PEI Island Walk - June 9, 2023 Day 20 Vernon Bridge to Charlottetown

Daily Information 

Distance:    26.2 Kms   [ 581.7 Kms]

Walking time:  4h 46m [107h 53m]

Doddling time:  40m  [11h 46m]

% Doddling time:  14.1% [10.2%]

Avg walking speed: 5.5 Kms/hr  [5.4 Kms/hr]

Elevation G/L meters: 89(120)  [1,706:(1,612)]

Total Daily Steps: 43,200 [875,867]

% of Walking Days Complete (24): 83.3%

% of Total Kms (estimate 703): 82.7% 

% of Shuttle Rides (estimate 17): 105.9%

% Come on get a Wiggle on Days (>40 km):

57.1% 

Key observations/learnings based on Daily Information Statistics

- Doddling % @ 10% seems quite low - reasons…this was a very lonely walk with few places to stop…have a leisurely lunch…sightsee therefore 90% of the time I was simply walking 🚶

- Avg Walking Speed @ 5.4 kms per hour…Given The Island Walk has minimal elevation gains/losses this confirms my 5.5 kms per hour assumption used in the Zebra modification. I use this to gauge difficulty of various walks…a good result!

- Come on get a Wiggle on Days (>40 kms)… I thought this was the single biggest risk to my 24 day planned walk. 7 such days were planned…4 for 4 success rate! I was extremely pleased with this result…sure they were long days especially the 46 km day however I walked well all longer days. Knowing I can still do this distance is important should I ever need to do it in the future…however I will certainly never plan on walking this distance again. 

- Avg kms per day - 29.1 kms. Phew 😮‍💨 This will be the peak of my walking career …future walks let’s dial that back please to maybe 25 or even 24.9 kms per day 😊

Today was a carbon copy of the past 3 days…with the exception of 5-6 kms of road walking before the bridge entering Charlottetown. Cool 12C…minimal mosquitoes (boy do I smell like bug spray!)…walking very well again. Left at 5:45am…tired of waiting…let’s get started 😊☺️🎉

One last time!

Very quiet walk again…no people encounters…no incidents of any kind!

The long and winding road ahead!

Ok 27 kms…I can do it…let’s go!

Made it! Done! Yahoo! 

Late breakfast in Charlottetown 

Later still lobster grilled cheese roll! 

Reflecting on The Island Walk I have asked myself a few questions

Was it worth it?

Yes. An honest answer however this has to be my craziest long walk…I had been thinking about this walk for a few years…was most interested in a Canadian long walk. In the end based on what information I had at hand it essentially followed the script.

I was fortunate to have the chance to give it a go and I will remember it as a positive experience. I hit a rough spot on day 16…and still managed to walk into Charlottetown 😊…that makes me feel good!

Some may ask “geez you must regret eating those oysters?” Well the result wasn’t good but how/why would I regret it? I had a kind offer to spend an evening as a guest of George the accommodations owner. It was one of the highlights on the people side of the entire walk! No regrets for accepting the invitation and eating what was offered to me…an Island style reception was received!

There is no doubt in my mind that I would have completed the challenging walk as planned. Honestly I was surprised how strongly I was walking. However a problem occurred…I dealt with it…and I feel good about the overall experience.

To my way of thinking I am much better off trying something a little challenging than simply wishing and wondering what if I had.

Would I do it again?

No. That is the same answer I would give to any long walk…with the possible exception of the Kumano Kodo in Japan…there are simply so many possible outstanding walks…so little time. Why would I do the same walk twice?

Would I recommend it?

Frankly I don’t like recommending long walks to anyone as there are too many variables involved. Everyone’s goals, preferences, abilities, mindset are so very different. What I am prepared to say is if you choose to walk The Island Walk some key considerations are:

- You must be comfortable walking by yourself for days on end 

- You should not simply rely on signage…it is good however GPS tracking saved me more than once 

- Be prepared for many days where there is nowhere to buy food etc between start and finish

- Attractions ie museum’s, small bars historical churches etc are few and far between 

- Road walking is at least 50% of the walk

- Be prepared for nature bio breaks…biffies at are a premium 

- Walk is way more expensive in comparison to Camino walks…no “ pilgrim” type accommodations

- Seriously consider utilizing the services of a professional such as Bill Kendrick PEI Experience. In my opinion the existing Island Walk website and the Guide are not sufficient planning tools 

- Above all consider the Island Walk only if your prime consideration is the pure enjoyment of simply walking 🚶

What did I like best?

