A Better Way

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 18^th and October 2^nd 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