Day #30: Mt Albion

 

Thursday, Aug 27

Temperature: High 78°F / Low 62°F

Conditions: Sunny

Distance Walked: 28.7k

Experience of the Day

Up early and walked a kilometer to the Red and White hoping to find a ride to the trailhead. Trail magic. I hopped in the van with Terry, a construction worker who worked for a potato company. He does everything for them from bathroom remodels to farm buildings. They also have a full time plumber and electrician. He apologized for having such a dirty van. I just looked at him and said I'd been wearing the same clothes for 35 days. We both laughed. 

It's been interesting to see the season start to change: the apples are bigger, leaves are starting to fall, berries have been harvested...

At about 7k in, I saw my friends up ahead as they left the shaded picnic table. My feet were wet and I had to eat so I took a break there as well. Twenty minutes later I resumed my walk thinking I would catch them...but I never did. 

Our friend Jo-anne picked us up at the end of the day and took us to her brother's DAIRY FARM -- what a way to wrap up our trip! We met both brothers (Ian and Paul), nephew (Collin), and Skippy the farm dog. She also took us out to see the VERY BIG cows being milked (the cows were getting some delicious looking oats as a part of the process). An Amish man and Ian did the milking while Paul was out on the combine. Collin was up on top of the silo, which was being filled with barley. The cows looked pretty happy -- there was a herd out in the pasture and after milking, the heiffers for to go out as well. These cows get to live outside and roam around in the pastures. It looked like a nice life. The dairy farm down the way has robotic milking. Those cows never see the light of day. 

Clean at last, we tossed our dirty clothes in the wash, and headed out for dinner with Anne on the bike rack. Dinner was nice and we met several people...one of whom turned out to be Pauline's sister! Therese said goodbye to Anne; Jo-anne will find a good home for her.

One day left to walk...

So far: 714.9k on the walk and another 21.1 or so puttering around. 

Most days I walked alone and listened to nature, my footsteps and the sounds of life. It is safe here and the people are amazing. As someone said the other day, it is a magical place. 

Six days the walks were between 17.2-19.6k

 Nine days were over 25k, two of which were just over 30k. 

On the 8th day I was sad because we were already 20% done.

Three days ago, I thought let's be done already. 

Today I was excited. It was my last really long day! 

Yes, my feet are tired and my legs look good. 😁

Breakfast: Bean and hummus burrito, yogurt, blueberries

Lunch: Bean and hummus burritos, apple

Dinner @ Peakes Tees: fish sandwhich and poutine (Lynn), cheeseburger and baked potato (Therese)

 

Day #29: Fodhla

 

Wednesday, Aug 26

Temperature: High 74°F / Low 64°F

Conditions: Sun, clouds and light breeze

Distance Walked: 29.3k

Experience of the Day

Woke up this morning nicely rested after spending the night in the barrel. Since I was awake and I didn't have food for breakfast with me, I decided I was going to hitch a ride down to the so and get something to eat. Therese was going to be riding her bike, but she was going to leave in a couple hours, and the other ladies have food with them for breakfast. I figured I'd get my breakfast and then I would see them on the trail because it always takes me a while to get rolling. 

A couple of cars passed me by, but the third one was a nice guy in a pickup truck who was headed off to a construction job in Nova Scotia. After a few minutes of chit chat he dropped me off at the ESSO in Murray River. I took my time looking at everything in the store to determine what I was going to get for breakfast and lunch. While I was perusing the shelves, I heard the people visiting at a table while they had their morning coffee. So I picked up my items, paid my bill and asked if I could sit and eat my breakfast with them. Of course they said yes. People here are nice. We chit-chatted a bit and one of the ladies asked me what my biggest surprise was about my time here on the island. I said I was surprised by how many Irish people were here because I had not expected that and how everybody knows each other. Then I started listing a few people I had met. Sure enough, she knew the very first person I mentioned: Jo-anne! 

