Hard to believe that I am in PEI and tomorrow the 128 kms completion of the PEI Island Walk begins! I am very thankful and excited to simply be here. Holy Smokes it has been a major challenge to get back to PEI!
A Little History
Using a baseball analogy 3 strikes and you are out.. sure feel like I almost struck out which in my short-lived Little League baseball career almost 60 years ago happened very very frequently 🤣. My poor Pa was there every game to watch his hapless son play 😰.
Strike 1 - May 2023 I set out to complete the 700+ kms PEI Island Walk over 24 walking days. Was cruising along nicely until Day 16 when a raw oyster or three served by a generous Island Host did me in...4 sickness days🤢🤮 I wish to forget. Once semi-recovered walked from Gaspereaux to Charlottetown. End Result - 582 kms over 20 days
Strike 2 - Mid June 2024 Dawn and I were planning a week in PEI...accommodations booked...5 day walking plan set and then...boom...Prostate Cancer surgery June 17th
Strike 3 ? - Surgical recovery going well...inspiration hits...let’s give it go! Dawn and I are going to PEI again! Accommodations booked...flights booked...car rental made...THEN Air Canada pilot potential strike rears it's ugly head. Man oh man is this PEI Island Walk cursed or what? A simplified timeline...
- Aug 8 Reservations made at Johnson Shore Inn (6 nights); Elmwood Heritage Inn Charlottetown (1 night) and Car Rental
- Aug 18 Flight reservations made...leave Sep 26th returning Oct 3rd
- Aug 25 or so Air Canada Pilot’s potential strike increasingly mentioned in various news articles
- Aug 28 Blogpost “Well PEI Island Walk...let’s give it a go" sent... I put my head in the sand and did not mention Air Canada’s potential pilot strike! I simply could not bear the thought 😳
- Sep 1 ish Sh*t 💩 hits the fan when I started to consider various potential complications
- Strike date Sep 17th with 72 hour notice or Sep 15th
- 14 day accommodation cancelation dates Sep 11th Johnson Shore Inn and Sep 18th Elmwood Heritage Inn. In both cases at risk was the entire cost of reservations made or 7 nights! NOTE decision on Johnson Shore Inn (6 nights) must be made before we know if a strike will happen. "Houston we have a real bloody problem!”
- Sep 3 - 5 Succession of discussions & spreadsheets (created by yours truly) looking at many options to mitigate the potential Air Canada strike. First attempt had 17 scenarios...a few too many 😳 to draw conclusions so kept iterating and finally either Dawn or me (not me) smartly suggested a simplified 2 x 2 decision matrix (Porter Airlines Y/N, Strike Y/N). At that point other flight options using our points rewards program meant flying Porter Airlines (1 stop in Ottawa).
Of the 4 decision matrix cells only one was a real $ risk... Book Porter and No Strike. Cost was $X and we decided the risk was worth it. Off I go to book Porter flights AND while supposedly $X was available online I received a message to phone for bookings. After speaking to an Agent I learned that an 80% increase in price was now required...that was not a pleasant phone conversation especially upon asking why the disconnect with online information I was told “the system does not update properly”. 😡
Geez what kind of System Architects worked on this system...my exposure to these wonderkind folks (Cheryl, Greg, Sunil) and a good friend (Cal...no direct working experience but he is a PHD, a scientific golfer 🏌️ and author of multiple books) is they would never allow this! 😬
I strongly suspect the answer was pure BS and Porter Airlines realized they had a captive market trying to mitigate the Air Canada risk so they simply jacked up the prices.
Sep 5 - Decided as a last resort to try Westjet which I had flown a decade or so earlier on a few Business trips but infrequently otherwise. WELL Econo Flex fares 😀...the perfect solution allowing for cancelation up to 2 hours pre flight with trip $ saved in a future flight “bank” account for flying within a year. Perfect we booked Westjet flights (leaving a day later than Air Canada flights) as our risk mitigation strategy.
Sep 6+ - Many emails back and forth with accommodation providers requiring negotiating vis a vis cancellation policies and all was good. Outcome...I would let them know as soon as possible whether we were flying Air Canada on Sep 26 or Westjet Sep 27th. Johnson Shore Inn responded “Semper Gumby”...something to add to my limited vocabulary “Always flexible”.
