Three Day Challenge: Mt. Gosford

“May your dreams be larger than mountains
and may you have the courage to scale their summits.”
―Harley King

Huddled in our blankets, we stared outside the window as the sun was rising. The third mountain of our challenge lay somewhere over the trees, the tallest of the three at 1180m.

As soon as we could see enough we packed our sleeping gear and prepared a breakfast consisting of oats, a banana each plus a slice of bread with peanut butter. The hike to the top was approximately 7km , and with the days shortening we had to get there in time to return before nightfall. So we put our backpacks on and started walking towards the mountain.

At first we followed a road that led toward the base of the mountain, and after 3km we started walking on a trail that slowly went up the side of the mountain.

The day was overcast again, althought it was not snowing. We could not see the top of the mountain as it was covered by a thick cloud.

For the first couple of kilometers the trail seemed to be a creek, it was covered in pebbles and water. Sometimes the snow covered the trail and we would unxpectedly find our feet stuck in mud. It was slow progress and the trail sometimes went up and sometimes down.

the ugly trails

slowly making progress up

The trail then takes a sharp turn upwards and starts going up the mountain in a snake like pattern but still quite steep. The air gets colder, but we do not feel it due to the effort of climbing.

The silence in the mountains was broken only by our occasional chatter, but even then we walked mostly in silence, absorbing the beauty of the scenery. As we progressed upwards, the trees become slimmer, the snow and ice stick to all surfaces forming eerie figures in our way.

Pretty soon the trees not only got slimmer, but smaller as well, they looked like clusters of ice crumpled on the side of the mountain fully covered in their icy prison until spring. We could feel that we were close to the top but couldn’t see anything due to the clouds. We started seeing a great quantity of rabbit tracks near the top. At one point the snow was so deep we kind of lost track of the trail so we followed the rabbits which led us on the right way. Suddenly the small trees cleared and we saw the rocky summit of Mt. Gosford!

skinny trees

dwarf trees

Only frozen rocks separated us from the few steps till the summit. Once again, we could only imagine the valley below because all we saw was white all around.

summit!

frozen inukshuk

signs to neverland

summit

We took a couple of pictures and started to make our way back. We decided to return through another trail which we hoped would be less steep and would not imply walking on a creek, the only downside is that this one was 9km long. The descent was less steep although we did cross a few creeks, but generally this trail was much easier than the other. We stopped at a lean-to refuge to eat and rest a bit before continuing down.

My feet were starting to hurt more, ever since yesterday I had some bllisters forming on my big toes and now they were really bothering me. On the way up there is not much pressure on the toes, but now each step was additional pressure on the blisters. After a few kilometers we reached the bottom of the mountain and joined a road that led to the entrance of the ZEC about 4 or 5km away.

We reached the car around 3pm with approximately 1 hour of daylight to spare. We loaded up the car and headed back to civilization. That evening we drove back to Montreal, tired and dirty but happy.

The mountains may take alot of  energy to climb but what they take in sweat and effort they give back in happiness and satisfaction, and I may venture to say that they also give another type of energy, one that you can take back to the city with you…

In colnclusion I would like to encourage anybody who reads this to go out to nature, take a challenge, make the effort, invest the energy. You will come out refreshed, you will build your confidence, you will discover your abilities both mental and physical, and step by step you will grow and be able to tackle bigger challenges next time.

And never forget to wear proper clothing for the activity you choose! It is the difference between a cold and miserable trip that can end badly and a challenging but enjoyable adventure.

Until next time!

Three Day Challenge: Mt. Megantic

“Bad weather always looks worse through a window”
-Unknown

Waking up in a sleeping bag curled up in the back of your car can mean two things: you are either homeless or you are up to some awseome adventure, or both…

Last night after climbing down Mt. Orford we had a warm soup and then we curled into our sleeping bags for some well earned rest. This morning as the sun rose up we drove about an hour further east towards Mount Megantic National Park.

Mt. Megantic houses one of the most important astronomical observatories in North America, and the surrounding area has even been designated as the first international Dark-sky Reserve.

Upon arrival we had breakfast at the reception building and then proceeded to walk up the trail. It had snowed all night and there was still a light snowfall, so the trail was covered in a thick layer of fresh powdery snow.

We saw many Moose tracks crossing the trail and sometimes following the trail for a while. We walked quietly hoping to catch a glimpse of this iconic animal. We also saw a few deer tracks. It was good to see so much animal activity.

A little further up the trail two Gray Jays flew over us, looking at us intently, their heads tilted to the side. We offered them some of our trail mix, and soon a dozen Jays were flying in and scooping up the grains off our hands. We had a snack with them as well and then kept going up.

As we progressed up the mountain, we seemed to be walking up into a cloud, and a light snow seemed to continuously cover us in a thin layer of white powder. The trees also no longer had snow accumulate on top of them, but actually sticking to the sides as well. We started to enter an otherwordly scenery.

The cold intensified as the wind crept in between the trees. Soon we reached the top, on which stands the astronomical observatory. The visibility was terrible, with strong winds racing across the summit blowing up the fine snow off the ground.

