A Better Way:
Inspiring a different approach to long-distance
hiking:
the journey of Susan Smee along
the Rideau Trail
 |
| Sue Smee in Perth |
Introduction
Many of us, I’m sure, have
contemplated a long-distance multi-day hiking journey, but have been put off by
the thought of carrying a heavy backpack the whole way. If only there was an option allowing us to
carry a day-pack, and to have places to stay along the trail each night. Those who have travelled the much-publicised
El Camino Trail will tell you that it can work, beautifully. It is the El Camino which is inspiring the
creators of a new trail, still in its earliest planning stages, which will stretch
from Algonquin Park to the Adirondacks.
Could it also work as a future vision for the Rideau Trail?
Susan (Sue) Smee,
whose home looks out across to the Rideau Trail as it passes along the southern
shore of the Ottawa River, herself hiked the El Camino nine years ago. This special experience in her life gave her
an appreciation for what might be called “light-weight long-distance”
hiking. Inspired by later hikes in
Scotland, the Rockies, and closer to home in Ontario, Sue became intrigued by
the possibility of applying this approach to an end-to-end hike of the Rideau
Trail. This Fall, she put her ideas to
the test. It was a huge success. In two weeks she walked the Rideau Trail from
end to end, carrying only a light pack.
This story explains how she did it.
 |
Southern end of the Rideau Trail in Kingston
Photo by Gloria Daly |
The Inspiration
I asked Sue what had
inspired her to walk the Rideau Trail from end to end, a distance of over 330
kilometres. There were a number of
reasons. Put simply, Sue loves to walk
and, like many of us, she deeply appreciates the beauty of nature. “It’s wonderful
to be outside”, she told me. But there
was more to it than that. A friend of
Sue’s once told her that: “When we are
not challenging ourselves, that’s when we grow old”. And Sue finds that she IS stronger in her
daily life through facing challenges such as a long-distance walk. Such a journey can also act as a release from
daily responsibilities and challenges, allowing a person to find a better
balance in life.
Sue recommends a book
by Ottawa author Dan Rubinstein, titled “Born to Walk”. Sue said: “Dan loves walking and he writes about how beneficial walking is, and
how it contributes to life in so many areas.
I loved the book.”
Sue also talked of her
life as a young woman, and the influence of her parents. “My parents
were a really big influence”, she said.
“When we went home as young
adults, you talked, you ate, and you always went out for a walk”. This gave her not only a love of nature, but
also the love of being active.
 |
Trailhead Park, Kingston
Photo by Gloria Daly |
An Idea is Born
Nine years ago, Sue made
a journey along the El Camino pilgrimage trail in Spain. It was possible to travel with a reasonably
light load, due to the support infrastructure along the way, with places to
stay and supportive communities along the route. Then on a hiking trip across the Isle of Skye
in Scotland, Sue and a friend were able to travel light thanks to the support
of people along the way. These
experiences reinforced in Sue’s mind that carrying a forty pound pack on your
back for days on end was not something that appealed to her. Nor would it appeal to many of us –
especially as we grow older!
It was her experience
that, in Canada, as opposed to Europe, it is harder to avoid carrying heavy
loads, as our Country is so huge and relatively empty. Wanting to put her “lightweight travel”
theory to the test, last year Sue walked in the Golden Lake area
of Ontario, near Algonquin Park. She hiked on backroads and was able to find enough places to stay, and the right
support network, to allow her to walk with only a light day pack. So now Sue was ready to try something more
challenging.
Back in 1988, Sue
moved to Ottawa from the Prairies. She
quickly became aware of the Rideau Trail, and did several hikes with the Rideau
Trail Association (RTA) clubs. Asking an
RTA colleague about the idea of hiking light along the Rideau Trail, the surprising,
and inspiring, reply was “Of course you
can!”. So now Sue was determined to put the theory to
the test.
 |
Trailhead Park, Kingston
Photo by Sheila Parry |
Building a Plan
“I knew that walking the trail was going to be a piece of cake compared
to the planning”, Sue told me. In
March of this year, Sue attended a presentation on the Rideau Trail in Perth,
and took the opportunity at that session to announce her intention to make this
journey. Immediately, offers of help
started to come in, and gradually things fell into place. Kind folks, who had perhaps never envisaged
offering their homes and their support to a complete stranger, found themselves
part of this exciting new “experiment”.