Sep 15 - Woke up fully expecting to hear Air Canada was going on strike however best result ever...they were not. All original vacation plans intact...☺️🤣. Life was very good!
Moral of the story...no qualms whatsoever over the strategy...strike risk had been mitigated through Westjet flights lowering stress. Hmmm 🤔 geez now it looks like Westjet travel will have to be planned in next 12 month...what to do...what to do...love 🥰 a problem like this one! ☺️. Let me see Westjet direct flights to Cancun Mexico and very interestingly to Dublin Ireland or Edinburgh Scotland. Never been to either Ireland or Scotland...hmmm Dingle Way in Ireland or the West Highland Way in Scotland both seem like outstanding walks 🤔
Walking Day 1 Tomorrow
Considering 3 different options...call it a “Game time decision” as the walking day progresses. Estimated walking time uses 4.5 kms per hour allowing minor breaks.
But first the forecast 😬...hmmm could be a bit of a tough day...maybe no pictures and heads down walking. Been there and done that many times...matter of keeping a healthy perspective on the day ☺️
Option 1 - As per Aug 28th blogpost 8 kms to Elmira WP #23 (Green arrow) resulting in 6 walking days. Estimated walking time 1.75 hours
Option 2 - Walk to East Point Lighthouse (Green arrow) 20 kms resulting in 5 walking days. Estimated walking time 4.5 hours
Option 3 - Walk to Bothwell WP # 24 (Green arrow) 30 kms resulting in 5 walking days with an outside chance at 4 walking days. Estimated walking time 6.75 hours
At the moment 5 walking days appeals as it would make provide a more restful last few days.
Walking Day Options
🤔☺️😳 Well like most things in life there are always options and while this walk is a shorter one the options considering shuttle rides etc are many. I have narrowed it down to 9 walking options (pretty proud of that effort).
How I feel...whether I forget that I am no longer 30 years old or not... shuck raw oysters or not...weather etc etc...will dictate what I choose to do. I most likely will start walking not knowing and decide as I mosey along. Note driving distances below include to/from Charlottetown...calculated simply to gauge differences in daily trail drop offs/pick ups.
If I had to guess pre-walk I would say the chances of X specific walking days are...note my assumption is a 100% successful walk!:
5 walking days - 80%
4 walking days - 15%
What it ultimately turns out to be is the real fun part ☺️!
Now here is the amazing part! I Googled “dropping a pin on Google Maps” and incredibly learned to “press and hold, add a description, create a list and save to that list”. That was done for all potential pickup/drop off points (green circles) and then I iMessaged this creation to Dawn.
Pretty neat...that and Find my Friend...I really don’t expect I will be reported as an “old geezer reported missing” nor should I be sleeping in a ditch! ☺️
Physical Preparation Update
One measly graph...it looks complicated BUT it really isn’t ☺️...come on give the graph a chance 🙏. The objective is to walk 128 kms over 4 - 6 days. I tracked my FitBit rolling 5 or 6 day total walking distances in Toronto for 51 days starting Aug 1, 2024 to see how post surgery endurance and strength was coming along.
- Green line is 128 kms objective
- Maroon line is 80% of objective or 103 kms
- Blue line 6 day rolling kms since Aug 1, 2024 training for upcoming walk...overall 128 kms is clearly doable
- Orange bar graph lines represent 5 day rolling kms since Aug 1, 2024
Based on past experience both running in my much younger days and long walks in my much older days I am sold on the 80% of objective as a 5 solid preparation baseline.
80% in this situation means 25 kms short of the 128 kms objective over 5 days or 5 kms a day ~ 1 hour of additional walking. Mindset cannot be "d*mn so tired still 5 kms to go"...it must be "hey only 5 kms left and I am there for the day!”
Since Aug 19th or 32 days...every 5 day rolling period has exceeded 103 kms...with the last 2 at or above the 128 kms target. The 5 day rolling average was 118 kms or 10 kms short of target or 2 kms per day ☺️! On paper or rather as displayed electronically should be doable!
