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Towns Along the Way
An index of some towns near trails and parks that I've described.




















































































































































































My Interesting Tales page has old front page items. Dated but still interesting.

Rails to trails: A discussion of historical connections to old rail beds

Algonquin Park, Ontario
I walked the entire Highlands Backpacking Trail in one day on August 21, 2013. It's a 35-kilometre trail in Algonquin Park, but with the extensions it ended up as a 40-kilometre walk for me. Read my report here. I have also posted my late September walk in Algonquin's Eastern Pines Backpacking Trail.

I have created a page containing some lessons I learnt on my recent hike in the Appalachians. It deals with preparing for a longer hike.  While it focuses on the Appalachian Trail, the tips are helpful for preparation of any hike. Preparing for a hike.

I am presently writing my impressions of the first 200 miles of the Appalachian Trail, from Amicalola Falls State Park (the approach trail at the south end) to the start of the trail on Springer Mountain (both in Georgia), then on to to Clingmans Dome just inside the border of Tennessee, with North Carolina to the south. I walked this section in the spring of 2013. I've completed a description of the approach trail and the first 60 miles. See here for my Appalachian pages.







The village where I live: Thomasburg, Ontario. Coming home after a walk in September.








"Walking, ideally is a state in which the mind, the body and the world are aligned, as though they were three characters finally in conversation together, three notes suddenly making a chord. Walking allows us to be in our bodies and in the world without being made busy by them." - Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust (p. 5).


Finlo Rohr has written an excellent piece connecting walking with thinking, wandering, getting lost (in a good sense), writing, philosophy and the like. It's a BBC piece called "The slow death of purposeless walking" (May 1, 2014).

Some politics...

The U.S. government is cutting off its nose to spite its face, as my mum used to say.

Here's a piece from the Knoxville Daily Sun describing cutbacks to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and similar parks across the country. It's killing a thriving tourist industry and depriving millions of Americans of a cheap and healthy way to relax.
A view of the Blue Ridge Mountains from Rocky Bald on the Appalachian trail (127.5
miles from Springer Mountain). A photo cannot do justice to the breathtaking
splendour of these mountains: after hours of long, exhausting trekking, the top of
a mountain is reached, or there is an opening in the trail's forest canopy, and you
cannot fail to be awestruck by the grandeur of these ancient hills. Photo: June 5, 2013 

In Canada, the federal government and the Ontario provincial government (and likely other provinces) are slashing programs too. It's somewhat more muted than the American version, but it's slow and steady and it's eroding our parks and natural spaces. (See this Globe and Mail report for federal park cuts; this Toronto Star article for Ontario park cuts.) Same end effect: a nasty jab at affordable recreation for the middle and lower classes, a devastating kick at the livelihood of tourist operators, and the elimination of hundreds of research programs, youth programs and the like to generally lower our standard of living. False thrift.


here's a piece from one of Dr. Andrew Weil's monthly health emails:

"Walking: There is a "Right" Way!

Walking is an ideal way to get daily exercise - it strengthens almost every major organ in the body, promotes optimal bone density, and boosts the immune system. But have you considered how to best put one foot in front of the other? Your walking habits can have an impact on how much benefit you get from each outing. Keep the following in mind when walking:

1. Walk with your head erect. Train your sight 10 to 20 feet ahead of you. If you need to check the ground to avoid obstacles, lower your eyes, not your head, and try not to thrust your trunk forward or let your arms dangle listlessly at your sides.
2. Keep your back straight. Stretch your spine so your shoulders are level and square, and tuck your buttocks in.
3. Bend your arms. Flex your elbows at close to 90-degree angles and let your arms swing at waist level.
4. Take shorter, measured steps, with your feet striking the ground with the heel and pushing off with the toes. An unnaturally long stride can throw you off balance.

The admonition in #1 to lower your eyes and not your head is a tough one. It works on garden paths, but not on really rough terrain.


While their language can be obscure, the U.S.-based  Performing Mobilities Network is intriguing. They apparently use performance artists to investigate aspects of "mobility" including walking. If they could get a tad further from the foggy artistic/academic doubletalk, they could be onto something. As one of my careers includes performance, it seems a good thing could be developed here. Of course, gypsies and the like were on to this years ago, but still, a formal (practical) investigation of art and walking could be exciting. Sign me up!







Camping in the air. This is from the Daily Mail. Slackwalking and now camping on nets and ropes. Definitely out there! Take a stroll with nothing but 420 feet of air between you and the desert sand.











Study of Gneiss Rock, Glenfinlas, 1853, Ashmolean Museum,
Oxford, England. Pen and Ink and wash with Chinese ink on
paper. Photo: From John Ruskin Wikopedia page.

