience, nonetheless. Makes one appreciate how much less your ass hurts when you’re walking on your own two feet.
• 83 - Visit a ghost town: Keno City in the Yukon is the closest I’ve gotten. Once a bustling mining town, Keno now only boasts a poplution of 25 and is chock-full of artifacts from its mining past.
• 93 - Get into thin air: I’ve only been above 8,000 feet when I hiked North Dome in Yosemite. But if you bike the Icefields Parkway, you’re nearly there: both Bow and Sunwapta Passes are just over 2,000m. Trust me, you’ll feel the difference.

On the short list

• 8 - See our tallest tree(s): I’ve been to Cathedral Grove, but we have many parks yet to explore on Vancouver Island, including Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park.
• 11 - Tour Kluane’s icefields
• 14 - See the polar bears in Churchill: One of these days, a road trip through the northern prairies and the Northwest Territories.
• 15 - Learn the names of trees: I know the basics, but I really ought to do better.
• 17 - Hike the classic: The West Coast Trail is practically at our doorstep. We need to check it out.
• 18 - Put yourself in this photo: I nearly cried when I saw this one, from the Long Range Traverse in Gros Morne. We cut this out of our Newfoundland trip in 1999, opting to do a few day hikes instead. We have to go back.
• 36 - Hike to Mt. Robson: Seen from the top of the Whistlers near Jasper, Mt. Robson is pretty impressive. But I’d like to see it up close.
• 43 - Bike the classic: The Cabot Trail is at the top of my must-do Canadian rides.
• 54 - Do a short-course triathlon: Sigh, the olymic triathlon will have to wait until next year.
• 91 - Hike the Chilkoot Trail