- 14 walking days staying one night
- 5 walking days staying two nights
Packed lunches
20 of 24 walking days will require a packed lunch with snicker bars otherwise I will be eating berries or having to fish along the walking route (Tried fishing in my youth...was terrible at it...honestly didn’t like it much!) ☺️. More importantly 7 walking days > 35 kms require a packed lunch...screw up here and I will be very Hangry at days end.
There likely won’t be too many distractions on these long days…hopefully I will come across a chip wagon with crab or lobster rolls...fish and chips...scallops and fries or calamari (not asking for much), an ice cream stand or at least a lemonade stand!
Popularity of Island Walk
A number of people have walked portions of the Island Walk...however as of 2022 it was estimated that only 50+ had walked the entire route. From the perspective of meeting other Island walkers I expect it will be a lonely walk...that’s ok...I can handle that...similar to my experiences on my first two long walks... Via Jacobi in Switzerland and Via Gebennensis in France. I may break a personal rule and take my Apple AirPods along to listen to my Spotify playlist on long stretches of walking...TBD.
A little Canadian history - Wikipedia
Charlottetown is essentially the birthplace of Canada...so it will be an interesting place to spend a little extra time…have three partial days in Charlottetown to explore.
"The Charlottetown Conference (Canada's Conference) was held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island for representatives from colonies of British North America to discuss Canadian Confederation. The conference took place between September 1 through 9, 1864.The conference had been planned as a meeting of representatives from the Maritime colonies; Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Newfoundland agreed with the movement, but was not notified in time to take part in the proceedings. Britain encouraged a Maritime Union between these colonies, hoping that they would then become less economically and politically dependent on the Crown, and provide for greater economic and military power for the region in light of the American Civil War. However, another colony, the Province of Canada, comprising present-day Ontario and Québec, heard news of the planned conference and asked that the agenda be expanded to discuss a union that would also include them. In August 1864 Newfoundland also asked to be allowed to join the conference.
Canadian Confederation (French: Confédération canadienne) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Dominion of Canada, on July 1, 1867.] Upon Confederation, Canada consisted of four provinces: Ontario and Quebec, which had been split out from the Province of Canada, and the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick]"
Over subsequent years 6 other provinces joined Canada (Prince Edward Island 1873). Canada also has 3 territories.
The Island Walk description on their Facebook page
"Join us on The Island Walk, a beautiful and inspiring trail that takes you through a variety of landscapes! From lush forests to majestic mountains, you can experience the natural beauty of the island while taking part in a meaningful journey."
Ok the hyperbole here seems pretty far fetched 🤣. I suspect lush forests is a bit of a stretch however saying majestic mountains is simply stunning! The highest point on Prince Edward Island is Springton Peak which is get this 140 m (460 ft). Prince Edward Island is mostly flat so majestic mountains...well I will be sure to take a number of photos...hope I don’t freak out due to height exposure on the trail ☺️. Baldy Mountain the highest peak in the great province of Manitoba is 832 m (2,730 ft.) tall so it is Himalayan in comparison to PEI!
Natural beauty of the island I fully expect to see, experience and look forward to enjoying!
Main Walking Challenge
Other than the normal weather related stuff, potential injury/sickness, dangerous animals (3 types of snakes in PEI…one of them is green 😱 …see below) the main concern I have centers around the variability of daily walking distances compared to the other 8 Camino walks and the Kumano Kodo.
Before getting into the numbers a quick refresher (it’s easy... please stick with me...playing with numbers is one of my many fun/happy places!) on how I adjust walking kms for elevation Gains/Losses.
First a little diversion...my brother Marc...one of the funniest people I know...a humble self taught wind engineering expert recently published a paper in a prestigious wind publication. His paper focuses on “Predicting winds aloft using surface wind and the position of the sun”. Marc is really trying to expand our knowledge of wind energy and I commend him for this. I took a look at an early draft version and frankly it blew me away...my math is pre-kindergarten...not even close to Marc’s.
However in a desperate attempt not to be totally undone...🤣😂...I have applied my vast math skills (at one point in life I was a 70% Actuary...but ended up being a 0% Actuary ☺️) in creating a Modified Naismith rule to take into consideration elevation gains/losses while walking. The theory is simple...one slows down while going uphill and a little less of a slow down going downhill.
