Brockville to Cardinal   |   Campsite: 44.79883° N, 75.36493° W

This morning I wake sometime after 5:00 am. My sleep last night was quiet and deep, and I woke this morning feeling refreshed. This camping spot was really good—well hidden, level surface, with a soft layer of wild grass to sleep upon. I eat, get my stretching in, and put all my gear into the pack. By 6:00 I am walking eastward into Brockville. I take a few photos on the way. Make my way to a coffee shop where I back up files, brush my teeth, charge the battery bank, and will also refill all of the water bottles. Good news on the weather: the rain projected for later this afternoon has moved to tomorrow. This means that with the eight kilometres walked getting me into town, I should have another 40 km by this time tomorrow. The battery bank is charging quicker than I thought it would, so I am hoping to be back out walking by 8:30 / 9:00. I also do a bit of mapping from the city of Cornwall into Montréal which is 124 km. For now, I am concentrating on the upcoming 35 km to Cardinal. All walking today will be along Highway 2. A man at the coffee shop this morning tells me that it is a good, picturesque walk along the river. I calculate when I will be in Montréal, and I find a good deal on booking.com on a room downtown for two nights in the city—from Sunday night to Tuesday morning. This will give me some time away from walking to rest and to look around. I confirm the room, then prepare to get back out. East to a small town called Maitland where lunch is made and enjoyed while sharing a grassy patch of beach with a family of geese. Continue on to a very small village called Blue Church—at the centre of which is a very tiny blue church. The walk is quite scenic and lovely up to a larger town called Prescott, where I buy a few pints. Down the highway, in a place called Wexford, I enjoy one while sitting on an Adirondack chair on the patio of the presently closed Windmill Brewery. From here, the walk into a town called Johnstown gets uglier and uglier, with massive port facilities and industrial grain elevators situated along the water. The final 8 km into the small town of Cardinal are tough—sore, achy, and a bit slower in pace. The cemetery is another 1.6 km east of town. I reach it by 7:00 pm, and the mattress is instantly inflated once the tent is raised. I put some journalling down. As I am resting inside the tent, I hear a few cars slowly drive through the cemetery. Hopefully, I will not be reported. I read for as long as my eyes will allow, gaining ever more weight with each sentence surveyed. Today was another great day walking. A lovely day—it was breezy, mild, sunny with clouds, and not overly bright but with enough light with which to see far. I think I will sleep well tonight.

Today’s distance walked: 45.38 km    |    Total distance walked: 418.77 km

Gananoque to Brockville   |   Campsite: 44.55339° N, 75.74115° W

I am awake early, so I take the opportunity to listen to some music—the first time this walk. The morning is still cold, but refreshingly so. I begin to stretch and prepare the pack. By 6:00 I am ready to start the day. About an hour in, a man on a bicycle slows in front of me and asks where I am going. I tell what I am up to and we launch into a 10–15 minute conversation about walking, cycling, work, and retirement. I give him my name to look me up online in order to stay in touch. I really enjoy our conversation. He and his wife, living in Montréal, have traveled to the area for the weekend. They saw my tent last night along the road, and he seems interested to meet the person who had slept in it. As I continue walking, the outer shell is removed when the sun rises into the 10:30 am sky, followed by the long-sleeve fleece. A good, cool breeze blows through the morning, keeping me comfortable. I take a lot of photos, as everything is worthy of documentation! Everything is so beautiful and green here. At 10:30, I come upon an LCBO / Beer Store which is open. Inside, a man named Brian has a number of questions about how I am doing this challenge. We get to talking about the later stages of the walk. He is quite familiar with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, confirming that this 178 km stretch of highway between Fredericton and Moncton will be difficult as little in the way of grocery stores are located along this stretch of highway. He is an interesting guy, and I loved our conversation. I walk a few hundred metres east, find a good spot to cook and eat lunch, preparing some couscous with seasoning. As I am eating, a car comes to a stop on the highway, with a man and woman walking over to where I am seated. I soon realize that it is the cyclist who stopped to talk this morning on the trail. He and his wife who are now driving home to Montréal were looking for me in order to give me some Gatorade, Mars bars, granola bars, and cheese! I thank them for thinking about me, and we spend about ten minutes talking before they return to their drive back home. I eat, drink my pints, journal, pack up, and return to walk by 11:30. Walking on this trail following the Parkway and ultimately the St. Lawrence River has been such a wonderful experience. Hopefully, it hasn’t overly altered my perception of road walking! Sometime around 2:00 pm, a woman cycles past me moving in the same direction. Her bike has various bags attached to the top tube, seat tube, chain stays, and handlebar. Bike packing. She is soon followed by a man who, as he passes asks me, “Atlantic?” I reply “Yes—to St. John’s.” He gives me a big thumbs up and continues on down a hill to a climb where I see them as tiny dots moving out of my line of sight. It takes me six minutes to walk what they had cycled in seconds. When I reach the spot where I last saw them, they have stopped a little farther down the trail, resting on a bench and looking over a map of the upcoming parkway. I take advantage of this good luck to talk to them. Susie and Mike are bike-packing their way to Montréal from Toronto. They are from Vancouver, having both ridden the Canadian railway from Vancouver to Toronto with their bikes, which they were able to pack on the train free of charge. They had attended a wedding and are now free riding from Toronto to Montréal where they will spend a few days before returning to the west coast. What is incredible about their story is that this is the very first time either of them has done this before, and they seem to be having a great time doing it. Very cool people with a very cool story. We say goodbye, and it breaks my heart a little to see them ride away, as they were both so cool and having so much fun! The walk steers back to Highway 2 as it angles into Brockville. I find a place to set up the tent a few hours later, 7 km from town, located in an unkept field behind a row of thick, wide evergreen trees. It is a bit visible from the roadway and is currently in full sunlight, but I believe it will be perfect once the sun goes down and the day darkens. The grass is soft under the tent and will provide a comfortable night of sleep, providing a quick, easy walk back to the roadway into town. I lay in the tent journalling, reflecting on the day, followed by some reading. The rain fly is off, and the breeze sweeping through the mesh windows is refreshing and relaxing, as the sun is still hot and glowing uninterrupted in a cloudless sky. Today was an amazing day—amazing walking, amazing people, amazing scenery, conversations, and grace. 43.54 km are gained over the course of the day walking through beautiful terrain.