We didn’t stay long before starting to make our way down the road to find a refuge. After unsuccesfully trying an adjacent building we soon found a refuge close to the top.

Poor visibility

Drying our clothes at the refuge

Here we lit the firestove, dried some clothes and ate a warm soup and dried fruits to refill our bodies in warmth and energy. While the outside was a blanket of white, inside we were warm and cozy. It would make a nice place to spend the night…
Regardless, we had to get back out again and start our way back. I had some blisters starting to form, so my feet hurt slightly but we made good progress and arrived back to the car before nightfall.

We decided to head out to Mt. Gosford that evening in order to start the climb early the next morning. The road was slippery and dark, and after looking around we finally arrived to the Mt. Gosford ZEC, which is at the end of a long back road, which at night seems to lead to nowhere. Here we parked our car under some trees, lighted up our coleman stove and had another soup before going to sleep…

Tomorrow we climb the tallest of the three mountains Mt. Gosford.

Three Day Challenge: Mt. Orford

“You never climb a mountain on accident, it has to be intentional”
-Mark Udall

The fall is coming to its end here in Canada, winter approaching ever surely. The changing season means a different way to interact with nature, it changes the rules of the game.  With the cold, you cannot be careless because it is less forgiving than warm weather.

I had a few days off, and once again my wife and I decided to go out on a short adventure. This time we decided to go out trekking. We decided on three different mountains. Mount Orford, Mount Megantic and Mount Gosford; 850m, 1 102m, and 1 193m of elevation respectively. Mt. Gosford being the highest in southern Quebec.

It was supposed to be another fall adventure, but as things turned out the weekend prior to our little escapade, winter made its appearance in Canada. We prepared our clothing accordingly and we set out on a snowy monday morning out of Montreal. Our first destination was Mount Orford National Park in the Eastern Townships region of Quebec.

After parking at the entrance of the Park, we walked 2km towards the base of the ski resort where a trail to the summit started. The wind was blowing and a light snow was falling. As we were walking we suddenly noticed a deer, right beside us on the side of the road, quietly eating and looking at us curiously. It even took the time to take a selfie with us before we parted ways.

Arriving at the base of the mountain we started up a road to the top. Being on the road we were more exposed to the wind and snow, but as we slowly went up the mountain our bodies start producing more heat and soon the cold is hardly an obstacle.

As we climbed the scenery changed, the wind was stronger and the snow seemed to cling to all the vegetation. The rocks were covered in icicles, and the trees were covered in a thick crust of snow and ice giving it all an otherwordly appearance.

Soon we reached the summit. The snowstorm was now blowing in full force with the wind gusting between 15 and 20kts. We had reached the summit, but there was no view to greet us, only more snow.

We didn’t stay long at the summit before starting our way down on one of the ski slopes, even more exposed to the wind. We were now starting to look like the trees, covered in a layer of frozen snow. I have always loved being outside on a snowstorm, it is awe inspiring; you are surrounded by white all around and feel like in a bubble, and although the wind howls there seems to be a silence prevalent in the air, all is silent when the wind speaks.

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We then diverted into a trail in the wood, the “summit trail”, where we continued our exploration. The trail was covered in a fresh layer of snow making it difficult to identify the rocks and roots on the trail. We climbed up a ridge and then descended into a small valley following a stream bed almost completely covered in snow. After about an hour we turned back in order to arrive back to our car before nightfall. The disadvantage of November is that the sun sets around 4:30 pm so the days are short.

Descending the mountain

Taking a small break

Trail mix

Small creek

We returned to the ski slope and continued down the mountain, as we descended we gradually got out of the cloud that was covering the mountain, we emerged looking like we were from the set of the Revenant, ice hanging onto our clothing and faces. But we were happy, it was a nice day and we enjoyed the first serious snowstorm of this winter.

descending the mountain

covered in ice

We continued 2km till we reached the car and after brushing off all the snow we headed off to find a good place to spend the night car camping. Tomorrow we have our second challenge: Mount Megantic.

To be continued…

On the Road: Biking

“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments. Here was a machine of precision and balance for the convenience of man. And (unlike subsequent inventions for man’s convenience) the more he used it, the fitter his body became. Here, for once, was a product of man’s brain that was entirely beneficial to those who used it, and of no harm or irritation to others. Progress should have stopped when man invented the bicycle.
~Elizabeth West, Hovel in the Hills

 

On a cloudy, drizzly October morning, we strapped our bags onto the bikes.

The temperature was cool, around 8°C, with intermittent rain. I had a few days off work and we had decided to go on an adventure. We wanted to try out cyclotourism, that is biking around and camping wherever night fell. Rain seemed to be prevasive all across the province of Quebec for the whole week, nonetheless, and hoping for better weather, we put on our raincoats and started pedaling under the rain…

Hallam Murray describes bicycle transport as:
“Weight for weight the cyclist uses less energy to cover a given distance than even the superbly constructed salmon or dolphin, not to mention birds, the great cats, the motor car, or any form of jet or rocket engine. The bicycle is simply the most versatile vehicle known to humans…It can be ridden, carried by almost every other form of transport from an aeroplane to a canoe, and can even be lifted across one’s shoulders over short distances.”