Vanderwater Park, near Thomasburg, Ontario is my "home park." This ice and water pictorial essay of a little seasonal falls and creek that flows in the park, eventually pouring into the Moira River, describes one of my favourite haunts.

Photo: from the Daily Mail (see link above).

Stephen Gough is trudging across Britain as we speak (unless he's in the clink). In October, 2014, the European Court of Human Rights rejected his bid to get them to support his claim that his rights are being transgressed.

He has spent an incredible amount of time in prison for his efforts, but continues his hobby with passion. See this June 19, 2013 Guardian article for details on his latest jailing.   In February, 2013, the courts ordered him to cover up, but he  obviously didn't abide.

Prudery, attention-getting, psychological warts and so on aside, it's more about the right to be eccentric. The Brits, of all nations are experts at that.


Stephen Gough hiking in Scotland. See the full Guardian (on the link to the
left) article for more. Photo from the Guardian site.

In late June, the Appalachian has a nude hiking day. Here's a really bad cutline from the Christian Science Monitor in 2009. Apparently the governor of South Carolina took off unannounced on nude hiking day. The CSM made the connection, except that it was simply a coincidence. The governor may or may not be a really naughty guy, but the supposedly humorous connection may fool some into thinking he really did hike nude!

Of course, if you meet a naked hiker, depending upon your gender, it could be unsettling. Here's a woman who has some advice if you meet a naked hiker on the Appalachian, or any trail for that matter: Six safety tips a naked hiker taught me.

Some years ago, the Canadian Federation of Podiatric Medicine, declared Vancouver the best Canadian walking city. (By the way, the CFPM site is pretty cool if you're looking for advice on foot care.) Second was Fredericton, followed by Nanaimo, Brantford and Peterborough. A CNW article (which looks like it's actually a CFPN news release) provides more information, including a list of the top 15 cities. Westjet airlines has a 2010 list that's interesting, although a  check of where the judges live indicates some bias in city choices.

 

Texting and walking -- not a good idea.
2012: Here's a CBC report on texting and walking. Some U.S. states are considering a ban on texting or listening to music while walking. Recently, after a decline, there's been an increase in  deaths while walking. Some say this is because of inattentive walkers, listening to music or texting while walking. CBC filed a report from New York.

In Fort Lee, New Jersey, cops are Handing out $85 tickets for texting and walking. You are warned: in Fort Lee, just walk and chew your gum. Stop at a bar for a couple of beer before texting.
 

Time to walk faster. An article in the Post Chronicle discusses a study in which it claims older people who walk slowly will die earlier than those of the same age who walk faster. A report last year (2012) links slower walking with the greater chance of getting dementia in later years.

On the other hand, some claim that walking slower burns more calories. Be careful here: an often-cited University of Colorado report by Ray Browning actually makes a more subtle point, which is that obese people, who may like walking at a more leisurely pace will make more strides within a weight-loss management program than if they push themselves.

The Human Body is Built for Distance Check out this  New York Times article. It's mostly about running, but there are arguments here for walkers to ponder.

I like the pitch for lower tech footwear. I'm testing out a very light pair of Vibram Five Fingers now (March 2013).  It's too early to tell, but I think at the very least they'll make a light second piece of footwear for fording creeks and sitting around a camp in the evening giving my boots a rest.

August, 2013 update: my "VFF's" are great for teaching my toes not to overlap (which they do). However, I have found that they don't work for me in camp. After a tiring day hiking, spending a long time to put on shoes that are not particularly comfortable is a big negative. My pair is also very thin, so stumbling on any rock or root could damage my foot (and stumbling is much more likely after a long day).

Also, after not too much use, they stink. Washing with soap helps, but that's another job that's a drag. I'll stick with something that protects my toes a bit more and that I can slip into quickly to give my feet a break from boots.

Walter Benjamin, in One-Way Street (1923-26):
 

"The power of a country road when one is walking along it is different from the power it has when one is flying over it by airplane. In the same way, the power of a text when it is read is different from the power it has when it is copied out.

"The airplane passenger sees only how the road pushes through the landscape, how it unfolds according to the same laws as the terrain surrounding it. Only he who walks the road on foot learns the power it commands, and of how, from the very scenery that for the flier is only the unfurled plain, it calls forth distances, belvederes, clearings, prospects at each of its turns like a commander deploying soldiers at a front. Only the copied text thus commands the soul to him who is occupied with it, whereas the mere reader never discovers new aspects of his inner self that are opened by the text, that road cut through the interior jungle forever closing behind it: because the reader follows the movement of his mind in the free flight of daydreaming, whereas the copier submits it to command. The Chinese practice of copying books was thus an incomparable guarantee of literary culture, and the transcript a key to China's enigmas."

I am walking; it is enough.
 

            Ice grass, Nesowadnehunk Stream,

            Appalachian Trail, Maine.
            November, 2008