Today’s distance walked: 43.54 km    |    Total distance walked: 373.39 km

Kingston to Gananoque   |   Campsite: 44.33620° N, 76.13019° W

I wake early after the first sleep I’ve had in a bed in seven days. Back up files, input a few expenses into Numbers, pour a hot bath, soaking achy bones. When 7:00 am rolls around I descend down to the hotel restaurant to enjoy the included breakfast. Journal while checking email. LinkedIn. Medium. By 7:30 am, refueled and feeling good, I head back up to the room to enjoy another hour and a half of hot water. The morning is beautiful—sunny and crisp, with a pure azure sky. I load the upcoming ten destinations and 200 km into the weather app to better anticipate climatic conditions ahead. The forecast looks clear up to a town called Prescott where rain is projected to fall on Tuesday. Dress and set off for Trailhead by 9:20 am. Josh downstairs on the gear level sets me up with everything I need, and both Hailey and Emma help me select the best, most effective Patagonia shirt and pant combination for the type of walking I’ll be heading into. As the current pants and shirt I am wearing are close to falling apart with over 37 individual hand-made mends with needle and thread, I can’t wait to try out the new replacements! I walk the gear to the hotel, then head out to buy ramen, granola bars, and a bottle of Poweraid from Food Basics. I continue on to BulkBarn for some trail mix and dry snacks. Return to the room to pack everything up. I receive the expected “You were supposed to be cleared out of the room 45 minutes ago” phone call from the main desk. I leave extremely late after the checkout deadline, and begin to walk east. The walk is beautiful—such pretty countryside out here surrounding Kingston and into the next town of Gananoque. I reach it by 4:00 pm, have a good look at the town, and as I am picking up pints at the beer store, I ask the guys working there about good, free places to camp for the night. They both instantly recommend The Parkway—a two-lane road running directly along the stretch of coastline between Gananoque and the next town of Brockville. Supposedly, as I discussed with Brenda and Tim outside in the beer store parking lot, the Parkway was intended to serve as the first phase of the massive 401 east-west highway, but later was reconsidered as a slower, more quiet and ecologically safe route built at a much smaller scale for single-lane traffic. They both highly recommend I walk the Parkway instead of Highway 2, as the Parkway offers legal camping all along the stretch running for the upcoming 55 km. We have a very good 20-minute conversation about the area, and I set off with a much better feeling about the next two days of walking! The Parkway will be a much more scenic route that hugs the water and turns out to be shorter in distance to Brockville. I walk to the Starbucks located on the western border of the area, where I copy and back up photos, refill all water containers, and set out to find camping along the route. I find one after about a half hour of walking. It is nestled among trees and is far enough from the intermittent traffic to be comfortable and quiet. I set up the tent, cook dinner, and wave at all the vehicles passing with drivers honking their horns, waving, or giving me the thumbs-up sign. This is a very special, beautiful place, and a wonderful evening. What a day this has been—the best one so far!

Today’s distance walked: 37.91 km    |    Total distance walked: 329.85 km

“I would move to Port Hope, Cobourg, Kingston, or Gananoque in a second! I have been living in Toronto for so damned long. It has been so incredible to get out of Toronto and finally get back to Canada!”