Add to that the fact that the only fuel needed is you own food, it turns out to be a quite inexpensive method of travelling.

So we decided to go to the Portneuf region northwest of the Quebec city region and set out on our bikes. After a few kilometers down the road we arrived to the town of Ste-Catherine de la Jacques Cartier where a biking trail passes. We crossed the imposing river and found the trail and followed it towards the north. The autumn was in full swing, showing off its majestic scenery full of colours and shades.

After a while the rain started to pour down on us as we kept pedaling. We passed by the beautiful Lac Sergeant without stopping. Soon our feet were drenched and our bodies started to cool in spite of the physical exhertion.

Arriving to St-Raymond

Around 10:30am we arrived to the town of St-Raymond, a very scenic village in the county of Portneuf. It is the doorway to the Vallée Bras du Nord (Arm of the North Valley) which was one of our destinaitons. We stopped at the local Tim Horton’s to drink some coffee and dry up a bit while the rain passed. While social media has been reponsible for the rise in popularity with outdoor sports and travelling, it is often portrayed as all smiles, exciting, glamorous, hip, inspirational. And in reality it often lacks a lot of those elements, in fact often it is quite the opposite. Today was such a day. Cold and wet.

Around 1pm the rain stopped and the cloud ceiling seemed to rise a little bit. We decided to keep going towards the north, to reach Riviere a Pierre about 53km from there.
Without the rain everything soon becomes so vibrant and you can truly appreciate all the colours of the autumn. There are red leaves, yellow leaves, and even orange leaves, and all the colours in between. We crossed rivers, rolled past beautiful pastures and admired the overlooking mountains.

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When we arrived to St-Leonard de Portneuf the forest opened up into wide and large, rolling fields where cows were grazing, the colourful mountains and hills in the distance keeping watch over the peaceful valley.

After passing the pastures and the farms the trail goes back into the forest, slowly making progress up the sides of the mountains. It is as if the leaves surround the trail on all sides, even covering the ground, their crunching sound breaking the silence as our bikes rolled over them. The air was fresh, but our bodies kept warm by the exhertion.

We stopped by the Chutes de l’Ours (Bear falls) amid a picturesque scenery of Canada’s finest.

Further up the road we found a peculiar rock. It was aptly named the ‘Rock bridge’ as it arched over a small stream, forming a perfectly natural rock bridge.

We kept pressing forward, wanting to reach Riviere a Pierre before nightfall; we had covered around 50km but were still about 20km short of reaching the small town famed for its granite rock. We passed an amazing spot to camp overnight, with a beautiful view over a small lake; it was perfect. But we wanted to reach our objective so we kept going forward. We finally reached the town around 5pm with about 30-40min of daylight to spare. We reached the end of the biking trail and found the only camping spot protected from the rain was basically besides a street facing into a couple of houses. We decided to try and reach the camping spot we had seen earlier about 15km back before any rain reached us. We managed to bike about 1 or 2km before a few raindrops started to fall. We wisely decided to go back again into the town rather than spend a wet night.

We put our tent up under the roof of the little refuge (there are small roofed refuges about every 10km along the bike trail) just as the rain started to pour down stronger than ever. It would continue like that all through the first half of the night. We heated up our noodle soup, giving us some much given warmth back to our bodies. Soon afterwards we fell soundly asleep.

Early in the morning we prepared our oats for breakfast, packed up our gear and quickly went our way back unto the trail, heading back towards St-Raymond. The day was warmer and ocasionally sunny so we were able to better enjoy the views we had seen the day before, making stops along a lake, and along a farm to feed a friendly horse that came to see us.

Soon we reached St-Raymond once again. We stopped to eat and then went our way towards the Vallée Bras-du-Nord. This time there were no bike trails, just the road. We had to climb a few hills and go down others on the way to the valley. And soon we arrived to the majestiv valley through which meanders the Bras du Nord river. We went to the Cantin entrance and went on the opposite side of the river towards the base of the escarpment.

Bras du Nord Valley

We found an abandoned silo where we left our bikes to go hike up the mountain. We climbed up amid the yellow trees up a winding and escarped trail. We wanted to reach the top and climb back down before nightfall. After an hour and a half of climbing we reached a small vantage point from where we could see the valley below.

After climbing back down we walked by the river with its calm waters and cristaline look which seemed to be playing tricks with our vision. We then prepared to go to sleep in the abandonned silo, using pine pranches as our mattress we made ourselves comfortable in our little cave and enjoyed our supper supplemented by our homemade energy bars.
A soup after a long day out in the cold is thoroughly enjoyable.

The world upside down

After the soup we peeked outside and we were astounded at the beauty of the sky. Out here in the valley there are no lights to obstruct the view of the starry sky. Looking through the branches it seemed as if thousands of lights were shining among the trees, as we moved to a nearby field we saw the sky in all its splendor. Stars innumerable, so bright we could not distinguish the constellations, the Milky Way stretching across the night sky…

Standing under such greatness will definitely make you feel small.

