An 820km (510 mile) Walk For Faith

[Evointrinsic]

Hello everyone! I'm here to explain something to you, and I realize the title is a bit misleading when I say the word "faith". I'm not referring to religious or spiritual faith (sorry to disappoint some of you), I am however referring to faith in humanity.

For the past 9 months I've been training for a walk that I may very well not finish. During the span of my short life (21 years and still strong ;) ) I've come to a realization on many things, some of these things have made me completely lose faith in humanity in it's entirety. But over the past 3 or so years I've had an ever lasting epiphany that's changed my mind for good.

At first I saw many terrible and demonstrous acts by specific individuals who made be question just how good can humanity really be if these individuals have done so much wrong? At for a long time I only focused on these poor examples from the history humanity. But it made me lose site of those individuals who went through so much and endured more than most could ever endure and yet still make a statement to start a movement for the better. When I realized that my mind set changed and made me start thinking how I would start a movement for the better.

Over the past 3 years I (an atheist mind you ;) ) have been volunteering all over the world to help rebuild what some have taken, whether that be a dying reef system, a hungry village or breeding endangered species. These actions are all fantastic in my eyes, but it was lacking something. What these actions were lacking was the movement that followed after. The event in which hundreds or thousands or millions of people feel compelled to continue the action.

That's where this walk comes in.

In a year and a half I'll be walking from Edmonton, AB to Vancouver, BC (both in Canada, for those that don't know) in an attempt to raise Nature and Wildlife Conservation Awareness.

When I first came up with the idea, I looked at it and thought "that's not enough". So, over the past 9 months I've been recalculating a few aspects of this trip.

The walk will take around 2 and half months. Because it's for Wildlife and Conservation Awareness I want to avoid roads and cities as much as possible. Which made be decide to walk a straight line from point 'A' to point 'B' (with a 20km leeway because there are some unbelievably grueling land between Edmonton and Vancouver). I won't be bringing any food or water with me, and I wont be hunting or fishing the entire trip (After all it seems a bit dishonest of me to hunt the things I'm trying to say "keep alive").

But I was at a struggle to try and make this trek aware to the public. So I've decided to also film a documentary for the entire trip (as well as the making of).

There have been a few set backs so far, but none that haven't already been overcome. The newest will be my partner, who I have my doubts will actually come.

Fortunately from the start I've been designing this trip to be done on my own. If a person decides to join me then so be it, but I need to be able to do this by myself if need be.

What I've also come to realize is how much of a medical and psychological experiment this is turning in to. If I do or don't have a partner with me, I will pretty much only see them (or be by myself) for 2 and a half months. which is a bit daunting for me to think about the possibility of what may happen in my mind between the start and end of the trip. On a medical note, how will my body react to this extreme diet? I've been making appointments with doctors of varying degrees to ask these questions.

What am I looking for from this topic?

A few things really;

1~ I could always use more support, the more mentally read I am for this trip the better
2~ Your questions mean a great deal to me, some of the things like "Will you have to go over mountains? and will there be glaciers?" have made me reevaluate what I'll need to bring with me (which is now an additional 10lbs of climbing gear)
3~ Volunteers; This one is a bit of a stretch, but I do need volunteers to help build a site (of which I've already been working on the basic layout), as well as advertisements and other media assistance
4~ Contacts; If you know someone that has a lot of power within their community to get the word out, that would be fantastic
5~ Additional Ideas and suggestions of what I should do, what I should bring, and so on and so forth.

An example of one of these ideas came to me after reading a very interesting article about a girl in my city who's been barefoot for the past couple of years (and why it's actually much healthier as apposed to footwear). Which has lead me to a community in both canada and a global community of "barefooters" which I've contacted to see if it's possible for me to do this walk completely barefoot (even though I only have a year and a half to acclimatize.

Thanks for reading! I have a lot more to share about this and a whole lot of details if your interested!

