Walking across Europe - 2013: PEI Island Walk - May 19 , 2023 Day 3 Carleton to Summerside

Daily Information

Distance: 24.6 Kms

Walking time: 4h 34m

Doddling time: 50m

% Doddling time: 15.4%

Avg walking speed: 5.4 Kms/hr

Elevation G/L meters: 139 : (141)

Total Daily steps: 37, 530

Today was another very good day however it had two distinct parts. The first 13.5 kms were very pleasant…secondary road walking…an unexpected adventure which made my day…a nice rest stop…a dangerous animal encounter.

But the wind…really something…currently 48 kms an hour gusting to 63 kms per hour. Walking against the wind is a little …tough at times 😅

The second part was absolutely dreadful 😢…walking along the Trans Canada 🇨🇦 Highway…facing traffic of course…all the way to Summerside! Yikes there many trucks out there…farm machinery etc. Two shoulders…paved adjoining highway and gravel next to it. I stuck mostly to gravel shoulder giving me lots of room and frankly if need be jump in the ditch!

I refer to this lousy second part walking as Point A to Point B walking. Simply no reason to walk whatsoever …except get to Point B…happens in every long walk. Accept it…forget about it…move on.

Started walking at 6:55 am even though I knew that I would likely finish way too early…12:30 😂. Just don’t see the point of sitting around a motel room when I could start the day…🤔

Before getting to the fun part of the day a few totally off topic things…my specialty 😂

Woke up this morning having received this new badge from FitBit! Really these badges are way to funny…if only they realized the bozo they are sending these two I’m sure they would either stop or kill themselves laughing 😂

Really…blue suede shoes…oh my!

Now this may not seem like a big thing but it’s huge…a small heater in the room! So just before zonking out last night…sometime between 8:30 and 9:00 😮‍💨 I washed some clothes (sink…soap,,,swish around…squeeze out water method) and voila DRY this morning!

Back to yesterday had a TV in the room…turned it on and the PGA golf championship first round was on! How lucky is that! I used to watch all kind of sports but hardly ever now…golf majors (PGA, British Open, US Open) and the Holy Grail Sunday at the Masters being the exception!!! Absolute best TV watching!

Corey Conners from Canada 🇨🇦 is -3 and only 2 shots off the lead! Go Canada Go!

Another day…another interesting shower apparatus. Picture a little deceiving…shower head - shoulder height…shower control lever - below the knees! Ok who designed this? Rishi 1 year old grandson would love this setup.

If after reading this you are thinking “Guy is really at a loss as to what to write today” you would somewhat correct…slow news day.

Woke up feeling like every muscle ached.,,geez feel like I must be 100 years old!

Forecast good…chilly with winds currently gusting to 44 kms per hour…easily that and more yesterday 😉.

A neat story on weather forecasting. Bill who runs Bill Jameson Van Service sent me a text message with his most recent weather forecast! I went WHAT? Turns out Bill was a meteorologist and completes his weather forecast daily and publishes it on his blog!

I am now a subscriber to the blog and will receive his forecasts daily…what an amazing turn of events…we had a good chat yesterday while Bill was driving me and I now have detailed weather forecasts.

Here is the first one…I thought this is very well done…just the right level of detail. SO a big upcoming event…Sunday rain…the longest expected day at 46 km 😱… the Packa has its chance to shine!!!

https://peistormchaser.wordpress.com/

Ok the first 13.5 kms can best be described as per a previous blog…

« 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 »

Well look at the high 15.4% Doddling Time for the day…most took place in the first 13.5 kms…examples

Stopped at a small coffee shop in Central Bedeque and actually sat down to rest for a while. An elderly couple (likely my age 😢) at the next table asked if I was walking the Island Walk. We had a nice chat…they are from Nova Scotia and have a summer place in PEI. I could tell by their questions that they simply could not comprehend what I was doing…that’s ok I am not sure I get it either 😂.

With the scone I had a Ginger Ale…interesting that I rarely have soda’s any more however on all long walks…no matter how much water I drink…my body craves the sodas!

Delicious scone at Baba’s …so good I forgot to take initial picture!

Great place in Central Bedeque

Ok the ice cream came later but still it happened upon arrival in Summerside I saw the following and simply could not resist!

Could you resist?

Was too excited to start - had a cherry and nuts on top Salted Caramel!

Dangerous animal encounter

Happened yesterday and today - large farms dogs come running and barking! Today wasn’t too bad as the two dogs came rushing at me but stayed on the property.

Yesterday wasn’t as much fun…large dog came charging…did not stop at property line and came unto the highway. I immediately did my normal…faced the dog…yelled while clanging my trekking poles together. The dog stopped…I kept walking…dog followed for a few minutes…eventually returning home. This isn’t new…happens most walks…unnerving but so far nothing more serious…a bit lucky there!

The adventure of the day

At roughly the 7 km point an Island Walk sign clearly said turn left next street. My GPS track said keep going straight 🤔.

Given the Island Walk is so new it is likely undergoing route changes so I turned left…almost immediately there was an Island Walk sign so all good!

A very pleasant walk…but no more signs…fortunately I have downloaded maps to go along the GPX track that I am following. I decided that if by a certain point in time I had not seen another sign that I would go crazy and create my own path back to GPX track.

And so I did…it was like being an early explorer to Canada…except with roads in place 😂…I walked through farmers fields on red mud roads and eventually hooked up with the original track.

That was an adventure and sure fun! I have communicated my adventure to Bryson Guptill the creator of the Island Walk who has confirmed that I have indeed created my own unique Island Walk path. It will hereafter be named the Arbez or Zebra variant? This is incredibly funny 😂.

Bryson indicated he will take a look at signage…who knows I have been known to imagine things in the past! For sure though…from now on stick to the PEI GPX tracks as originally provided!!!

Subsequently he sent me the “secret map” which is on the island Walk website however I had not understood that it has the path on it AND if you click on an icon your location is shown. Could be very useful going forward.

Staying at Quality Inn & Suites in Summerside…very nice…honestly don’t need this level of comfort but what can you do ☺️. Tomorrow breakfast at 7am is included so will partake.

Then short walk to Wellington where there is no accommodation…so the shuttle shenanigans again… back to Summerside after tomorrows walk…then back to Wellington the next morning 😳

The next two days or 66 kms are all on the Confederation Trail so no road walking 😊. The Apple Air Pods are going to be used. Scenery will likely be trees and more trees so who knows what blogs will be about…hmmm may be mercifully short 🤔. No way I can deviate from the route…or can I?

Some pictures from the day to close off…