When I asked one of the gentlemen who was looking at the paper if there was any news,  good news, -- I only wanted to hear good news. He told me that there really isn't any bad news in the paper. I thought about that and then I told him I'd been reading the Island news for 8 months and sure enough he was right. I really had not seen any bad news. There were two sad things that happened, but there was nothing bad. This island really is positive and amazing.

I started my walk thinking that I'd see my friends at any moment, but I never did. So I walked the trail on my own and didn't see anyone until Therese rode up on her bike a few hours later. As for this part of the trail, it was different than anywhere else we have been: 

-It was more open than other rail trails;

-There was more damage from the wind storms; 

- I really enjoyed walking past the vast blueberry fields.

Partway into the walk, looked up and saw big clouds. The kind that make me think thunder. I heard thunder, but the rain never came. 

I met Judy back at Roe's Fish House by Dalvay when she dropped my pack off for me. She had said she lived in Belfast...so when we ended up staying in the area, I asked her if she would be willing to give us a ride from the church to our lodging. She was all in! As for the Anne, I had called the church in advance about leaving the bike at the church over night. Somehow, I got the church wrong and Therese ended up meeting Charlie who lives adjacent to the trail and who was happy to have Anne stay for the night! As for the walk, I was doing ok and decided to push on to Fodhla. Judy was our awesome trail angel and toured us around Lord Selkirk Park and made a stop for us as the Red & White for groceries. Checked into our cute little cabin and we all took a look around. Judy gave it her approval and we settled in for a relaxing evening.

Breakfast: Chicken salad sandwich, carrot zucchini muffin, coffee

Lunch: Apple, banana, pepperoni/cheese stick, chicken salad sandwich 

Dinner: Bell peppers, blueberries, black beans, hummus, chips, peanut butter, tortillas, milk, pistachio nuts, yogurt. 

Day #28: Murray River

 

Tuesday, Aug 25

Temperature: High 78°F / Low 64°F

Conditions: Morning clouds, afternoon sun

Distance Walked: 24.4k

Experiences of the Day

Attempted to hitchhike this morning, but no takers. So I waited until 8:00 a.m. when the the hostel manager arrived and caught a ride from her to today's starting point at the Sturgeon United Church. I had a long walk ahead of me and it was going to be a hot one. 

The only things I remember about today:

1. How does one outrun hoardes of mosquitoes?

2. I was so happy to find an Island Walk bench placed in a yard that sprayed for mosquitoes. I rested for at least 20 minutes...it was definitely appreciated!

3. I had to slow down because of the heat to let my body cool down. 

4. Trail Angel Troy the lobster fisherman from Murray Harbor was ever so kind and gave me a ride from the trail in Murray River over to Nellie's Landing. 

5. We are sleeping in a wine barrel. Well actually, the are saunas that are floating on the water!

6. We caught back up to our friends after our excursion to the Magdalen Islands.

Funny thing happened today when Therese, who was riding her bike from Lower Montague, stopped at the Sturgeon United Church. A nice lady named Trudy was out taking a walk and she stopped to say hello. It turned out her granddaughter is the niece of Pauline, the lady we stayed with two nights ago in Cardigan! Very PEI.

*******

Update: After we left Nellie's Landing we realized neither of us paid the bill! We have been texting Jen the owner so that we can give her our credit card number! The deliriousness of the trail is all I can say.

Breakfast: Egg and cheese croissant, coffee

Lunch: Banana, apple, egg and cheese croissant, nuts

Dinner on our wine barrel deck: Tortillas made with pea protein(!) filled with peanut butter and chocolate pudding, carrots, milk

Lodging: Wine Barrels @ Nellie's Landing

Day #27: Sturgeon

Monday, Aug 24

Temperature: High 77°F / Low 68°F

Conditions: Cloudy with a light breeze

Distance Walked: 29.1k

Experience of the Day

Today we said goodbye to our hosts Pauline and Roger. We had planned for breakfast at eight or so thinking that we would sleep in. But, it was a really great sleep night and I was up early getting my things together. It was going to be pretty warm today and I ended up leaving much later than I normally would on a day like today, but I really didn't want to leave as our hosts were just wonderful people.The kind of people you feel immediately at home with and will probably send messages to when they pop back into mind. 

