This “Hermit” Loves Company
by Dan Harrison
[from the Great Lakes Skier]
[Goulais, Ontario: August 26,1996] Tea for two– or two hundred? It’s all in a day’s “work” for Norm Bourgeois, whose cabin on Bone Lake, in the Algoma wilderness, has become a mecca for skiers exploring the trails of the Stokely Creek Ski Touring Center. As what you might call “the world’s most sociable hermit,” the Algoma Steel retiree has provided a haven in the backcountry for the tired, the thirsty, and the adventurous for nearly a dozen years. In that time, some 8,000 skiers have signed the guest log, which now fills several volumes.
Repeat visitors enjoy looking for their old log entries. They also know to allow plenty of time for their visit, to look and listen. Norm’s cabin is a reflection of the man himself– the accumulation of eighty years of vigorous living. Every square inch of the walls and ceiling is festooned with mementos, from beartraps to boxing programs, and every one of them has a story. If you don’t believe me, just ask Norm.
For years, I had been intrigued by an old photo of a muscular young man, his head hidden in an outlandish homemade diving helmet. Last March, my curiosity finally got the best of me. My reward was an hour’s reminiscence, ranging from hair-raising to side-splitting. Fortunately, I had the foresight to bring lunch. Yes, that was Norm in the picture, taken when he was in his teens. He had earned that physique by swimming in Lake Superior. He and his brother made the helmet, actually more of a diving bell, to salvage lost objects. One brother went below while the other worked topside, pumping air through an old garden hose. Ask Norm about the time the hose broke. Or about the best job they ever did: seems there was this rich city slicker who lost his new outboard motor overboard… but I’ll let Norm finish that one.
Looking out the windows has its rewards, too. A steady stream of birds visits the feeder~beneficiaries, like yourself, of Norm’s hospitality. The very patient, or lucky, visitor may spy larger game in the distance. In the immediate area Norm has observed moose, wolves, otters, wolverines, bears and other furbearing fauna, sometimes at closer range than he wished.
Every March, the Wabos Loppet brings a bumper crop of company, when more than two hundred skiers take a special Algoma Central train into the bush and ski back to the Stokely Creek lodge. Ten kilometers from the finish, Norm’s cabin provides an ideal stop to prepare for the final push. The usual fare of tea and cookies is supplemented by oranges and bananas. Wet hats, jackets and gloves hang from the rafters, drying quickly in the heat from the wood stoves.
Since turning eighty last year, Norm has been easing up a bit-for him, that is. His beloved dog, Lucky, died, and the water buckets just seem heavier and the firewood harder to split than it used to. Without having to be asked, Norm’s friends at Stokely Creek have pitched in with the chores, so that he can continue to man his outpost. The crackle of his greeting over the two-way radio at Stokely Creek Lodge is as familiar and comforting a morning ritual as a steaming mug of coffee.
Now the Algoma Highlands Conservancy, representing environmental, recreational and sustainable forestry interests the area, is proposing to purchase Norm’s cabin and its immediate grounds. While he would remain as tenant for life, the income from the sale would supplement Norm’s modest Algoma Steel pension, and provide for his wife, Elaine. The cabin would stand as a memorial to Norm Bourgeois, as a unique artifact of vanishing Algoma history, and as a vital link in the Stokely Creek trail system.
Pursuing its mandate to provide year-round opportunities for silent sports such as cros~country skiing and hiking, the bi-national Algoma Highlands Conservancy’s past activities include the acquisition of King Mountain, ensuring its pristine condition. It is also pioneering innovative forest management practices that will restore the biodiversity of the forest, reintroducing plant species that were wiped out by logging and settlement. For this special project, however, the Conservancy is reaching out beyond its own membership to the community of skiers that comprise Norm’s extended family. While outright donations are welcome (and tax-deductible), the group is offering a special line of items, from the “I had Tea at Norm’s” bumper sticker to a jigsaw puzzle photo of the cabin’s ceiling, for contributions at various levels.
“I didn’t come out here to be alone,” Norm says. Eight thousand signatures bear witness that he isn’t. To contact the Conservancy, write: Algoma Highlands Conservancy, clo C.B.S.l., 406 Ashmun St., Suite 201, Sault Ste. Marie, Ml 49783 or phone: (705) 759-4780.
