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