Westward : North Bay to Sturgeon Falls
Today marked the beginning of a new phase of our hike across Canada. Looking forward, it seems like we have mostly left hiking trails behind now until we reach southern Alberta and British Columbia. There are a few exceptions in the big cities, but we will mostly be walking concessions, back-roads and highways from this point west across the prairies. We began this phase of our journey with a 38 km hike down the shoulder of the Trans Canada Highway today.
Almost as soon as we headed out of North Bay this morning we ran into a snag. We walked across town, following Main St as the map suggested. As we made the run up to Highway 17 we realized Main St is closed, and the bridge is out. We had to backtrack 3.5 km to get on the highway almost right where we started. This meant that before setting out on what was due to be a 30+ km day of hiking we had already trekked 6 km. Not an inspiring beginning to the day.
Like many things in life, walking the Great Trail ... er .... Trans Canada Highway wasn't as bad as we feared it might be, but it was nonetheless mentally draining. The traffic was so loud we couldn't hear each other, even when we yelled. The shoulder was sloped, and composed of small, sharp, gravel, which rapidly became painful to walk on. By the end of the day we both felt like old Dogs with bad hips limping along. It was a hot, sunny day, and of course there was zero shade. It was also the Friday of a long weekend, which meant that as the day progressed the volume of traffic increased considerably.
That isn't to say there weren't highlights. About 5 km outside of North Bay we came to a beautiful wooden and glass building, which turned out to be the Nipissing Campus of the Anishnabek Education Institute. There are several campuses across Ontario, where a unique course format is offered to educate Indigenous students in a variety of different fields, including Early Childhood Education, Community Support Worker, and Personal Support Worker.
Right beside this institute was an Anishnabek run Convenience Store and Gas Station where we stopped to get cold ice tea. When Sean went in to the shop several different groups of people stopped to ask about our hike. One couple were members of the Nipissing Naturalists, and had heard our presentation back in May. They offered to pass on the word that we were in the area in case any other members wanted to walk with us. These random encounters make it seem like a very small world!
A few kilometres farther along we stopped at a lookout with a view out over the large blue waters of Lake Nipissing. The lake is very beautiful, with a few small islands dotting its expanse, and the far shore visible on the horizon. The small rest stop offered a few shaded picnic tables and about six parking spots, and it was very busy. We noticed that many cars were from Quebec, the majority of visitors were speaking French, and quite a few people were enjoying delicious looking French-style picnics.
For much of the day we were walking through the Nipissing Indian Reserve No. 10. We could see evidence of this in the Native artwork on signs and buildings, and on the bilingual stop signs and street names. The Nipissing First Nation is part of the Anishinaabe Peoples, and traditionally they controlled an extensive and powerful trade network that extended as far east as present-day Quebec City, west to Lake Nipigon, and north to James Bay. They were primarily hunters, gatherers, and fishermen but likely supplemented their diet with corn, beans, and squash obtained through trade.
As the afternoon progressed an observation from the book 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' by Robert Persig came to mind. The author compares riding a motorcycle to being inside a car, and says riding is like being inside the frame. In a car you are removed, looking at the world through a window, but on a bike you are part of the picture. We couldn't help feel this way about walking today as we both felt very much like we were 'in the frame'.
When you find yourself walking along a busy highway, simply because someone, somewhere, who has never walked it themselves even to put up 'trail' markers drew a line on a map, you have to ask yourself why you are there. I don't know the answer yet, but I think it has to do with seeing the whole picture. We want to see, experience, and share the natural world. If we drive to a pretty waterfall, get out of our customized and climate controlled car, and spend a few minutes looking at the waterfall we can see it, and take a photo. If we spend three days walking to it, we see the trees, wetlands, grasses, insects, birds, and mammals that feed and sustain that waterfall. We see what people have done to the landscape that waterfall relies on. Our world seems to have compartmentalized nature and specific locals as being natural while suggesting that our roadways, cities, and highways are not part of that natural environment. Yet from our backyards to the Boreal it is all connected. Regardless, because of how we have constructed our world and how many then treat it, tot everything we see along the way is beautiful and restorative.
As the cottage traffic increased, we were somewhat unnerved to see the number of people who were drinking beer as they drove. We began to notice how much the trailers and RVs being towed behind trucks and cars swayed and wobbled. We watched as poorly fastened down loads bumped and swayed loosely as they zipped past. We watched as cars passed other vehicles on the the shoulder of the road and again and again and again we witness people tossing garbage out of their cars and trucks. The culmination of which came when an empty beer can was tossed out of a truck beside us and bounced off the side of Sean's backpack. As we trekked, the mountains of beer cans, Gatorade bottles, and other large items that littered the ditch didn't boost our confidence much either.
At one point we took images of all the trash tossed out of vehicles for the span of one hour, and this was the result:
Today it seems little wonder that so few people and so few youth connect with nature - we grow up in climate controlled houses, travel in air conditioned and heated vehicles, we get our entertainment on screens, and communicate online. When we are hungry we order in, as adults if we are frustrated we have a beer or glass of wine. Outside the world is unpredictable, challenging, noisy and tough. We are comforting ourselves and entertaining ourselves from the cradle to the grave and in the process forgetting about everything that is incredible in our world.
