Day 9 - What a Day! — 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: 6:20 am
End Time: 3:30 pm
Start Mileage: 2345.80
End Mileage: 2362.10
Distance Walked: 16.30 miles
Elevation Gain: 2640 feet

We were all up early after an extended time in bed, as a result of our early finish yesterday. We were on the trail by 6:30am.

The trail led gently downhill and we were in a magical place. It appeared to be an old growth forest and the trail was one of the best we have been on to date. Some of the trees were amazing and the trail was lovely as it wound its way down the mountain. We were walking 4 miles to Mike Ulrich camp where we were going to have breakfast.

After 30 minutes or so, the trail started to change and we were heading up. This only lasted for 25 minutes or so but then we started down again and it was lovely walking, except for when we had to make our way over the trees that had blown down and were blocking the path.

We made real good time and reached the cabin by about 8:00 am, although it was a bit of a disappointment if I’m being honest. The best part were the toilets, much better than what we’ve been used to thus far on the trail! The cabin was built by a group of volunteers in memory of a guy by the name of Mike Ulrich and is used by snowmobilers, although it is open for use by hikers.

After a 30-minute break it was time to leave and I had to put my black Patagonia hoodie. It’s very lightweight but warm and felt I needed it this morning to combat the wind and accompanying cold. The downward spiral continued for a while before we started heading up and this up and down continued for most of the morning.

On one of the climbs we passed an Australian couple and exchanged pleasantries. We learned they were from Melbourne. They must be the 3rd or 4th folks we’ve met on the trail from that fair city!

The weather was not conducive to photography and I felt sad for John. Hopefully it clears up later.

It had started to gently drizzle and I went in ahead to try and find somewhere dry in order for the 5 of us to get lunch. Both Payday and Woody had joined our merry group and so we need bigger lunch spots, break spots and camping areas. I found a spot just off the trail that wasn’t ideal but was certainly good enough as it was out of the wind and rain and good enough for our needs.

Our Australian’s came by and said hello but carried on moving. We finished lunch and it was time to move on and we had a lovely downhill section to navigate and we saw our Ozzie friends again but this time they were sitting by the trail drinking coffee. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get them to share and so we carried on.

The walking was now going up in a serious manner but it was nothing to what we were about to endure. We turned the corner and all we could see was a trail going up through the trees. It ran for almost 3/4’s of a mile and every step was up. It was brutal and very hard work. It is moments like this that I feel so grateful for the donors who are sponsoring our hike. During these tough times we think of your kindness and cannot thank you enough for your donations.

I thought we had reached the end of our climb and waited with Woody for Dan, John and Payday to catch up. We were all together when the Australian’s arrived again and we managed to get their trail names which were Salt & Pepper with the latter being the lady who was not sharing her coffee!

Seriously, they were lovely people and I wish them well on their journey. Imagine my surprise when we still had more climbing to do. The rain for the most part had held off and it was just gentle showers but when we reached camp at around 3:30 pm it started to come down harder. If we had arrived just 10 to 15 minutes earlier we could have had our tents up and stayed nice and dry. As it was we got the tents erected but it felt damp climbing in!!

No dinner tonight as it’s just too miserable out there so I’m having a little Granola in my sleeping bag as I try to stay warm.