Hobo...with a cell phone!

OK. I walked to PEI. Some 280+ kms of walking in 7 days, which works out to about a marathon a day on foot with a pack on your back. There was more pain than I expected and less bother about being uncomfortable. Pain became a constant companion somewhere in the middle of Day 2 and has not left me yet. What parts hurt? Basically, every thing that moved, carried weight or touched anything else. My mantra was...

Keep Walking
Just Keep Walking

Whenever one set of pains would lessen, a new one would start up or an old one flare up. As the days accumulated, so did the list of aches and pains. All in all, a very painful exercise. Much more pain that I anticipated.

My concerns about being uncomfortable (ie: rain, being wet all the time, nights on the ground with no cover) were over-rated. You can only get so wet and so uncomfortable in this particular set of circumstances. This would be in contrast to the pain which developed into so many levels it becaime a mental battle as well as a physical one.

I'm going to do up a Gonzo web page story with more details to suit my requirements, but for now, it's the blog entry, some detail and the trip video, which shows a fair bit of pain etched into my facial features.

Walk to PEI - 280+ kms, 7 days, 6 nights, 3 in motel, 3 on ground, rain every day&night.

Halifax to Elmsdale - 41 kms, dinner at pub, sleep under bridge
Elmsdale to Truro - 51 kms, dinner Chinese, sleep in motel
Truro to Earltown - 35 kms, dinner beans, sleep in woods
Earltown to Tatamagouche - 21 kms, dinner Chinese, sleep in motel
Tatamagouche to Port Philip - 45 kms, dinner beans, sleep under tree
Port Philip to Port Elgin - 43 kms, no dinner, sleep in motel
Port Elgin to Bridge - 28 kms, dinner at Mom's, sleep in nice bed

Used Rogers cellphone where it worked....Called Sophie for her birthday, let Regina know where I was, let my Mom know where I was and when I was coming, had Bruce Duffy to share my experience with. Glad I had the phone. Nice to book a motel not having to show up like drowned rat at the only motel within 50 kms and you're on foot. Hard to haggle a decent off-season price. All in all a great tool to have in your backpack.

My self-indulgent writeup on the Gonzo site: Hey! My scrotum is wet!!!

Following is a little 2:18 minutes video with 7 little clips embedded:

Walk to PEI

Being unable to swing the details to spend my 1st 3 weeks retired walking the Appalachian Trail, I have opted to walk the 250+ kms from my house in Halifax, NS to the Confederation Bridge, PEI. Sounds simple enough. Nice, laid back secondary roads, fair amount of stores, gas stations and motels along the way, early spring weather.

I'm bringing a 9 kg pack with a winter-weight sleeping bag, mat, rain gear and change of clothes, plus a cell phone and camera (for all the highlights).

My sleeping places will be a few motels and your basic on the ground in a sleeping bag.

Why am I doing this? I want to break the mental tie from a 23-year career job, see how my body handles everyday distance walking and see just how uncomfortable I'm willing to be at my advanced age. When I did this stuff in my 20's, the ability to be uncomfortable made a whole lot of other options that much simpler. I have to be a lot tougher than I am currently to do the sort of travelling I want to do in New Zealand (Walk and Wwoof my way from North to South for at least 1000 kms).

This trip will be a good test of my gear setup, my headspace and my aging parts. The 'on the ground' conditions will be a good test of all the mental mojo.

Everything else fits inside a 40 liter bag (the blue one showing in my profile picture.) Weight is 9 kgs with .5 liter water, 1 day food and a few morning porridges and hot chocolates.

GEAR

40 liter knapsack
Waist pouch for camera, map and change
15 liter waterproof liner bag
Cat's Meow winter-weight poly sleeping bag
Self-inflating mat
Cell phone, watch, camera, 1-cell radio
Compass, whistle, foil blanket, multi-tool, candle
Map, book, glasses, pen/pencil, Therma-rest repair
Rope, cable-ties, sewing kit
Water bottle (.5 liter) and chlorine tablets

KITCHEN / FOOD

Butane/propane stove, pots, gas, matches
Cup, spoon, knife, can opener, scrubber
4-5 packets of porridge, tea
Multi-vitamins
1 day of food (apple, pasta or soup, chocolate, nuts, bread)

CLOTHES

Body - Hat, t-shirt, shorts, socks and boots
Rain shell, pants, gaiters
Sandals
Tights
Skull cap and balaclava
Bathing suit and towel
2 poly hats, light & dark
2 wool socks and 1 poly liner
2 poly gloves
2 spare tops (short and long)
2 underwear

MEDICAL / TOILETRIES

Band-aids, moleskin, alcohol gel, compression wrap, Vitamin I
Gauze, tape, Murine, asthma inhaler
Toothbrush/paste, floss, vaseline, sun lotion, toilet paper