The original Naismith rule was created in 1892 and since then has had a number of modifications Scarf’s, Tranter’s, Aitken’s, Langmuir. I ignored ALL of these...no fun just copying others 😇... and decided to create my own modification calibrated to my Camino walks as follows:
- Add 1 hour for each 1,000 m elevation gain
- Add .6 hours for each 1,000 m elevation loss
- Modified feels like kms walked equal:
- Actual kms walked + / (Additional hours for elevation gain/loss X km per hour walking speed)
So a 20 km walk with 1,000 m elevation gain (add 1 hour) and 1,000 m elevation loss (add .6 hours) at a 5 km per hour walking speed equates to a modified feels like walking distance of:
- 20 kms + 1.6*5 = 28 kms (modified daily km in graphs below) or 5.6 hours walking time.
This means that a 20 km day feels like walking 28 kms due to the 1,000 m elevation gains/losses. All other Naismith modifications focus on the additional time taken due to elevation gains/losses...my modification breaks totally new ground, blows away all other fancy modifications by creating a “modified feels like walking distance”.
So how do I advance human knowledge like Marc...I mean I can’t keep this discovery just for myself? First I have to name my modification...welcome to the Zebra 🦓 Modified Naismith rule. Why Zebra...well I will let the puzzle aficionados out there figure it out. Hint: It’s all in a family name! ☺️. I will then write a lengthy detailed paper...say about 1 -2 pages total and submit it for acceptance to a fancy prestigious walking magazine...hmmm let’s say “Walking for Dummies” or maybe “Old Fogie Walkers”. Then I fade into obscurity...
How does the Island Walk compare in length to other long walks?
Island Walk will be my 3rd longest:
- Via Gebennensis & Via Podiensis from Geneva to Le Puy en Velay to St. Jean Pied de Port
- 40 walking days (1 rest day)
- Actual walking 1,092 kms
- Modified Zebra Naismith 1,306 kms
- Age 56
- Camino Frances & Camino Finisterre from St. Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela to Finisterre
- 30 walking days (no rest day)
- Actual walking 892 kms
- Modified Zebra Naismith 1,024 kms
- Age 57
- Island Walk from Charlottetown to Charlottetown ☺️
- 24 walking days (no rest day)
- Actual walking 703 kms
- Modified Zebra Naismith 703 kms (pretty flat) 👍
- Age 66 😳
How does the Island Walk compare in terms of daily km walked (using Zebra Modification)?
Of the 127 walking days on 8 Camino routes and Kumano Kodo - 13 days were > 40 kms
Of the 24 walking days on the Island Walk - 7 days will be > 40 kms 😰
Mentally I am confident that I can walk the 703 kms..the little tiny itsy bitsy doubt centers around the high number of very very long days. My > 40 kms experience as shown in the following graph which compares 1) all 8 Camino routes + Kumano Kodo, 2) 2022 Camino Primitivo and Camino San Salvador and 3) Island Walk PEI is fairly limited. Ok so I’m trying something quite different…if I 💩 out I can always fake Blog entries!😉
Note how the Island Walk is clearly polarized at both ends of the short/long walking day spectrum. To put this another way:
Lollygaging walking days < 25 kms
- Should be able to take it easy...seek out opportunities to talk to people...eat ice cream...focus on scenery...eat a casual lunch
- All Caminos + Kumano Kodo 21% of walking days
- Camino Primitivo & Camino San Salvador 12% of walking days
- Island Walking 46% of walking days (11 days)
Steady on walking days >= 25 to < 35 kms
- Solid walking...less casual...have a few quick chats with people...maybe ice cream...quick lunch
- All Caminos + Kumano Kodo 46% of walking days
- Camino Primitivo & Camino San Salvador 59% of walking days
- Island Walking 21% of walking days (5 days)
Heads down walking days >= 35 to < 40 kms
- Real focused walking...wave nicely to people as I hustle by...hallucinating about ice cream... lunch on the fly
- All Caminos + Kumano Kodo 23% of walking days
- Camino Primitivo & Camino San Salvador 17% of walking days
- Island Walking 4% of walking days (1 day)
Come on get a wiggle on it walking days > 40 kms
- Absolutely no goofing around walking...pretend I don’t notice people as I pass (really not nice)...army type focus (as if I know what that would be like 🤣)...no ice cream...grabbing berries off trees on the run without stopping.