Easy responses…the friendly people of PEI…the outstanding beauty of many areas of the province…opportunity to sample seafood. What amazes me is simply this…PEI is a lot bigger than it appears to be as a tiny island on the map!!! 😂😮‍💨

Maybe above all else it spoke to my sense of adventure and trying something new and different!

What did I like least?

Not meeting fellow walkers…mosquitoes on one section of the Confederation Trail…too much road walking on some days…few small towns if any on many days…lack of accommodation choices 

What is future of Island Walk?

An honest assessment is unless significant improvements in accommodation choices are made in the next few years The Island Walk will never really take off.  It is simply too expensive due to the accommodation challenges necessitating shuttles etc.

Having said this the walk is only 4 years old…and let’s see COVID and Hurricane Fiona! Amazing progress in a short period of time. Having a few dozen homes hang an Air B&B shingle for a room or two in key areas would make a significant difference!

What equipment choices were good?

Basically the equipment I went with proved to be excellent in the Camino Primitivo and Camino San Salvador. A few pieces warrant comment 

HOKA Bondi V8 - excellent choice for this walk which due to plentiful road walking required maximum comfort

Packa - while I poked a lot of fun at the Packa it is pretty neat rain gear…it will be used again 

Colour Matching - always a key component of long walks…the light Patagonia windbreaker is simply amazing. A home run on these choices….now please don’t tell me you can’t spot the colour matching!

Tilley Hat - a very wise move to buy a new one…it performed very well as a mini umbrella, sun protector and of course it looked very very sharp as you can tell from the photo below. Oh and the straps holding on the hat 🙏 without them I would have lost the Tilley a gadzillion times in the wind!

What equipment choice were poor?

Mini scissors and knock off Goob tube were both junk! Grudgingly I should throw in the $1.75 ($2.00 with HST) poncho bought at Dollarama. It was an impulse buy and not very well thought through! Geez the sleeves do not even cover my arms! What was I thinking? So poor that I ran out of luggage space (see purchases below) and left it in the hotel room along with my can of mosquito spray!

Comparison to a Camino Walk!

No comparison possible to a Camino Walk…anyone reading my blog entries who has completed a Camino walk will recognize significant differences immediately. 

Critical Island Walk Closing Gift Purchases

On arrival May 16th I was so proud of myself as I took care of critical gift purchases which I was able to leave behind at the Arts Hotel where I am staying tonight.

Rose 8 & Elodie 5

Rishi 1

As I was walking…in my spare time 😳…I got to thinking. Rose and Elodie will almost certainly like the hoodies BUT these are Fall items. They would like something to wear right now! Rishi probably won’t say a word!

So I left early this morning knowing that another shopping trip was in store for me…a bit of a softie that way ☺️…tada…was hoping for more pizzazz but this was I hope a good choice 🤔 If not at least the intentions were good 😂

Rose 8 & Elodie 5

Rishi 1

The Modified Island Walk is history! 2023 is an exceptional year for long walks given another long walk … the 2 week Wainwright Coast to Coast England Walk awaits mid September.

2023 happens to be the 50th anniversary of the Wainwright Coast to Coast Walk so it will be busy with walkers! Looking forward to that! At 320 kms long with significant elevation gains/losses it should be a challenging walk…hope the young whipper snapper Greg is in shape 😉 Snicker chocolate bars galore!

As always not sure what blogging will take place…will see how the spirit moves me!

Thanks for reading daily posts…hope you got a few chuckles or they made you smile once or twice. ..some final pictures from today’s walk!

Ok…is this a joke? 

Canada Geese and little ones

Coming into Charlottetown 

Last faithful sign! Thanks old friend!

The End!!!

The Island Walk Map