A few years ago, Sue
adopted a Buddhist practice. This
includes making “determinations”, or statements of intent. This gives a person a strong focus on
meeting a stated goal: “Yes, I can do
that”. Sue made a determination that she
would complete this journey, however hard it may be along the way. This mental preparedness proved to be a key ingredient
in the successful outcome.
Physical readiness was
also vital. “I don’t think I could have lasted if I was not physically prepared”,
said Sue. In the weeks leading up to the
walk, Sue travelled 320 kilometres along the trails of Ottawa and area. Limited by not having her own car, Sue made
use of the section of Rideau Trail beside her home in Ottawa, while noting that
the Gatineau Hills, where she trained for the El Camino, would be better training
ground for some of the rugged country along the Rideau Trail. Nevertheless, she was now mentally and
physically prepared.
 |
Marshlands Conservation Area, Kingston
Photo by Gloria Daly |
The Journey
As far as the journey
itself was concerned, Sue literally took it all in her stride. In the weeks immediately preceding her trip,
Sue had already hiked several times along the section of trail from Bells
Corners in western Ottawa, past her home, to the end of the trail below
Parliament Hill. So her two week continuous
journey, between September 18th and October 2nd took her
from Kingston north to Bells Corners.
She walked with only a light day pack on her back, staying each night
with a network of supporters which she had created during the planning stages
of her journey. On only five nights did
she use a campsite, hotel or bed and breakfast. The logistics worked exactly to plan.
Sue was overwhelmed by
the kindness of people who offered her a bed to stay, and/or their support
along the way. When I asked her what
advice she would give to hikers considering a similar journey, her reply was
short: “Be a considerate guest”.
This is an indication of her gratefulness to these new found
friends. It is also a window into her
own approach to life.
The reader may be
interested to learn that there are several bed and breakfasts close to the Rideau
Trail. Sue found two very special
B&Bs, one near Merrickville, and the other in Richmond. Her hosts went well beyond the call of duty
to make her journey enjoyable and memorable.
The highlight for Sue
was at the Gypsy Cove near Merrickville, where hosts Jean and Don left with her
an indelible memory of the unexpected kindness of the human soul. By shuttling her to and from trailheads, they
enabled her to reduce by ten kilometres what would have been an extremely long day. Sue was amazed how her hosts had taken the
time to figure out how best to help her, and then would not take “no” for an
answer. “Those two people were just very special; the most wonderful couple”,
she told me.
 |
Bedford Mills
Photo by Robert Charest |
Highlights and Challenges
I asked Sue what the
highlight of her journey had been.
Expecting her to name a favourite location, perhaps Flagpole Hill or Spy
Rock, I was surprised by her reply. “It was being able to lie in the sunshine
below a large tree and to look up at the sky – to experience moments of beauty
such as these.” She said. “However
hard the walking, as long as I paid attention to what I could see, what I could
hear, and how I felt, I was fine”.
And the walking was physically demanding. Sue found that twenty kilometres each day was
the right distance for her. On several
days she walked 25 kilometres or longer; these were “really long days”.
Sue encountered a few
challenges along the way, as one might expect, with route-finding and watery
sections, but it was three encounters with cows which she found the most
unnerving. Said Sue, “I’m a prairie girl. I have no issue with cows. But these cows seemed determined to surround me,
and it was a little unsettling”.
Readers will empathise with the situation of a hiker in the middle of a
large field, trying to spot that next orange triangle, while being surrounded
by a large herd of cows!
She also found it very
challenging to keep her feet dry. “There were times when my feet would get wet with
the morning dew, or where the trail needed signage or maintenance, but those
were minor frustrations compared with the cows!” she told me. Summing it up in one short sentence, Sue
explained that “You have to be
resourceful and have patience”.
 |
| A successful challenge |
Reflections
As Sue put it, “We are indeed so fortunate to be living in Canada. I can leave my room in a nice apartment and
walk alone without fear”. For Sue, a
long-distance walk such as this is one way of helping her find the right balance
in life so that, as she so elegantly put it, “I can be happy and I can be contributing”.
And a final word of
advice from Sue about relaxing after your journey: “Don’t
fill your calendar with five hundred things to do the day after you get home”! In
other words, give yourself time to reflect on your journey and to adjust your
life goals.
Sue’s success will, I
hope, inspire others to take another look at the Rideau Trail in perhaps a
different light, and to ask themselves, “Can I use this as a new inspiration and
a new approach for my next journey?”
Many congratulations
to Sue for her strong vision for the future, her inspiration for others, and - of
course - for joining the distinguished ranks of the successful Rideau Trail
end-to-enders.
The Passionate Hiker
October 2015