- All Caminos + Kumano Kodo 10% of walking days
- Camino Primitivo & Camino San Salvador 12% of walking days
- Island Walking 29% of walking days (7 days)
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| Typical expected end of day feeling after a > 40 km walk |
A little computer technical information 😳. All web links are shown in red. Prior to publishing this blog I would sometimes get a Redirect Notice when clicking on the link which then required a second click. In the published blog version this quirk seems to have mercifully disappeared ☺️. Who knows what will happen when MailChimp sends out the email blog notice (please 🙏🙏 don’t screw up again MailChimp)...I really don’t need extra screwup help!
I am quite excited to have learned how to convert a gibberish web link into whatever I want to call it and highlight it in red ...a major accomplishment in my book. ☺️
What’s in the backpack and on my feet?
Essentially the same as the Camino Primitivo and Camino San Salvador…with a few exceptions:
Shoes - 2 choices both brand new in the box
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| HOKA Bondi 8 - 6th pair + Striped socks |
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| HOKA Speedgoat V5 - 2nd pair |
I wore the HOKA Speedgoat’s on the 2022 Caminos and they were great with Vibram soles ...they really perform in rocky, wet terrain. I wear HOKA Bondi’s exclusively while walking in the city.
Decision - based on my understanding of the Island Walk terrain HOKA Bondi V8 will be the choice. I think the flashier blue colour also looks better for a Canadian walk as opposed to British walk. The HOKA Speedgoat V5 more subdued shoes will be worn for the Wainwrights Coast to Coast walk in England this September.
Socks - 3 brand new $$ pairs of SmartWool Men's Hike Light Cushion Striped Mid Crew Socks. Why striped? Well why not...the Zebra 🦓 Naismith modification demands it 😉 (ok I know that was very bad ☺️). Will they look good...of course Washing/drying...hand wash and air dry only!
T-Shirts - For some dumb reason I had only 2 T-shirts (quick dry high quality types) starting the Camino Primitivo with Paulo. He had 4... I quickly found out that 2 T-shirts is one short and Paulo was nice enough to lend me one of his fancy ones...I think Paulo did not want to hear me whine about my poor planning day in...day out. So I will add a 3rd T-shirt...have a couple of extras to choose from..maybe not as snazzy as the Brazilian T-shirt.
Fleece - North Face black fleece worn on first 6 Caminos and Kumano Kodo was lost in the crazy Madrid airport mad dash 😢😓 to meet Paulo who was somewhere else in the Madrid airport. He had sent me a random picture of where he wanted to meet…impossible to know where that was...totally hopeless 😩 but we worked it out with a little consultation!
Replacement fleece will be an Eddie Bauer First Ascent Cloud layer with full zipper. Grey with an orange zipper…I am going to look real spiffy wearing this fleece with the Tilley hat, the Clooney’s, HOKA’s and striped socks 😎. Oh it’s great to be 66 and totally utterly hopelessly unaware...unlike my pre 66 years 🤔🥲😂!
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| Picture Paulo sent “Meet me here”...we are talking Madrid airport. Sure I’ll just walk around for hours asking folks “Do you recognize where this is?" |
Rain gear - The Packa was not tested at all on 2022 Caminos so back at it for the Island Walk. I will likely add my Patagonia rain jacket as it is lightweight, really helps in windy conditions and will look a little more elegant than the Packa in the evening as I stroll around town.
The only Packa wearing attempt to date was shown in an earlier video which is included here...why am I including it again…just because I felt like it. I may have to test the Packa again as I wouldn’t want to look like a dolt out on Canadian soil while on the Island Walk 🤓.
Dangerous Animals - as indicated earlier there are 3 types of snakes in PEI…one of them is the Eastern smooth green snake which apparently is rare and doesn’t bite! As if! If I see one of these I guarantee that I will break the existing 65+ World Masters 800m record (it may be an unofficial record). Why not 400m? That’s easy...still way too close to the snake! Greg, Sept Wainwright Coast to Coast walking partner and Master track star, will have a record to shoot for in a few years when he hits the magic 65.
