Day 10 - Huckleberry! — Walking People Out of Poverty

walkingpeopleoutofpoverty.ca is the personal blog of Peter Thorpe, long-time Opportunity International Canada supporter and Walking People Out of Poverty founder. For Dan Murray’s blog and information on OIC, please click here.

Start Time: 7:00 am
End Time: 6:15 pm
Start Mileage: 2362.10
End Mileage: 2376.50
Distance Walked: 14.90 miles
Elevation Gain: 2795 feet

It was a horrendous night last night and I’m not sure anyone got much sleep. The rain was pounding, the wind howling, and it made for unpleasant conditions and a very restless night.

After getting my tent up and my sleeping mattress and sleeping bag set up I climbed into my sleeping bag for warmth. I also had a signal and was able to phone home to check on how things were and of course they were great, which made me very happy.

We broke camp this morning in slightly less atrocious conditions than last night but it was both very windy and cold. We started of going downhill which was very welcome, and descending quickly which enabled us to leave the wind behind. We were descending into yet another beautiful Old Growth Forest and it seems every day we travel through a more beautiful forest than the day before.

We were making good time and our first job was to reach water which was at mile 5.5. Payday had left camp a few minutes before everyone else as he was ready for leaving and it was pointless him hanging around in such unpleasant conditions.

We saw a beautiful campsite that would have been perfect last night, as it was a 90 minute walk lower down the mountain and would have been out of the wind. Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of knowing what’s ahead and if we had carried on walking who knows where we would have ended up.

We finally reached the water at around 9:30 am and Payday was waiting patiently for us. He even had his tent hanging on a large tree that had blown down in an attempt to dry it out. 3 hikers joined our merry band and joined us for breakfast. Their trail names were Recon, Happiness, and Sunshine and they were interested in learning more about Opportunity International and Dan was happy to fill them in.

After breakfast and replenishing our water we were back on the trail and continued down for a short while before we turned and started climbing. It was a long hill with no quit and I had taken the lead in an attempt to find a nice grassy area that enjoyed exposure to the sun and breeze.

Finally I gave up and decided to sit in the trees for a rest but this only lasted a few minutes as Woody came up the trail. Woody explained everyone was having a lunch break. Woody joined me in the quest for a suitable spot to dry out our wet gear and we only walked for a few minutes when I found the perfect spot. It was a grassy slope that had plenty of room for 5 people to air their camping gear out. I put my tent up, pulled out my sleeping bag and mattress and laid them out to dry. A few minutes later the crew arrived and before you knew it the hillside was covered in tents, sleeping bags and mattresses and in some cases clothes.

Yesterday Dan had said he could not think of a better group of guys to walk with. As I observed the interaction with the setting up of tents as we all tried to dry our gear I would have to agree with him. We are a tight-knit group who get on well together.

After a rather long break, we had to get moving as the clock was ticking and we needed to get to our next water source so off we all went. We hit upon a climb that just kept going. The glorious afternoon weather certainly helped and lifted everyone’s spirits. We eventually reached the water and a few minutes later we were on our way. We endured another climb but it was only for 20 to 30 minutes before we set off on a glorious downhill section that seemed to go on forever. I’m sure we will pay for it tomorrow!

I really wasn’t anticipating any pictures today such was the atrocious conditions this morning but it was marvellous from about 11:00 am onwards.

Well, Dan finally had his trail name and we think it fits him well and falls in with how the trail tends to give you your name. Yesterday, Dan had seen Woody stopping at bushes further up the trail. Dan asked Woody what he was doing and Woody explained he was picking Huckleberries. Dan tried one and the next thing you know he was hooked. So much so that he’s starting to fall behind!

So John is Cameraman, Dan is Huckleberry , I’m Wanderer, and then we have Payday and Bubblehead (Woody).