We saw more people on the trail between Cardigan and Montague than we have seen anywhere else on the island trails. And we eventually crossed paths with our friends today in Montague - they stayed four nights in one place a bit off the trail while we opted to stay at places on the trail. 

Therese Stopped at The Lucky Bean in Montague for a latte, which is the best one she's ever had in her life (way better than Starbucks)! I headed for Sobey's for groceries and then sat for a bit to eat lunch. When we arrived at the hostel (Lower Montague) around 1:45, I cooled off a bit and put on a dry shirt. It is SO humid today...glad I had my hair cut short before the trip, as my head is sweaty every single day. After resting for about half an hour, I continued my walk and walked until I was out of water, which put me at the Sturgeon United Church. My trail angel today was Krista - she saw my thumb out and after she passed me by, she thought about her own days of hitching and decided to turn around and pick me up. I asked her a bit about herself: she has worked in both a cookie factory and a lobster factory. We had a nice visit and she took me clear to the hostel. I was so grateful and very stiff getting out of the car. It had been a long day. 

Back at the hostel (formerly an assisted living facility), we made our dinner in the industrial sized kitchen and had a relaxing evening. After all, we are the only people here tonight!

Breakfast: Fried eggs, black beans, toast, coffee, banana, and left over bread pudding!!

Lunch: Chicken salad sandwich, milk, and watermelon!

Dinner: Bag salad, guacamole and chips, chili mac, and milk. 

Lodging: EcoSun Hostel

Day #26 Cardigan

 

Sunday, Aug 23

Temperature: High 66°F / Low 59°F

Conditions: Light rain and wind

Distance Walked: 17.8k

Experience of the Day

Roger took me back to the spot where I had stopped walking yesterday and along the way he gave me a few little tidbits about the island. He talked a little bit about the Catholic churches on the island and mentioned that the Irish typically were farmers and so they were settled on the farmland which is where you find Catholic churches. I told him we had seen the the several Free Churches of Scotland over on the west coast. He indicated that the Scottish people had tended to be fisherman and thus settle along the coast. As we were talking, about 10 to 15 Amish wagons drove past us in the rain. The Amish settled on PEI in 2016 and came here from Ontario to find less expensive land.

There was a light rain at today's starting point; I was so happy to be able to start out on pavement. After about 7.5k, I hit a dirt/mud road. The mud was slippery, so I had to slow down to avoid falling.

My feet were wet from the get go; by the end of the mud road section, my socks were full of grit and my feet had been exfoliated. All that said, I do live in Oregon, and the walk today, even though it was a little wet and muddy, was really so much easier than the stuff that I do every winter when I participate in various races back home. During the Frozen Trails run one December, nothing was frozen. There was so much mud I had to stop and rinse my feet off at the stream crossing as I had at least 5 lb of mud on each foot! Another time I was running a half marathon and there was so much wind that I could basically lean my entire body forward at about 45° and have it supported by the wind as I ran. And it was pouring rain. So today, kind of a walk in the park. Plus I had an umbrella and a poncho!

Ended the walk with a nice lunch at Clam Diggers where I met up with Therese. We started the next section as we walked to our B&B. We had restful afternoon and a delightful visit with our hosts Pauline and Roger.

Breakfast: Omelette with veggies, toast, blueberries, strawberries orange slices, OJ and coffee

Lunch @ Clam Diggers Beach House & Restaurant: Roasted Beet & Goat Cheese Salad with Greens, Pecans, Berries, Onion Mixed Peppers, Toasted Almond Quinoa and  Raspberry Vinagreme

Dessert: Traditional Bread Pudding with Dark Chocolate Pieces Caramel Rum Sauce & Whipped Cream (Lynn) and Carmel Pecan Cheese Cake, House Made Rum Caramel Sauce, and Whipped Cream (Therese)

Dinner: seriously?? 

Lodging: Trailside Loft Retreat Airbnb