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| Eastern smooth green snake |
Getting lost - Always a concern...especially on my own 😄 however I will be in Canada so how bad could it really get! I was hoping to download Island Walk GPX tracks in Wikiloc as this worked exceptionally well on the Camino Primitivo and Camino San Salvador. However they don’t exist...one of my goals will be to record daily tracks and upload them to Wikiloc for future walkers...it will be my gift ☺️...note the technical talk i.e. record and upload...sounds like I know what I am doing.
I understand the Island Walk has signs every 5 kms (or every hour or so) and there is a document which provides directions i.e. “walk on X road and turn right on Y road...” I have printed this out and laminated it (3 sheets) to add to my accommodation laminations...geez with the added weigh I may not be able to take any rain gear 🥲.
I fully expect to get lost sometime...it has happened multiple times on all long walks...and somehow I have always found my way back home...rinse and repeat...get lost...find my way.
Why Walk?
A prominent Camino Forum member provided this link (she gifted it so readers would not hit the NY Times paywall) to a great NY Times article on why people walk and the associated benefits both from a physical and mental well being. A very thoughtful well written article...I can relate fully to what is said as I am sure many of you can. Have a read...it may totally change your opinion on the walking experience!
We have bought mucho 😂 chocolate from Peace by Chocolate...it’s delicious... and purchased their book outlining their frightful time in Syria and their desperate journey to and subsequent Canadian welcome!
Give Peace by Chocolate a try...you will not regret it.
Tarek Hadhad the CEO sent the following email which absolutely made my day and likely that of many other Canadians as well! Note the video link, which is well worth seeing (1-2 minutes), features President Biden being gifted a Peace chocolate bar by Elizabeth May Leader of the Green Party of Canada. Heart warming and funny…watch it to the end...and then maybe do a little chocolate shopping ☺️.
Be curious... take the time to do this 😊 …it will be worth it.
Absolutely incredible to see how a simple gesture of gifting a chocolate bar to President Biden leads to smiles and laughter amongst key political leaders…they are quick on their feet…fun to see.
Makes me very happy and brings a smile thinking the next long walk will be in Canada 🍁. Who would have thought that was possible? A real treat and surprise!
To our friends and family in Antigonish, where we were welcomed with open arms at the farmers market, to our partners, suppliers and retailers across Canada and around the world - thank you.
To the Honourable Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada, your gesture and gift is a moment our family will never, ever forget. Thank you for being a voice for the planet, for its people and for Peace.
Ramadan Mubarak!
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CEO Peace By Chocolate And while focused on chocolate (dark 🙏 the best food ever) a final little diversion! Stumbled on an amazing Podcast which explores the origins and recent rediscovery (by non indigenous people) of the original wild chocolate cacao beans in the Amazon River region in South America. Incredible intrigue, adventures with dangerous animals, people, wild terrain and a feel good story about working with indigenous people to preserve a way of life. End result an 8 part Podcast series...if you like a little adventure...learning something new and simply want a little fun have a listen...oh and there is even an offer to purchase a taste of this Wild Chocolate! OBSESSIONS: Wild Chocolate · October 26, 2022 Stettler chocolate and Louisa Abrams from Brazil...one of the valiant intrepid wild chocolate explorers teamed up to create a rare taste of chocolate from 3 inspiring Amazonian communities... Purus River, Juruá River and Tocantin River. Apparently the Experience box chocolate is like manna from heaven...and...well it is something that I simply have to try...yes $55 US (plus potential additional shipping costs to Canada) for 120 grams is a 😱price...however sometimes one simply has to accept “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity”. I just have to figure out how to circumvent the “shipping only to US” requirement. If any blog readers in the US have any ideas...I’m listening...my credit is top notch! ☺️ The Experience Box - Stettler Chocolate So very close now the Canadian Camino de la Isla Adventure...talk soon! Note blogging on the Island Walk will be mercifully much shorter...some days it may just be pictures...unless of course I get inspired and a story emerges here and there. 😉 |
Sounds like an awesome adventure!! (Scott B)
ReplyDeleteThanks Scott…much appreciated. It will be a quirky walk for sure however very much looking forward to the adventure. Also a little more $ than other walks…geez maybe should have run this by my financial advisor to see what she/he had to say…oh well these things work out in the end 😊
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