Bill's Trails & Tales

Another update for my Dewdney Trail project. I have explored the part of the trail that I have referred to as the missing link. I have now walked all but one 5.6 km section of the Dewdney Trail, from Christina Lake to Highway 22 below Rossland. Actually, I have hiked it twice, as I am hiking solo and have to hike back to my starting point.

The 5.6 km section is the Dewdney Drop, a hiking and biking trail. For my thru hike that I hope to attempt soon, hiking the Dewdney Drop will be my starting point, hiking from Highway 22 to Christina Lake.

Follow the link for the full story.

Dewdney Trail Discovery, Christina Lake to Rossland - Trails and Tales Dewdney Trail Discovery, post detailing Bill’s project discovering the historic Dewdney Trail Christina Lake to Rossland B.C.

I photographed this grouse on the Old Glory Trail yesterday. I can't decide what kind of grouse it is: fluffed grouse, spruce grouse, or a sharp-tailed grouse. Can anyone help with identifying the grouse?

Do you have Happy Feet? I do now; this latest blog post explains.😁 The post contains an affiliate link.

Happy Feet, No Blisters (With My New Boot Insoles) - Trails and Tales This blog post explains how the Superfeet Hike Support Insoles Carbon Fiber solved my foot blisters on long hikes.

Hiked Old Glory today. A chipmunk photo bombed my photo. 😁

I hiked the Goat Mountain Trail yesterday to stretch my legs and test my conditioning. I set a new personal time to the top! If you missed it, I posted this description and information of the Goat Mountain Trail earlier this year. The Goat is one of my favourite hikes!

Goat Mountain Trail - Trails and Tales Ever since my first hike up the Goat Mountain Trail, it has been my favourite hike, maybe because I am a wood goat in the Chinese horoscope.

End-to-end, LEJOG or JOGLE, hiking from one end to the other end of the UK has held my interest for a while. I have been following on Facebook Andrew for the last month and have enjoyed his photos and his words. I have followed other end-to-enders. Last year I followed a woman who walked from the north to the south, which may be my preference. This walk, depending on the routing, could take up to 90 days and cover 1900 kms. I have walked a short 20 k section in Scotland and 10 k in Cornwall, so I have a feel for how it could be. Other than those hikes, I have experienced it through others' words and photos. Andrew’s words as he nears the end of his LEJOG journey could be very discouraging for some but encouraging for me. Someday….

LEJOG PTSD

I am still not in a great state, possibly man flu.( Ok, Just a cold) Joints, teeth, head, everything hurts!..

I am taking a second day off.

I had planned to do some videos in Wick, so I have taken this opportunity. There is an amazing heritage centre in Wick, which I have spent some time in. I am always doing military research ( which is partly why I am raising money). This has come up trumps yesterday, finding out more about the chaps who perished of the coast in WW2. I even camped a few hundred metres from the spot where a ship founded and an Ipswich man's body was recovered.

Today the rain is hammering down, my pitch at the campsite is now a large puddle, I have just dragged my tent in the rain to high ground. What joy..

Over this trip I have witnessed the hard work of the farmers and the fisherman. I have had many conversations with farmers on the state of the economics of farming. Green issues seem to be at the top. We are happy to take cheap beef and lamb from South America and complain about British beef production not being green enough, yet happy to import cheap meat while they cut down rain forests to expand the meat production. This is me, a vegetarian.!

The moors and mountain areas of the UK are having the sheep reduced, yet when fires happen in the Cairngorms, Wales and across the UK they say the sheep would have kept the gorse, heaver under control.
For fishermen, this is still a dangerous profession.
Rant over, just my observations.

So life has changed a bit for me over the past 80 days.

New clothes needed.

Knife and fork?, no for me a spork. ( Long handle spoon with a set of fork teeth at the end).
Sitting at a table to eat.. sitting and laying on the floor to eat.
Laying in the sleeping bag at night wanting to go for a wee, but laying in hope for the rain to stop.
Digging a hole as soon as you pitch your tent, in preparation for the following day (yes I am that efficient, although never accurate).

