A hot and fast summer

It's hot. Work is insane.

I'm not having very much luck at this point finding a few more people to accompany us on the adventure but had a nice affirmation last week by someone who is coming. I think the event is too far off for an outright confirmation.

One benefit of leaving in mid-late May is that we will likely miss this extraordinarily hot and humid weather. I have my fingers crossed that climate change won't somehow kick in such rapid pace that May becomes July and July becomes Mercurial, melting air and such. It raises spectres of getting caught in the forest and either being hit by a nasty summer thunderstorm, a forest fire, or air melt.

When (if ) work slows down a bit I'll get my head parallel to the Cause and return to the blog with a more thorough update!

Field Tested

So I went camping last week, or as I should put it, "camping." The only flora of note was trampled grass and the only wild fauna were high school students. Those come in two subspecies: drunk and sleeping.

The tents held up in the little mild rain and wind there was. The Tarn 2 was remarkably easy to set up. This was only the third time I had set it up and already had shaved ten minutes off the assembly time. Actually dismantling it is more of a bother since tent poles with shock cord tend to whip you straight across the face like a woman in a bad vaudeville play.

It was a pretty bad weekend, most especially because I accidentally fell asleep on the beach and woke up with awkward splotches of significant sunburn dotting my body. I'm so polka-dotted that if my skin colour were a pattern I'd be a hit on a Milanese runway.

My next camping trip - and I'll likely wait a few weeks when I'm Caucasian again - will be more authentic.

On another note I finally received my Bruce Trail guide in full, a terrific binder with maps of every trail section and side trail, reroutes, settlements, backcountry campsites and any significant point of natural beauty. My hat's off to you BTA for putting together such a comprehensive guide, certainly no easy feat for something as long and awe-inspiring as the Trail.

The Tent

So I bought a pretty sweet tent yesterday, a tent noble enough that barring any unforeseen disaster will be my tent during the Big Hike. BEHOLD!

Ok ok it's not the most special tent in the entire world, but it has some hot features. First of all it's one of the lightest two-person tents I've ever seen, weighing in at a stingy 2.8kg. Since the pegs and poles come in separate carrying sacs that fit neatly into the main sac, you can split the weight by removing the poles. It is quite spacious and fits two people roughly 190cm comfortably (I'm 180cm) with little gear inside. A cleverly shaped trapezoidal vestibule shelters boots and bags. While it's not self-standing it keeps a low profile and won't rattle much in windy conditions. I bought an extra groundsheet/footprint to add an extra degree of protection underneath.

The cons? The low profile is good for bad weather conditions but doesn't offer too much room to move around, and you certainly couldn't stand up in it. Two person tents will be a great option for hikers but we will need an additional tarp-like shelter for the group to be a communal focal point on very rainy days.

I also bought a sleeping bag and a funky pocket LED flashlight/lantern, but these are less exciting than the tent. Of note is the sleeping bag's electric orange colour, which means I can be seen from Greece.

Getting in Shape

I walked home from Dominion Avenue transitway stop, a total of 10.5km. I went at a steady pace - roughly 5km/h - listening to Roma fiddle music. This wasn't really all that long a walk, but was an accomplishment nonetheless. Why? When I reached home I realized that I wasn't particularly sore nor tired, and probably could push on another ten kilometers had I had time, patience and liquids. Even today I'm fine and relaxed, not an ache to be felt. Basically it was an accomplishment because I've reached the point where a 10.5km was no sweat off my back.

I had already gotten into the swing of things before this idea popped in my head. Unhappy with the shape I was in, a few months ago I had decided to significantly increase the amount of exercise I was doing. The hike therefore came at a time when exercise was already moving into the realm of the habitual. I had a (now working) exercise bike for days with inclement weather, and live near two significant NCC forest trails that I make use of when weather and time allow. I can't stand gyms, so I decided simply to exercise and practice the actual activity I will be undertaking.

As the summer progresses I'll head up to Gatineau Park and do some long trail loops up rugged terrain, eventually doing so encumbered with weight to fully simulate the experience of the Big Hike. So it might not take me a year to get in shape after all!

To be Supported or not to be Supported?

So as I was driving 600km (300 there and back again) to buy a pie, a friend of mine that is used to hiking the lovely Bruce asked me if the hike will be supported, and I honestly could not make up my mind. To those uninitiated (like me) a supported hike is where someone basically "follows" us by car carrying the heavy stuff and meets us at designated points at designated times. This allows us to walk less encumbered, meaning for a greater distance and at a higher level of comfort. I'm not used to this because the long hikes I had as a kid involved canoes, and a canoe makes the process much easier as they can easily carry your stuff with little extra expended effort. I had no answer for my friend, so I'll brood about it here.

The pros and cons of a supported hike.

Pros:

• You can go farther, faster, easier.
• You only need to bring what you need for a short period, saving things from possibly getting wet, dirty, etc.
• It forces you to find facilities and not just camp off the trail. Facilities have nice things like showers, and beer.

Cons:

• There is a symbolism issue. If you are undertaking something considerable and difficult in order to raise money for charity then being supported by an escort seems like a bit of a cop out. One would need to sufficiently increase the difficulty to offset the loss of the symbol of sacrifice.
• We need yet another person to do this, which represents two problems. First, it's not cheap. We'll have to subsidize our volunteer driver for the considerable fuel cost. Second, we'll need someone who is going to be around the area for that time, or doesn't mind commuting from Toronto every couple of days to meet us with supplies.
• A much higher carbon footprint to the event.
• It slightly increases the logistic complexity of the event.

So this is something to pine over but I don't have to make a decision quite yet. I'll convene with the other hikers and will update the blog!

So... who's comin'?

I am in the recruitment process, which basically involves me bothering my friends. Of course many of my friends are not able to undertake such a venture, either because they have children, can't get the time off work (although I have strategies for that), or just don't feel that they'll be in the physical condition. I obviously can't fault anyone for that, and to be honest a few have offered to help fundraise or do whatever they can to help in other ways. The support is very appreciated.

By the next May hopefully I will be joined by seven people eager and ready to go. I'm wary about going with a larger group because I am conscious that our environmental footprint will be the size of Godzilla. I am also conscious that feeding a great mass of people is going to involve logistics beyond my immediate talents, such that calculators and others tools of Baal will be necessary to employ. Let's not hope it comes to that... *shudder*

Not like I'm getting my hopes up, but what if lots of people are interested? Well, I guess I'll cross that stream if I (doubtfully) come to it. Right now I'm shooting for a group of eight. Thus far I have three expressing interest, which for ten days of planning is not bad at all. It's too early to ask for firm commitments, but the fact that a few are willing at all feels kinda good.

The Basics II: A Big Long Hike

So where exactly are we going? Undoubtedly I'll have future hikers asking me this question. Of course the plan is in a state of flux and the current vision is quite preliminary. The major foreseeable constraints are time off from our respective jobs, travel time to and from the start and finish locations, and the overall stamina of the group.

As it stands we'll be travelling from Queenston, which is just bnorth of Niagara Falls, to Mono Centre, a lovely town west of Mississauga. The entire trip will be around 300km. I wish it were possible for us to do the whole trail but it doesn't look feasible. That said a lot can change in a year.

We'll trek through four of the nine Bruce Trail clubs:

• Niagara Bruce Trail Club
• Iroquoia Bruce Trail Club
• Toronto Bruce Trail Club
• Caledon Hills Bruce Trail Club