In the morning, after a quick and nutritious breakfast we packed our bags and headed out in the morning mist into the valley.

Morning mist

The view, combined with the crisp cold morning air, combined to make the most wonderful scenery: Horses grazing on a hill, mist hazily floating above a farm, the mountains standing guard on both sides of the valley…this qualifies as a piece of paradise.

The weather forecast was announcing a full three days of nonstop rain and possibly snow so we decided to cut our trip short. Today we would cycle back to Ste-Catherine de la Jacques Cartier. We followed the St-Anne River till we arrived back in St-Raymond and then we continued on the bike trail through the autumn colours back to Ste-Catherine.

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We arrived in the early afternoon, sorted our equipment and dried the tent, took a well deserved shower and ate some delicious fish tacos.

It was a great trip, even though in the end it was shorter than planned, but we definitely enjoyed it. Biking is a great way to travel light, cover a lot of ground and actually see things. As Edward Abbey said: “You can’t see anything from a car, you’ve got to get out of the goddamn contraption…”

I encourage all to go out, try biking, try camping, hiking, canoeing, whatever you would like that maybe you haven’t tried yet. Do it. You have two days off? Go out. If you have a dream trip that you would like to do, start by going out whenever you can, and as explorer Bernard Voyer once told me: “stop talking about your trip and do it.”

Happy on the road

 

“The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.”
-J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

New Adventures in the plans

For those of you waiting to read more travel musings, your patience is about to pay off! This summer has been spent working and planning a trip for this coming November!

The plan consists in travelling by VW Kombi with my newly wed wife from the southern Mexican border along the pacific coast, going north until we reach the American border, then keep following a course due north visiting the California coast and Rockies, notably Yosemite, then entering Canada either through Oregon or Montana (if we decide to go to Yellowstone) then crossing Canada to the east coast. The next few months will involve heavy preparation of the vehicle and final trip details. I should be posting more regularly soon.

I plan on visiting the small and unknown pieces of paradise that are spread all over the Coast as well as visit some well known natural works of art. Stay tuned for the adventures!

For those of you who love travelling but find my regular mode of travel leaning towards the extreme, I will also be including posts on how to travel for cheap with a vehicle and a little more budget than my regular hitch hiking trips!

If you feel like helping out and are interested in supporting us in this next great adventure you can either contact me through here or go visit my Trevolta page here (http://www.trevolta.com/travels/Pacific-VW-Kombi-Adventure-26465) and chip in for the trip. If you know people in the travel magazine business be sure to mention us, maybe they would like to support us and have us write some travel articles for them.

If you happen to live somewhere on the West Coast and would love to say hi, we would love to do so as well! Just send me a message and we will arrange!

Cheers and happy trails!

Travelling with JD

Here is a short video about my travels I edited along with my brother the other day. Hope you enjoy it!

Going Home

“O highway I travel, do you say to me Do not leave me?
Do you say Venture not—if you leave me you are lost?
Do you say I am already prepared, I am well-beaten and undenied, adhere to me?”
-Walt Whitman

The sun’s rays came in through the window and woke me up. It must have been around 6am. I stayed a little longer in bed.
I got up later, refreshed. I got off my bunk bed while trying to decide wether it was worthwhile to stay for the 8am breakfast provided at the Salvation Army Refuge I was in. I usually like to start my hitch hiking days early but free food is always a good argument. In the end I got impatient and just got a coffee and some cookies and went on my way.
These Salvation Army Centers are definitely lifesavers especially in winter for many homeless people.

Outside the Salvation Army Centre

So out I went, walking out to the main street (which I forget the name now). The sidewalk was quite icy as was the wind. I walked for maybe 2 km till I reached the intersection with the Loop. It seemed like a good spot with adequate space for cars to pullover. The air was chilly but I was quite stoked about the day. After a few minutes I noticed a guy approaching, he was holding a large cup of coffee. ‘Here’, he said handing me the cup, ‘I didn’t have cash on me so I brought you this coffee, the morning is quite chilly!’ I thanked him and we each went on with our days.

Happy Coffee

The minutes went by and nobody stopped. At one point a truck stopped, he said he was going to Winnipeg…on Sunday. So no luck. After maybe 1 1/2 – 2 hrs a police car stopped and told me not to hitch hike in the city. So I started walking for maybe another 1km and a half till I reached the end of the city. I stopped right at the last traffic light and stood there. Here because I lacked the protection of the city buildings the wind was much stronger and the cold was more intense. I thought maybe the cold weather would help me get a ride faster. Alas! I was wrong. People passed by and waved at me, or pitied me out in the cold, but they would not stop. I reached the record waiting time here in Regina: 3 1/2 hours. Finally I got a short ride about 20km up the road, enough to warm up a bit. The guy who gave me a ride dropped me off at an intersection and told me I could probably get a free coffee and pastry at the restaurant in the corner.
My cardboard sign I had made in BC was getting torn up because of the wind, so it was time for a new one. Remember, a sharpie is part of the essential equipment of a hitch hiker! So I went in the restaurant and asked for some cardboard to make some signs, and I got a free coffee as well.

