[jacquesm]

I've driven and hiked around the Canadian bush quite a bit. It is hard to explain how incredibly large the area is in terms that makes sense if you haven't been there. It isn't uncommon to spend days without seeing another person. It's so quiet the only sounds you hear are the wind (if there is wind), animals and your own heartbeat.

It's also beautiful and brutal at the same time, a single mistake and you're done for so make sure that you know everything there is to know about first aid and keep your gear in very good order. If you bring a vehicle also bring plenty of fuel and tools (and it helps if you know how to use them).

In the words of an 18th century map maker, the North of Canada (Quebec, Ontario) is 'immense forests', in the West you have the Canadian portion of the Rocky Mountains and then there are the territories. You can spend a lifetime there and never see the same thing twice.

[arethuza]

I remember having a flight from LHR to Calgary and was lucky enough to be in a window seat and for it to be daylight and clear - only time I've seen Greenland! What I was prepared for was how big, flat and pretty much featureless that part of Canada is just his awesome patchwork of lakes, streams and the occasional esker.

Only thing that has been similar was flying north from Kenya to Egypt and being similarly amazed at how vast the Sahara is.

[breakbread]

Oh man. I was flying ATL to LHR a couple years ago and went went over the southern tip of Greenland. My initial reaction was that of wonder and amazement, followed by a hint of unsettling terror at the vast emptiness of the landscape.

[exhilaration]

My wife and I watched this movie https://www.amazon.com/Arctic-Mads-Mikkelsen/dp/B07N42LPH9/r... on Amazon Prime and it's full of the "unsettling terror at the vast emptiness of the landscape" you mention.

[arethuza]

I was amazed at the transition from the coast, where it is mountains and some glaciers to further inland where there are nunataks to nothing but ice. Then the reverse at the other side.

I spend a lot of time in the mountains of Scotland so I couldn't help thinking "so that's the Highlands looked like 12,000 years ago" to it all.

[tom_mellior]

> esker

TIL, thanks! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esker

[ShteiLoups]

For those who'd like some context, I'll reccomend the YouTuber John Zahorian, and his "Great Divide Trail" hike. Gives some sense of the wildness of a small portion of the country.

[forgot-my-pw]

We just discovered of what might be the largest cave in Canada just last year: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/new-cave-bc-...

There's a lot of surface that are covered by glaciers or forest and not visible from the sky.

[pingyong]

>It is hard to explain how incredibly large the area is in terms that makes sense if you haven't been there.

"30 times the area of Norway" usually gives a good first impression.