Sunday, July 26

Temperature: High 79°F / Low 55°F

Conditions: Sunny

Distance Walked: 25.6k

Evening Walk: 1.9k

Experiences of the Day

We were feeling good, left nice and early and started our walk. In fact, we were feeling so good that we walked an extra half kilometer because we ended up missing the turn off for MacEachern Road! Heather, who did this walk two years ago, told us how she got lost in this general vicinity. I completely get it now. We saw the little hiker sign and in fact I even had my picture taken with it, but there was no Island Walk sign with it and we just kept walking right on by, right up that great big hill!

Advice: if you see a hiker sign, double check your map because it may be that the Island Walk sign is missing.

Once we got on the correct road, we had a very delightful walk through the trees. The road was quite perfect because it wasn't too dry and it wasn't too wet, making for a nice firm yet comfortable walking surface.

Very shortly we came upon an adorable little building with a sign, New Argyle School. We saw a gentle man sitting on the front porch and recognized him as the runner we had passed earlier. Believe it or not he was a MacEachern - his grandparents had been students at the school and later his mom had taught there. We had a delightful conversation, he offered us water and presented us with raspberries! What a wonderful treat. Trail Magic!

We knew it was going to be a long walk, with not a lot around. So I had reached out to Bryson to ask him if he knew where we might be able to get water along our way. He directed us to the Free Church of Scotland and Reverend Compton. Being Sunday, we were sure to find people there.

We arrived to find parishioners inside listening to the service. We took our shoes off and laid on the ground with our feet against the tree for a little bit of relief. Once the service was over, we introduced ourselves and the Reverend Compton invited us in for water, the washroom, and lunch! We took him up on the first two, said our goodbyes and continued on our journey. Trail Angel!

We heard barking and suddenly two Great Pyrenees showed up on the trail. They were the loveliest dogs we have ever met and escorted us for about 2 km. At one point we wondered if they were going to walk us all the way to Victoria! Eventually they disappeared down a small driveway.Trail Guides!

Our host, Susan at the Oxley House B&B told us that we just absolutely must meet Sheldon White, who is one of the people on the Island Walk board. I let him know we were going down to Richard's for some dinner and who walks up but Sheldon himself! He had all kinds of great advice for us and assured us that today's walk was one of the hardest. Phew, were we glad to hear that!

We are all pretty tired - it is our second day, the humidity was 53% (at least that's what the internet tells us), with lots of sun. That said, we met terrific people and are looking forward to continuing our walk tomorrow to Borden-Carleton.