How are we to reach people and get them to reconnect with nature which is slower, less colourful and which requires effort to get into? Too many questions with no answers are in our heads today as we walked.
Periodically we pulled off the gravel shoulder to take a break on a grassy track. During these breaks we saw a variety of interesting caterpillars, including a lovely striped Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar. We hadn't realized they had 'antennae' on both ends, likely to confuse potential predators. They also have lovely pudgy legs, with blue feet! Very cool.
When we were about 3 km outside of Sturgeon Falls we had one of those humbling moments when our assumptions were challenged. A car pulled over in front of us a young man in baggy clothes, who was covered with tattoos and had a tongue ring got out. He very kindly offered to give us a ride, and apologized, saying he had seen us way back and would have offered earlier if his car hadn't been full at the time. As tempting as it was, we politely declined and staggered the last few kilometres into Sturgeon Falls. It was a beautiful act of random kindness from an unexpected source to end a long
day.
Indeed much of the support we received today surprised us - a French couple having a picnic offered us cold Ice Teas, the majority of truckers travelling the highway waved or blew their horn. Almost every motorcyclist gave us a nod or wave. Today we have clearly joined with a band of people's who live and travel often on these roadways and we were blessedly accepted.
The one thought that does keep passing through my mind today is how brave emergency works and construction crews must be to live day after day on these types of highways. To stand with a sign in your hand while massive vehicles blast past you, or to work with your back to this type of distracted traffic only a few feet away certainly takes more courage than either of us have. I think every driver should spend some time trekking along these types of roadways to get a sense of why it is so necessary for people to slow down for workers.
When we arrived into Sturgeon Falls we collapsed on a bench outside of a local coffee shop. Our legs felt like jelly and our feet ached in a way that we have not felt since trekking on the blast rocks along the T'Railway Trail in Newfoundland. I discovered that the bottom of boots was cut open with glass from broken beer bottles wedged into the soles - thankfully nothing went right through. I think tomorrow might require us to spend the day finding new hiking shoes.
We go to sleep with one encouraging thought. For the first time in nearly eight weeks, we spent the day walking west.
38 km of 211 km on the highway done en route to Sudbury!
Almost as soon as we headed out of North Bay this morning we ran into a snag. We walked across town, following Main St as the map suggested. As we made the run up to Highway 17 we realized Main St is closed, and the bridge is out. We had to backtrack 3.5 km to get on the highway almost right where we started. This meant that before setting out on what was due to be a 30+ km day of hiking we had already trekked 6 km. Not an inspiring beginning to the day.
Like many things in life, walking the Great Trail ... er .... Trans Canada Highway wasn't as bad as we feared it might be, but it was nonetheless mentally draining. The traffic was so loud we couldn't hear each other, even when we yelled. The shoulder was sloped, and composed of small, sharp, gravel, which rapidly became painful to walk on. By the end of the day we both felt like old Dogs with bad hips limping along. It was a hot, sunny day, and of course there was zero shade. It was also the Friday of a long weekend, which meant that as the day progressed the volume of traffic increased considerably.
That isn't to say there weren't highlights. About 5 km outside of North Bay we came to a beautiful wooden and glass building, which turned out to be the Nipissing Campus of the Anishnabek Education Institute. There are several campuses across Ontario, where a unique course format is offered to educate Indigenous students in a variety of different fields, including Early Childhood Education, Community Support Worker, and Personal Support Worker.
Right beside this institute was an Anishnabek run Convenience Store and Gas Station where we stopped to get cold ice tea. When Sean went in to the shop several different groups of people stopped to ask about our hike. One couple were members of the Nipissing Naturalists, and had heard our presentation back in May. They offered to pass on the word that we were in the area in case any other members wanted to walk with us. These random encounters make it seem like a very small world!
A few kilometres farther along we stopped at a lookout with a view out over the large blue waters of Lake Nipissing. The lake is very beautiful, with a few small islands dotting its expanse, and the far shore visible on the horizon. The small rest stop offered a few shaded picnic tables and about six parking spots, and it was very busy. We noticed that many cars were from Quebec, the majority of visitors were speaking French, and quite a few people were enjoying delicious looking French-style picnics.
For much of the day we were walking through the Nipissing Indian Reserve No. 10. We could see evidence of this in the Native artwork on signs and buildings, and on the bilingual stop signs and street names. The Nipissing First Nation is part of the Anishinaabe Peoples, and traditionally they controlled an extensive and powerful trade network that extended as far east as present-day Quebec City, west to Lake Nipigon, and north to James Bay. They were primarily hunters, gatherers, and fishermen but likely supplemented their diet with corn, beans, and squash obtained through trade.
As the afternoon progressed an observation from the book 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' by Robert Persig came to mind. The author compares riding a motorcycle to being inside a car, and says riding is like being inside the frame. In a car you are removed, looking at the world through a window, but on a bike you are part of the picture. We couldn't help feel this way about walking today as we both felt very much like we were 'in the frame'.