I walked back across the highway and stood again, hoping not to wait another 3 hours. Soon enough an SUV stopped and picked me up. He wasn’t going exactly east through the No.1 Highway but rather north east toward Yorkton. Being tired of waiting all morning I agreed, it was about an hour ride. Ron owns a farm in the area and is active in Organic Farming. He recommended me the following sites for travelers interested in working for some periods of organic farms or volunteering in a variety of settings (www.wwoof.net and http://www.helpx.net). I invite you guys to check it out it seems like an awesome way to save on lodging when travelling, plus you get the satisfation of working and you get to know the locals by being hosted.
Anyways so we chatted along for an hour till we arrived at the intersection of the No.17 trans-canada that runs between Saskatoon and Winnipeg. The highway seemed fairly busy, unfortunately most of the traffic was either big trucks (which hardly ever stop to pick up hitch hikers) or really local traffic going from one town to the next. Still I did’t have to wait more than half an hour before being picked up by a young guy going home from work. He was just going up ahead a few towns, but every kilometer counts especially after having such a crappy morning freezing out and waiting for most of the day. When he dropped me off he was kind enough to give me a $20 bill. “Next time a see a descent place to eat I’m getting something” I thought. It was the middle of the afternoon already and I hadn’t eaten anything since the 7.30am cookies. The prairies really are flat. As they joke here ‘it is so flat that if your dog ran away you could still see him running after two days’.

Waiting for some love

Flat Saskatchewan

Here I must have waited at least an hour before being given another ride, this time a lady on her way home from work. She was going up the road only one town away, but in the end she decided to bring me over to Russell in Manitoba (about 30km farther down, so thats 60km extra just for me!). I must say, in spite of the very slow progress the people that gave me rides today have been exceptional! Arrived in town (around 6pm) she even gave me a tour of the town showing me the places I might be able to spend the night for cheap in case I didn’t find a ride later on. At the gas station where she dropped me off there was a subway restaurant so I finally went and bought a meal. I was famished. Still, I couldn’t get myself to each all of my subway quietly while sitting down. There wasn’t much daylight left and as long as there was light I had to be out there with my thumb up. So I ate only half my subway then went out to the highway, muching on my meal while hoping for a miracle to get me to Winnipeg. The day before I got my last and longest ride of the day around 7pm, so I didn’t lose hope yet.

About an hour later I saw this red car try to stop but because of the traffic behind it enden up not stopping. Why do people do this? I thought. But a few minutes later I see this same car coming back and turning around and this time it stopped. It was an aged woman, probably close to 80 years old. Grandmothers have a heart. I guess they imagine I could be their grandson and would love someone to pick him up, so they do. I was very thankful. She wasn’t going east, but south. Back to No.1 Highway. I figured this was probably a good thing to do to get a ride tomorrow. So we chatted along for about an hour. The sun was coming down. We saw many deer in the fields. I had never seen so many deer together like this in the open, I must have seen over 50 deer in one field and twice smaller groups of about 20 or 30. Over in Quebec I had never seen more than 5 at a time.

By the time we got to the No.1 the sun was setting below the horizon, I had just about 30 minutes of daylight left. Unfortunately she was now going west toward her hometown and the closest town towards the east was the town of Virden, about 6 or 7km up the road. So I started walking. There was a train to the right, I walked over to it to check out the crew wagon to see if I could get a warm place to spend the night, but it was all locked up. So I kept walking on the highway. Soon the darkness came over. The temperature dropped, but as long as I walked I wouln’t get cold. After maybe 40minutes of walking I could see the welcome sign out in the distance, about one more kilometer and I would be there, hoping to find something open 24 hours. A bad day overall I would say. If I had kept going on the No.1 this morning I would have advanced about less than 300km. And now I was there walking at night hoping to find a place covered from the wind in this desolate prairie.

But then, it all changed, as life on the road always does.

A small Tercel car stopped. I had stopped asking for rides because at night it is difficult for people to see your face, therefore they are much less prone to stopping. But this guy stopped, I ran to the car and happily put my pack in the trunk. I got in the car and was asked wherabouts I was headed, I answered Winnipeg since that was my goal for the day. Mark, the friendly stranger who picked me up, said well I am going all the way to Montreal. I couldn’t believe my luck! Not many people travel across Canada this time of the year, and after spending the day in detours and mostly freezing outside, now at 9pm I get across this guy going all the way. I was so happy and he was also glad to have someone for company. Right there, in my mind, my trip was over, it was just a matter of time before arriving.

That night after passing Winnipeg we crossed the geografical center of Canada, we were now officially in the East. We drove all night for lack of finding an open motel. Since we are crossing about 4 time zones we didn’t exactly figure out what time it was and most likely by the time we started looking for a place to sleep they were all closed, so we drove.

Sunrise on the road. Going East.

