I Walked to Goderich Last Week

According to my Garmin Vista hcx60, it was about 12 miles. Why on earth would I do such a thing? There were several reasons:

• A number of years ago, on a whim, I issued a challenge to my granddaughters to walk to Goderich with me. They wisely declined the challenge.
• In the spring and summer, I often spend time in England, and while I'm there I do quite a bit of hiking. I realized that if I was going to do any more hiking there this summer, I needed to get into better shape. I also needed to assess my current hiking stamina to see how much more work I need to do to get ready.

Several friends in England have encouraged me to get in touch with them while I'm there next month to go walking/hiking, especially in the Yorkshire Dales. In the past I have sauntered on 12 - 16 mile-long hikes (the Seven Sisters along Beachy Head, the 1066 Trail, and of course hikes in The Peaks District and in Yorkshire Dales) with little difficulty (generally well-planned with stops at a pub or two along the way, when possible). I don't want to let these people down by not being able to keep up this year.

Some observations:

• I absolutely love the open footpath system in England which gives walkers the right of access across fields so long as they stay on the footpaths, don't harass the animals, and close the gates they use. I don't even mind it if the farmers have altered the paths to follow fence lines instead of cutting diagonally across a field. I am slowly building up a collection of Ordnance Survey maps, showing the footpaths in various areas.
• Without a footpath system like that, I mostly just walked along the highway between Clinton and Goderich. It was terribly unpleasant, compared with hiking on common footpaths. The dust and noise, not to mention danger, from the traffic made the walk unpleasant. And to top things off, the walk was on the left side shoulder of a crowned road, meaning I was walking lop-sided the entire distance.

I recently purchased a ScottEVest packable windbreaker, a very light jacket that is loaded with pockets. I thought it would be perfect for the hike. I hooked up my earbuds through all the loops of the jacket so I could listen to podcasts while walking. And I filled my 3L Platypus hydration system with about two and half litres of water. I loaded this water-filled pouch through one of the pockets to the back of the jacket, hoping I wouldn't need a backpack for the walk.

That plan didn't work so well (I'm glad I found out here at home, before trying it in Austria or England). 

• Two and a half litres of water weighs a lot. Having that weight at the bottom in the back of a jacket is not a very comfortable weight distribution. I kept the jacket mostly zipped up to help with weight distribution (until I had drunk most of the water). That wasn't a big problem so long as the weather was cool (it was about +10C when I began the walk).
• But after an hour or so, as the temperatures rose and as I generated more body heat, I was stuck, having to keep the jacket zipped up. Of course I dealt with this by drinking the water pretty quickly, to reduce the weight, and that probably wasn't all that bad a result anyway.
• Also, I realized that if I took the jacket off, I would have to take the earbuds out of the intricately woven system that is otherwise very convenient with this jacket. So I left the jacket on for the entire walk, but I unzipped it after I had reduced the weight of the water considerably.

In other words, as much as I like many aspects of the ScottEVest windbreaker, it does not substitute well for a hiking pack. Three other improvements I hope they will make:

• the cuffs on the sleeves are elasticized. They should be velcro to make for easier tight or loose fits.
• too many of the pockets have vertical zips along the side instead of horizontal zips across the top, making it too easy for things to fall out of them.
• some reflective tape on the sleeves and back would be nice for increased safety.

According to the Garmin GPSr, I averaged about 3.7 mph for the first part of the walk (to Holmesville, for those familiar with this area). After a short rest there, I slowed my pace considerably, averaging 3.3 mph for the entire walk. After that, Ms. Eclectic met me at Tim Horton's for coffee, we went shopping at Walmart and Canadian Tire, and then she took me to lunch at Bailey's on The Square in Goderich. 8-)

Overall, I'm glad I pushed myself to do the walk. But I won't do it again. There are several hiking trails around our area that are fun to walk and that are much safer and more pleasant. Getting to them isn't all that easy, unfortunately, especially on foot, so I will probably have to drive to them. 

And an aside to Stuart, Duncan, Gaynor, and John: I think I'll be okay next month.

. . .

Comments

[Joshua]

"And an aside to Stuart, Duncan, Gaynor, and John: I think I'll be okay next month."

Nah, I've been reading way too much le Carré.

[Nick Rowe]

One of the things I really missed in moving from England to Canada is the footpath system. You just can't see Canada by walking, the way you can see England. Canoeing is the nearest Canadian equivalent.