Extreme trek
Trio plans 24-hour walk across Waterloo Region
KITCHENER — It’s just a little walk to West Montrose, a pleasant stroll along The Walter Bean Grand River Trail.
Something around 78 kilometres in the span of a day or so, starting in Galt.
That’s what Kitchener’s Tessa Jennison, and fellow Livescape staffers Ashley DeMarte and Dave Wall, have planned for Feb. 10.
Their Waterloo Region Crossing excursion benefits The Working Centre’s programs to combat unemployment and poverty.
The 30-something trio are aiming to trek from one end of the region to the other in 24 hours.
There’s a 7 a.m. start on Saturday and a 7 a.m. finish on Sunday.
Then, perhaps they will head out for a nice brunch. Simple, right?
“I have a background in adventure racing,” said Jennison, who has competed in 500-kilomtre events that take up to six days to finish. “I think this is a completely attainable goal.”
But why do it? What’s the point of trudging along likely snow-covered trails, with impassable sections that will take you into neighbourhoods, in the middle of winter?
“Because we had that really cold snap, I’ve been thinking a lot about people who don’t have vehicles and who have to access essential services all the time on foot, regardless of the weather,” said Jennison, who then pitched her idea of her walk across the region to her botanical design company colleagues as a way to demonstrate the “scale” of the region.
“I think a lot of people travel by car and they don’t really think how far it takes to get from one point to another on foot, and how difficult these kinds of journeys can be when extreme weather hits.”
And if extreme weather — like freezing rain or sleet or snow or arctic winds — smacks them in the middle of their walk to West Montrose, so much the better.
“Who knows what we’ll get in a 24hour window,” said Jennison, who expects much of the trail won’t be cleared or winter-maintained. “The purpose is to be in more extreme weather. I’m kind of hoping it’s a little more challenging.”
Of course, the Jennison’s trio will have support crews at some of the trail’s 19 access points. They’ll have water, food or dry clothes, whatever the walkers require. Politicians may walk along for stretches. The public is welcome to join them in daylight hours, as their progress will be tracked online using global positioning devices.
Continual conversation is a big part of their walk-to-West-Montrose strategy.
“We’ll probably just be ‘Chatty Cathy’s’ the whole time,” Jennison said. “You know. Talk about work stuff and life stuff.”