Original Plan (Red), 2023/2024 Actual (Blue)
Walking Days: Original Planned 24, 2023/2024 Actual 20
Total Kms Walked: Original Planned 703, 2023/2024 Actual 582
Shuttle Rides: Original Planned 17, 2023/2024 Actual 18
Elevation Gains/Losses:
Walking Time:
Kms per hour Walking:
% Come on get a Wiggle on Days (>40 km): Original Planned 7, 2023/2024 Actual 4
Packing List
Someone always asks me (or at least one person should care enough to ask 😉) “what do you take with you?”
Preparation for a long walk...even for a short walk like this one...requires effort. Essentially I have modified my original 2013 Long Walk Packing List for all subsequent walks. Weight is always the KEY factor however in this situation much less so given a home base exists for all walking days...I can park stuff at the Inn. I am actually stuffing my backpack, hiking poles etc in a suitcase! A first for long walks!
There are a number of other firsts in the packing list:
A keen observer will note a Major Equipment non standard post surgery item 😳 which cannot ever see a long walk packing list again ☺️. It is what it is at present...either include it or stay home! Easy decision!
Decided to take our MacBook laptop as carryon…what if a blogpost inspiration hits and a graph 📊 or other Excel table is urgently required? 🤓
Under rain gear I added a Frogg Toggs poncho. The Packa is staying home this time (it’s ok my friend who worships the Packa...it will return ☺️) as I want to test out this poncho which I actually bought prior to my Packa 🤣 based on another well known Camino Forum member’s recommendation. Reason for plane carryon...well I am darn well walking Day 1 whether or not my suitcase arrives...and rain is forecast for the first day.
I invested in a smaller Gregory 30L backpack (no Greg I did not buy it because of the name) as I will be leaving behind most “stuff” at the Inn. 30L is almost certainly too big for what I need however it gives me flexibility for not fussing about daily packing (which is dislike immensely!)...just chuck the clothes/stuff/food in the bag...and go!
Shoes - Final Decision
Another HOKA 20% discount sale as current HOKA’s were wearing out badly so I now have two choices for the upcoming PEI Island Walk completion.
The HOKA’s on the right were the chosen shoes in my August 28th blogpost however the orange stripe of the left HOKA pair is really calling out to me...a little snazzier for my PEI walk I think ☺️ Can’t wait to walk the PEI mud roads after a rain 🤣.
When done I will qualify for a completion certificate…not a big deal really...have a bunch of similar Camino Compostela’s somewhere in a drawer . However the real key is a lollipop I have been promised likely out of pity I expect...🍭 talk about incentive!
Ok that’s it...I will update the blog as the spirit moves and may combine days...at this point TBD. Enough planning...enough attempts to finish the PEI Island Walk...it’s simply time for a nice walk and get it done!
Whew, I'm exhausted reading your saga prior to today
ReplyDelete😂 Sorry Anonymous…that’s what happens when I spend way way way too much time on my blogpost 😉 at home. I can assure you blogposts for the actual walk will be much much shorter as nothing ever happens on this PEI Island Walk…unless of course something does happen 😊
ReplyDeleteHey that last anonymous wasn't me! I'm finding it difficult to believe you just chuck your stuff in a bag and go. With all those graphs and spreadsheets and detailed analyses, I'd have thought you have a packing plan too. Maybe you've run out of steam by then!! Gotta choose what you pat attention to I suppose. All the best, even sans Packa!
ReplyDeleteRachael...nice to hear from you! The post didn’t have your flair so I thought it must be another anonymous. My comment about my daily packing plan is mostly true as some things are ok organized but mostly I throw the stuff in the bag. So often what I need is at the bottom etc... Actual packing is simply no fun...planning well that is a different story. Was so tired yesterday I didn’t even get the Frogg Toggs out of its original bag so this morning just going with same old same old Patagonia rain jacket and rain pants. Looks like it’s pretty windy out there. Anyways time to forget all the pre-walk stuff and simply enjoy the walking!☺️
ReplyDeleteSo glad for you Guy. I know the feeling to being back after such an unpleasant period. Enjoy it my friend.
ReplyDeleteGreta to hear from you my friend Pierre. I appreciate your comment. Coming from
ReplyDeletesomeone who has experienced health issues, overcome them and is out there walking Camino paths…that is inspiring!
Take care
Guy