When you find yourself walking along a busy highway, simply because someone, somewhere, who has never walked it themselves even to put up 'trail' markers drew a line on a map, you have to ask yourself why you are there. I don't know the answer yet, but I think it has to do with seeing the whole picture. We want to see, experience, and share the natural world. If we drive to a pretty waterfall, get out of our customized and climate controlled car, and spend a few minutes looking at the waterfall we can see it, and take a photo. If we spend three days walking to it, we see the trees, wetlands, grasses, insects, birds, and mammals that feed and sustain that waterfall. We see what people have done to the landscape that waterfall relies on. Our world seems to have compartmentalized nature and specific locals as being natural while suggesting that our roadways, cities, and highways are not part of that natural environment. Yet from our backyards to the Boreal it is all connected. Regardless, because of how we have constructed our world and how many then treat it, tot everything we see along the way is beautiful and restorative.
As the cottage traffic increased, we were somewhat unnerved to see the number of people who were drinking beer as they drove. We began to notice how much the trailers and RVs being towed behind trucks and cars swayed and wobbled. We watched as poorly fastened down loads bumped and swayed loosely as they zipped past. We watched as cars passed other vehicles on the the shoulder of the road and again and again and again we witness people tossing garbage out of their cars and trucks. The culmination of which came when an empty beer can was tossed out of a truck beside us and bounced off the side of Sean's backpack. As we trekked, the mountains of beer cans, Gatorade bottles, and other large items that littered the ditch didn't boost our confidence much either.
At one point we took images of all the trash tossed out of vehicles for the span of one hour, and this was the result:
Today it seems little wonder that so few people and so few youth connect with nature - we grow up in climate controlled houses, travel in air conditioned and heated vehicles, we get our entertainment on screens, and communicate online. When we are hungry we order in, as adults if we are frustrated we have a beer or glass of wine. Outside the world is unpredictable, challenging, noisy and tough. We are comforting ourselves and entertaining ourselves from the cradle to the grave and in the process forgetting about everything that is incredible in our world.
How are we to reach people and get them to reconnect with nature which is slower, less colourful and which requires effort to get into? Too many questions with no answers are in our heads today as we walked.
Periodically we pulled off the gravel shoulder to take a break on a grassy track. During these breaks we saw a variety of interesting caterpillars, including a lovely striped Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar. We hadn't realized they had 'antennae' on both ends, likely to confuse potential predators. They also have lovely pudgy legs, with blue feet! Very cool.
When we were about 3 km outside of Sturgeon Falls we had one of those humbling moments when our assumptions were challenged. A car pulled over in front of us a young man in baggy clothes, who was covered with tattoos and had a tongue ring got out. He very kindly offered to give us a ride, and apologized, saying he had seen us way back and would have offered earlier if his car hadn't been full at the time. As tempting as it was, we politely declined and staggered the last few kilometres into Sturgeon Falls. It was a beautiful act of random kindness from an unexpected source to end a long
day.
Indeed much of the support we received today surprised us - a French couple having a picnic offered us cold Ice Teas, the majority of truckers travelling the highway waved or blew their horn. Almost every motorcyclist gave us a nod or wave. Today we have clearly joined with a band of people's who live and travel often on these roadways and we were blessedly accepted.
The one thought that does keep passing through my mind today is how brave emergency works and construction crews must be to live day after day on these types of highways. To stand with a sign in your hand while massive vehicles blast past you, or to work with your back to this type of distracted traffic only a few feet away certainly takes more courage than either of us have. I think every driver should spend some time trekking along these types of roadways to get a sense of why it is so necessary for people to slow down for workers.
When we arrived into Sturgeon Falls we collapsed on a bench outside of a local coffee shop. Our legs felt like jelly and our feet ached in a way that we have not felt since trekking on the blast rocks along the T'Railway Trail in Newfoundland. I discovered that the bottom of boots was cut open with glass from broken beer bottles wedged into the soles - thankfully nothing went right through. I think tomorrow might require us to spend the day finding new hiking shoes.
We go to sleep with one encouraging thought. For the first time in nearly eight weeks, we spent the day walking west.
38 km of 211 km on the highway done en route to Sudbury!
See you on the trail!
Remember to follow our entire adventure here : www.comewalkwithus.online
Tough walking! Would you not be safer walking facing the traffic? I've done that road a couple of times, I know it would be pretty scary to walk along it. Be safe!
ReplyDeleteIs there a lot of traffic I come from around there but it has been a lot of years since I have been back
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoyed your stay in West Nipissing. Thank you for sharing your travels. Apologies for the yahoos who threw beer your way. I promise you they are a small minority in my beautiful Northern Ontario.
ReplyDeleteGreat journey you two are taking I live in Sturgeon Falls it's a beautiful town good luck on your adventures
ReplyDeletethat must have been such a boring walk and dangerous...Ontario and Quebec have such beautiful trail in parks with toilet facilities etc...why would anyone want to follow a trans Canada highway where transport trucks and cars zoom by at 120 km every second is beyond my imagination...is it even leagle...no side walk...
ReplyDelete