I have been known to wear the same clothes for more than 2 days.
Wet socks every day of the trip. ( Although I have 3 pairs, the same pair has been worn most days ( rinsed and washed daily).

A short service was held this morning in the rain at the bins, I only have a few days left, I decided to rest the wet socks in the bin. They were great socks, Solomon's , but they did smell, despite my cold, it was all too much for me.
RIP.

Wearing synthetic clothes for 80+ days. ( I do wear a mareno wool shirt for bed. A bu**er to dry if washed)
I look forward to cotton shirts, socks and pants!.
But will miss the electrical and static storm at night while getting changed in my very small tent.

Daily smearing insect repellent on my body. I am sure my skin is now 50% Deat.
Being bitten by ants, tics, flies, wasps.

Walking without sticks.
Walking without 30lb strapped to my back.
Wearing the same shoes daily.

Constantly worrying about phone charge.

My senses of direction has always been good. But I now can read footprints fairly accurately. Some of the trails had little foot fall, so you start to recognise people's foot prints ahead of you and how long ago. Trail runners, it could be a jogger depending on the stride, walking boots means a day hiker. Sometimes there are people days ahead of you. Sometimes people you have met walking the same pace, you can work out whether you are ahead of them ( this is me getting up so early).
Taking an hour off at lunchtime you can guarantee they will turn up.

Many of the trails have been very lonely, occasionally a shop keeper or farmer would say a LEJOGER has passed through a couple of days or hours ago, which always gave me hope and inspiration to press on.

I have always kept a few rules of wild camping. One very important rule, is not to cook an evening meal where you camp. This is so the wildlife don't find the spillage and decide to chew through your tent, or find a need to be anywhere near your tent. I always check for holes and burrows. I once camped near a badgers set, not a lot of sleep was had that night.

One of the best trails was the Pennine Way. Well marked and jaw dropping scenery.

A big regret was not going north at Drumnadrochit and joining the Affc kintail Way. I have done this route and can highly recommend this. If you just want a short version just drive to Dog Falls and walk that section up to Morvich. The best Scotland can offer. waterfalls, loches, bothies and you can join the Cape Wrath trail.

So after all this time, I may decide never to spend another night under canvas ever again!.

I feel totally traumatized by the whole experience and likely to now suffer from PTSD for the rest of my life.!

Piddling in bushes, eying up bowling greens to pitch a tent, digging small cat holes in the garden and sizing up rain puddles in the street to filter water.

I am sure I will continue to wake up at 04:00hrs, thinking I have somewhere to go..

Being looked at as if I was a tramp!

Heat wave after heat wave. Yet little rain, to which I am grateful for.

The next planning stage, is how the hell do I get home!

But I must say I have appreciated your company, your kind words and appreciation of this fantastic countryside and coastline. A lone journey hasn't been less lonely.. thank you.

I shared this Dewdney Trail project update post on the Kootenay Back Country Adventures page and was surprised by the number of people interested in the Dewdney Trail. I plan to continue my exploration tomorrow.

Dewdney Trail Discovery, Christina Lake to Rossland - Trails and Tales Dewdney Trail Discovery, post detailing Bill’s project discovering the historic Dewdney Trail Christina Lake to Rossland B.C.

My goal today was to drive to the Santa Rosa summit and find the Dewdney Trail that is referred to as the Dewdney Backside on my Gaia GPS app. The trail was easy to find and surprisingly in reasonable shape. There were some windfalls, and I did hang some flags in sections where the signs were missing. Next I will return and continue down the hill. It appears that the trail is 5 to 6 km to reach the Santa Rosa Recreation Site. I have marked the map with details. And remember, if you use my link in my blog post, I will put the link in the comments, you will receive 10% from Gaia GPS. I am a sales affiliate for Gaia GPS and will receive a sales commission. Thank you.