Jordan Slotopolsky works out five days a week. “Fitness is a constant for me. I need a good sweat every morning to clear my head and feel good,” explains the New York–based hospitality consultant. And while Slotopolsky appreciates time off, “I just can’t dedicate a whole vacation to R&R—I need to be challenged.”
A better route for a guy like him? Muskoka, gateway to Ontario’s Algonquin Provincial Park and a fresh-air weekend destination within easy reach of Toronto.
“Initially, I had no clue whatsoever about Muskoka,” says the competitive athlete. A friend who’d been there assured him it was beautiful—and that all those pro hockey players who keep cottages there in the summer off-season can’t be wrong.
“In New York, I’m always on the go,” Slotopolsky says. “My day starts early with 6 a.m. workouts and ends with post-work dinner plans. It can make me feel socially exhausted at times, plus the city is so congested. Sometimes I crave fresher air and more open space.” He was happy to skip town on a convenient WestJet flight. Ninety minutes from takeoff, he was on the ground in Toronto, with Muskoka less than two hours away by car.
The first excursion delivered maximum payoff in almost no time at all: Algonquin Park’s 1.2-mile Lookout Trail, which rewards a fit hiker like Slotopolsky with a tremendous panorama after about 15 minutes of walking. “The trail took me along this massive cliff overlooking the whole forest,” he says. “It was breathtaking. So serene and peaceful—the opposite of the traffic, construction, subway delays, and other typical New York aggravations. I didn’t want to leave.”
He got a more personal view of the forest at Treetop Trekking, an aerial obstacle course where Slotopolsky spent two hours on ziplines, cable traverses, swinging logs, and suspension bridges. “It was that best combination: a hard workout but also fun,” he says.
He began the next day well-rested from his night at Deerhurst Resort,and stand-up paddleboarding on Oxtongue Lake allowed him to change pace once again. The board and other gear came courtesy of Algonquin Outfitters, at its original 1961 flagship near the west entrance of the park. “Paddleboarding combined the workout of the obstacle course with the insanely beautiful views of the hike,” Slotopolsky explains, and the experience put him into an almost meditative state. “The slightest shift can redistribute your weight and send you into the lake, so I had to be hyper-aware of my balance. At the same time, I was paddling around and getting a new view of the scenery with each turn.”
His last stop was Frankies Surf Club in Muskoka for fresh juice and a browse of bohemian-inspired resort wear.
Returning to New York, Slotopolsky was still flying high on his dose of super-accessible outdoors and how it had made him feel. “This trip really encouraged me to just slow down, look around, and take everything in,” he says. “There are beautiful things in life, and seeing everything that Muskoka has to offer was an awesome reminder of that.”
For more info on WestJet flights to Toronto, including the benefits of WestJet’s Premium fares, click here.
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