Stamm Woodlot on Benjamin Road to Conestogo Well, I did it. Eight days to walk the entire Avon Trail. On Sunday, as I walked the final couple of hundred metres through Conestogo to find the rock that marked the end, I imagined a sitting down in a pub to celebrate with a pint of nice cold cider. My friend, Jen, who did almost half the trail with me at various points, kept her eyes peeled for the open pub. But alas. A few things stood in our way. One, Conestogo is a very small

Intersection at Carmel Koch and Notre Dame roads to Stamm Woodlot I think I’m down to one more hike to finish off the Avon Trail. Day 7 took me and my friend, Jen, to kilometre 105. By my calculations, that leaves 16km left before I reach the end of the trail. The last leg will be one long hike or two shorter ones. I’m imagining finishing it in sunshine, sweaty but not too sweaty, face glowing from the effort, and a glorious sense of accomplishment. Worthy of a trip to the cl

Nith River on Carmel Koch Road to intersection at Carmel Koch and Notre Dame roads I am getting closer to finishing the Avon Trail. My trek this past weekend marked the 90th kilometre, and was a bit spur-of-the-moment (as far as it gets in our house), and I’d decided to go this one on my own. However, I asked my 13yo daughter if she’d like to join me – already knowing the answer would be no – out of courtesy and an effort to get her engaged in some exercise. I was right. She

Lisbon Cemetery to Carmel-Koch Road at the Nith River: 10k In my last post about the Avon Trail, late last fall, I wrote about entering the winter of our discontent. Although winter for me was fairly uneventful, save starting a new job at the college and reacquainting myself with public transit after a long hiatus and a soul-feeding trip to visit family in Ireland, it has turned out to be the spring of our discontent. Covid-19 has changed our lives, in some cases for the bett

I've spent most of the year, off and on, copy editing and proofreading this book. It just got published, and I feel that sense of pride I get when I see my name in print. It will make a great Christmas present for those hikers and walkers in your life. Locally, here's where you can find it: Kitchener/Waterloo Adventure Guide – website KW Books Mountain Equipment Coop – website Seven Shores Urban Market & Cafe Timeless Cafe & Bistro Wild Birds Unlimited Words Worth Books – we

Forest Road outside Stratford to Lisbon Cemetery: 22k This is my last hike likely this year. I have done 72k of the 113k of the Avon Trail. I'll pick it up in the spring, when the experiences will likely be more about the mud and the bugs . . . If you’d asked me a few months ago to do a 22k hike, I would have laughed. Are you kidding? That’s a long way, almost a marathon. But I did it. Three days later, my legs are still complaining about it if I walk any distance. I’m trying

Perth-Oxford Road, near Line 113, to Forest Road at Hwy 7, Stratford: 20k Another October Sunday full of sunshine, brightly coloured forests and just enough chill in the air to repel bugs and sweat. I met up with three childhood friends – two sisters, Karen and Ruthanne, and Cathy. We’re all originally from Grey County, grew up within four miles of each other, went to the same elementary and high schools (hey, it’s rural Ontario), and we’ve all known each other our entire liv

St. Mary’s to Wildwood Conservation Area: 14km At 113 kilometres, the Avon Trail winds from St. Mary’s to Conestogo. I’m practicing for walking the Camino next year; breaking up the Avon Trail into 20-kilometre chunks would build my stamina and help me do some of the physical and internal work I might need for the long trek in Europe. Sunday morning dawned in Kitchener with a hint of sun, a late summer glow cast over the houses. I needed to stop in Stratford at Fanfare Books

One thing I'm appreciating about freelance writing is that sometimes it takes a very long time for a story to come together. This one started with a school trip with my daughter's Grade 6 class early November last year, but it finally got published yesterday, appropriately on Earth Day. https://www.alternativesjournal.ca/community/blogs/aj-special-delivery/your-brain-shrubs?fbclid=IwAR2cw672tGwTVt-I5CwPz-0W8GALKffDXTC0HtbRSTJKrnj0nxsrZNfLVik #writing #freelance #nature #Eart

rev·er·ie /ˈrev(ə)rē/ Noun: a state of being pleasantly lost in one's thoughts; a daydream. I’m out for a winter’s walk. The road is icy, but there is a strip of sand down the middle of it. I walk facing the traffic. I don’t know how far I’ll go, or how long I’ll walk, but it’s beautiful. The sun is shining, and the white fluffy clouds dot the sky. And the bare trees, some coated in snow, are reaching for that sunshine. I walk up the hill. It’s hard. Every step I wonder will