In the morning we reached the city of Thunder Bay on the coast of Lake Superior. Lake superior is over 1000km long. In any other part of the world this is called a sea. It is the world’s largest freshwater lake by surface. From Thunder Bay on we had a 700km drive just on the shores of the lake. But first we stopped to make the oil changed on the car and to eat something. Then we continued.

part of Lake Superior

The province of Ontario is a really long drive. We would take turns driving every couple of hours. And along this road it is mostly rural with the scenery basically looking alike for 2 days. Obviously in summer this is a popular tourist destination aas you can enjoy camping or hotels on the lake shore and all kinds of activities. Now it was just cold, and the lake was actually still frozen. Thankfully the weather was nice all day. In the evening we arrived to Sault-St-Marie, where we stopped to eat. It was dark when we continued our way, but we only advanced about 70km till we arrived to a small motel by the roadside in the town of Bruce Mines. Finally some rest. A good warm shower and then we hit the sack. The next morning we left around 9am. It was snowing. The rest of the day was just a long drive. We listened to the whole collection of audio cassettes Mark had in the car, reliving the 90s. Here you measure distances by the time it gets to get from one Tim Horton’s to the next.

long drive

Of course we talked alot, we both have interesting family histories. Mark was originally from montreal with a colourful family background being an Anglo from Franco-Ontarian and Italian ancestry.
After a long drive we finally arrived to Ottawa, the nation’s capital around 6 or 7pm. We stopped to get a coffee at Bridgehead coffee house. Reputed to be Canada’s best.

 About an hour and a half more of driving we finally made it to Montreal. Mark dropped me off close to a metro station. I said goodbye to my new friend Mark. Spending two days with a stranger you either get to hate him or you get along great. I really got along with Mark and enjoyed our drive across. Half of my trans-canadian trip I did with Mark, so I owe a big thank you to him, for his kindness and good humour. Obviously without all the other people who gave me a ride I wouln’t have made it either. They are the faces of my trip.

I bought a ticket, called my brother and went on the metro till the Longeuil station where my brother picked me up. Only 250km left before arriving home. Since my parents moved since last time I was around I had only a sketchy idea of where they lived. So the next day I just waited for my brother to get out of classes and then we drove over with his friend to my parent’s place.

I travel alot, and I generally feel at home anywhere, but there is nothing like getting home, being welcomed into your mother’s arms…and fresh home made pizzas.

So this is how my trans-canada trip ended. Unexpectedly faster than I thought.
About 5000km, 7 days of travel (only!) and total of 11 days from my landing at Vancouver and arrival to Quebec city, most time spent waiting: 3 1/2 hours (Regina), shortest time waiting: probably 5 minutes (twice, once in Boston Bar, BC and once in Kamloops, BC), shortest ride: about 5km in Surrey, BC, longest ride: 2,851km from Virden, MB to Montreal, Qc. Average travel distance per day: for the first 4 days: around 700km per day, then from Ontario on about 1,200km per day. Total cost: about $140 of which $60 were given to me.

Trans-Canada Trip 2014

Trans Canada Trip 2014

So you see, it is not so expensive to travel if travelling is what you want. Go out and adventure out into life. Even if you don’t try out hitch hiking or extreme things, go out. Take that job opportunity in Asia, or that student exchange program in Europe, go on that trip of a lifetime you have been thinking about, take that invitation from your Latin American friends to visit them, they will be delighted and so will you. The thing is to go out, out of that imagined comfort zone. You will experience many wonderful things out there. It is not more dangerous to travel than to commute to your workplace day in and day out. Let me tell you what is dangerous: to regret the things you never had the courage to do. You have one life, don’t waste it living in a box, be free.

Frozen Prairies

“The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.”

-John Krakauer, Into the Wild

After spending a splendid week-end in the frigid city of Calgary, I set out on foot to continue my journey to the East. After finding a way out of the city (this is the hardest part of hitch hiking, the one that dosen’t involve actual hitch hiking!). When I reached the trans-canada highway #1 I started walking along the road to find a suitable place to hitch. I finally found a spot and I stood there in the chilling wind for almost two hours. Finally a gentleman picked me up and gave me a ride about 40 minutes down the road till the town of Bassano.
The dryness and windiness of the region makes for a very cold experience. Happily, I had come prepared from Mexico. In fact most of the items I packed with me were related to cold weather.

Trying to get to Regina

After approximately one hour of waiting an older lady, ex-hitch hiker herself, picked me up. She lived in Medicine Hat and had to go to a doctor’s appointment once a month, and today happened to be that day. Incidentally, instead of her appointment lasting 2 hours, it lasted only 15 minutes (for which she was quite pissed but for which I profitted). As one travels hitch hiking, one begins to see how life is made up of many small coincidences. Call it providence, luck or destiny, the thing is that quite frenquently in my trip I became aware of these small coincidences and how without them my day might have been very different (although it is not possible to know how things might turn out otherwise). So she drove me to the entrance of Medicine Hat. Here I waited another hour before a friendly young guy who loved travelling offered to bring me across to the other side of town. He bought me a cup of coffee and we parted. It was already 4.30 pm and I had only under 300km tallied for the day, far from my goal of 757km to reach Regina, SK.

About an hour later (you can see now that my average for Alberta is about an hour) a man picked me up. His name was Albert. Albert from Newfoundland. Newfies are notorious for their accents, and I now understood why. This man worked in Medicine Hat, but lived over an hour away in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. Unfortunately Maple Creek is quite a small town, and in fact on the highway it is nothing more than an intersection with a small gas station and a motel across the road, and the sun was going down, as well as the temperature. And even though I travel this way for the love of it, I also happened to have very little money so spending it on a motel was out of the question. So I only had the prospect of either a cold night out in the prairies or a miracle ride.

The flat prairies

Hitch hiking the prairies

At approximately 7.15pm (on my whole trip I was always confused as to the actual time since I went through 4 time zones and since Saskatchewan is ont on daylight savings time, it was actually like 5) a man stopped and picked me up. And here is the coincidence of the day: this guy told me he saw me in Calgary around 1pm (but obviously didn’t stop to pick me up). He worked 21 days on, and one week off, today was his last day and he was on his way home to Regina (who gets off work on a monday?). So he didn’t stop in Calgary, but his car broke down in Medicine Hat where he had to stop and fix it. In the meantime I had passed him, and now he saw me again in Maple Creek and decided to give me a ride. I dind’t actually tell him, but I was quite glad his car broke down in Medicine Hat, otherwise I might have had a very cold night ahead of me. This just shows that one can never know what is ahead. Sometimes hitch hiking can feel quite long and boring, and one might be tempted to give up. But as long as there is light (generally), your luck can change in any instant. It is an excersice in patience and in one’s ability to keep his spirits up. So in the end I reached my goal which was Regina. I even drove for a couple of hours while my host slept and rested from his day’s work.

Sunset in the cold prairies

We arrived in Regina at around 11pm, and he kindly drove me downtown to the Salvation Army refuge. So not only I rode 340km with him, but he also found me a warm place to sleep for free.
I entered the refuge with my backpack and my cardboard signs in my hand. I registered at the counter, my backpack was stowed away in a safe place, I was shown my bed and given blankets. Breakfast at 8, I was told. I brushed my teeth, wrote down my day’s progress and went to sleep. When I started my day in the morning I wasn’t sure what to expect. It had been quite a day, with an unexpected twist at the end. Good stories have plot twists at the end I thought, I guess good days are like that too. Nevertheless the next day’s plot twists still caught me by surprise, despair, hope and rescue all in one day. But that story I will tell later!

At the Salvation Army refuge in Regina.

[I want to thank all the people who contributed to this trip, especially the Riloba family in Calgary as well as all the great people I met and who lended a helping hand to a travelling stranger! They make this world a better place.]

West Coast and Rockies

“You never know what’s around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you’ve climbed a mountain.”
― Tom Hiddleston

I landed in Vancouver’s International Airport on a rainy afternoon. The flight had been long, and my backpack had been damaged by the handlers. I had not eaten all day.

I wearily walked to the currency exchange counter and changed a $20 US dollar bill and 70 MEX I had in my wallet. I bought a small Tim Horton’s coffee and a muffin. It was around 8 degrees Celsius outside, warm enough for some Canadians to be walking around in sandals and shorts. I went outside and felt the cold air on my face.

At Vancouver airport

A few hours later my friend Philip came by to pick me up and a new intern coming in from the UK. We then headed south towards the US border where A Rocha’s property lies.

A Rocha is a Non-profit conservation organization founded originally in Portugal but now with many international centers now. It works in environmental conservation and education as well as sustainable agriculture.
I loved the place and the people here. The next day I helped around in their daily activities, we did some water quality testing in the river, then in the afternoon we did some amphibian egg mass survey in some ponds. I was delighted to be introduced to some of these conservation projects they have. As someone who loves nature, conservation is a subject that is close to my heart.

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The next night was spent in Vancouver and the next morning after walking a bit around the downtown and Stanley Park I started my cross country adventure. I took the sky train eastward to Surrey. From here I started walking hoping to find a bus to take me towards the Trans-Canada Highway. As I was walking I randomly stretched my hand and thumb out, and lo and behold! A mini cooper stopped. A friendly guy about my age picked me up and drove me to the highway, a super start to my trip!

I rummaged through a recycling bin for some cardboard and improvised my sign and stood there on the on-ramp. I stood there for over 3 hours. In the end a local guy in a pickup gave me a ride, he was going over to Abbotsford to visit his mother on her birthday. He used to hitch hike back in the days, he dropped me off and gave $40 to help me on my trip. I decided to buy some chocolate and water and then stood again on the on ramp. I stood there less than 30 minutes before a young “redneck” type family picked me up.They drove me up to Chilliwack. Here I stood maybe some 40 minutes before an older guy in a van picked me up. He seemed like a grumpy guy but was actually quite friendly and I learned a lot about the province in our ride to Hope, BC.

Hoping to get a lift out of Hope,BC

Here we start entering mountainous country, and I noticed many First Nations people were living around here. It had rained during the way here, but when I hopped off the van the rain had stopped. The air was fresh and I was excited to enter the mountains. I was hoping it would not rain as the weather was very overcast. I waited here for more than 2 hours and was thinking I might have to spend the night in a little shack that was beside the road. Finally a pickup stopped and another friendly man gave me a ride about 50km up the road till Boston Bar. He had worked extensively down in Mexico, a Canadian making Tequila in Mexico. When I arrived to Boston Bar the sun was already going down, and the prospect of sleeping in a tiny railroad town was not too cool. Luckily a pickup truck that had passed me back in Hope saw me and this time it stopped. Two girls and a small dog from the Vancouver area. We squeezed in the small cabin and we drove 200km up till Cache Creek. They went on their way north till Prince George. Night had fallen, and I walked to a 24hr petrol station, I ate a bit. Then I decided I might as well try my luck and went outside and stood under a lamp post. A drunk native came by and told me that was not a good spot, he then led me up the road to the spot were they hitch hike out of town. He went on his way and another one came by and asked where I was headed. I mistakenly understood he worked in the Motel across the street so I asked If I could use his internet connection, he agreed and we walked to his house. By the time we got there I realized he was a bit drunk himself, though not too much. So I went in, sent an email, and he then offered that I stay there overnight as the night temperatures would drop down to -15 degrees Celsius.

So I spent the night warm enough and protected from the cold. The next morning I left at 6.30am back to the road. Unfortunately there wasn’t much traffic at that hour so I stood there in the freezing weather for almost two hours. It even started to snow, a powdery kind of snow that blows over the surface of the road. Finally around 8.30 a fine lady picked me up, probably the only one that pitied me out in the cold, as it is unusual for women driving alone to pick up hitch hikers. We drove through the valley (I believe it is the Fraser valley but I’m not sure), with it’s movie like scenery from the wild west. The mountains around it produce a meteorological phenomenon that pushes away the clouds making for very little precipitation year round. So it is a semi-arid region, with cows, valleys, and the railroad following the edge of the river, on the one side runs the Pacific Railroad tracks and on the other the Canadian National tracks. 85km later we arrived to Kamloops. Here I was dropped off at an exit ramp, and there was no on-ramp there, so I started walking along the highway hoping to find an on-ramp. I kept turning my head back and holding out my sign hoping someone would stop, though I was not betting on it. Surprisingly enough about 5 minutes later a small truck stopped and I hopped in. The driver was a very nice fellow who regularly picked up hitch hikers. We had quite the chat for over an hour till we arrived to the small town of Salmon Arm. It was around 10.30 am. I thanked him and he went on with his deliveries and I went to grab a cup of coffee for the morning. I was quite stoked about how well my morning had gone, and I expected a short wait. So there I stood, smiling at all the passing cars, receiving many smiles and waves back but no rides. And since smiles won’t get you anywhere I waited and waited. The people all seemed really nice, smiling and waving but none picking me up. After about an hour a young kid finally picked me up. And as luck would have it, today was his birthday and he was on his way to Calgary to celebrate in fashion. So the wait was worth it. I hitched over 500km with him. We went through Sicamous, Revelstoke, and Golden and a few National Parks before crossing into Alberta. The Rockies I must say are magnificent, and unfortunately pictures taken from a moving vehicle are more often than not incapable of accurately representing the majesty and awe they inspire. And so we reached and drove by Lake Louise and Banff, then on to Canmore until we reached Calgary. I was dropped off in the SW part of the city. I immediately felt the frigid cold running through my body. It must have been around minus 20. I phoned my long time friends that live here and luckily I was not too far away from their home. I hopped on a bus and made my way home.

Rockies

I was very content with my progress in the day, In the morning I was not sure if I would make it to Calgary that day, and as it turns out I reached it before sunset. I must say, British Columbia is very hitchable even though it is technically illegal to hitch hike. I loved the province and its people are in excess polite. It was quite the culture shock coming from the metropolis of Mexico city with all its noise and traffic, to find the polite Canadians complain about people changing lanes in traffic and how that was unacceptable driving ethics. I was glad to have been saved from spending the night out in the cold, and was agreeably surprised at the kindness and politeness of the people. So it is not a myth, Canadians really are polite. Yet as I arrived to Calgary on the first day of spring, spring was nowhere to be seen, it appeared I had gone back in time and it was still January. Oh well, such is the Canadian weather. Here I will spend the week-end before continuing on my journey across Canada.

So stay tuned, as they say, for more adventures are coming up!

Stanley Park

Stanley Park

Vancouver

My first ride of the trip!

Patience is the key

Hope, BC

my ride to Cache Creek

Headed towards Salmon Arm, BC

Mountains

Crossing the Rockies

Going to Calgary

Me and the Rockies

In frigid Calgary

Preparing for my trans-canadian adventure!

Here are a few pictures of my preparation for my trans-canada hitch hiking adventure!