To start, here's the list of gear I am bringing

(This needs a bit of updating, but it's still pretty accurate, I also have about 60% of all this stuff at the moment)

GEAR

General
1 ~ Aether 85 ($259.99) 4 lbs 15 oz (2.25 kg)
1~ OR Poncho ($30)
1 ~ ExPed 7 Downmat ($199.99) 880g
1 ~ Phantom 0 Sleeping Bag ($520) 2 lbs 10 oz. (1.2 kg)
1 ~ Reactor Extreme Liner ($72.98) 14 oz (499 g)
1 ~ Ev2 Tent
1~ Whisperlight International stove ($81.98) 15.5 oz (460 g)
4 ~ 22oz Fuel Bottle ($17.99)
1 ~ Asolo Revenge GTX ($200) 590 g
1 ~ Teton Argon AS Trekking Poles ($174.98)
1 ~ Compass($20)
1 ~ GPSMAP 62st by Garmin ($549.99) 9.2 oz (260.1 g)
1 ~ SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger ($169.99) 5.2 oz (147.4 g)
1 ~ Satellite phone($1000)
5 ~ Weather proof matches (box) ($0.45)
2 ~ OR Ultralight Compression Sack 8 L ($26.98) 3.7 oz
2 ~ OR Ultralight Compression Sack 12 L ($28.98) 3.9 oz
2 ~ OR Ultralight Compression Sack 24 L ($33.98) 5.1 oz
2~ OR M's Crocodiles ($70) 10.2oz (289g)
1 ~ Cutlery($10)
1 ~ MSR Alpine 2 Pot Set ($51.99) 21.3 oz (603.8 g)
1~ X Mug ($12.98) 2.1 oz (60 g)
1 ~ First Aid Kit($20)
1 ~ Survival Kits($50)
1 ~ Bear Banger($40)
1 ~ DLX Flares Kit ($63.99) 22g
1 ~ 225gm Bear Beware ($29.98) 225g
1 ~ Nylon Holster For 225gm ($4.98)
1 ~ Miniworks EX Filter ($79.99) 16 oz (456 g)
1 ~ Miniworks EX Ceramic Element ($32.99)
1 ~ Suunto X10 Military ($299.99)
1 ~ MYO XP Headlamp ($74.99) 23 oz (175 g)
1 ~ Snow Shoes ($150)
1 ~ Winter shoes ($200)

Cloths
1 ~ Water proof Outer shell($200)
5 ~ Base layers($75)
2 ~ Mid Layers($99)
1 ~ Soft Shell($150)
1 ~ Waterproof Pants($110)
1 ~ Insulated pants ($150)
1 ~ Insulated jacket ($200)
5 ~ Socks($129.90)
1 - Icebreaker Mountaineer socks Medium ($35.98)
2 - Icebreaker Mid Crew Medium ($23.98)
2 - Icebreaker Hikerlite Crew Medium ($22.98)
4m ~ Cordlet [Bright Color] ($5)
1 ~ Super feet($50)
1 ~ OR Mn Storm Tracker Gloves ($89.99)
1 ~ OR Wintertrek Hat ($39.99)
1 ~ IceBreaker Pocket 200 Reversible Beanie ($29.99)

Climbing
~ Rope
~ Harness'
~ Helmets
~ Carabiners
~ Screws
~ Spiky shoes

Camera Gear
1 ~ TRABO69 Tripod Travel Angel ($249.95) 2.0 kg
1 ~ Grab on Tripod
1 ~ Macro Lense
3 ~ Close Up filter
1 ~ Snow Filter
1 ~ SLR Camera
2 ~ Collar Fitted Microphones
1 ~ Wide Angle Lens
1 ~ Hip Attached Monopod
2_
1 ~ Pelican 1430 Case ($142.99)
1 ~ Pelican 1300 Case ($79.99)

Maps (Total: $258.09)
~ Alberta Base Map 1:1,000,000 ($19.95)
~ BC Base Map 1:1,250,000 ($15.95)
~ ETopo Alberta CD ($99.99)
~ ETopo BC CD ($99.99)

Books
~ Handbook of the Canadian Rockies by Ben Gadd ($47.20)
~ Wilderness Navigation by Bob Burns/Mike Burns ($16.95)
~ Survive by Les Stroud

 

[jasoncran]

mole skin also some extra socks and you will need to hydrate a lot.

and also i would hope you have some means of bathing.

frostbite, trenchfoot( i had this at one time and once you get any frozen limbs it easier to do it agian).

one sweats even when cold. and also dress in layers(which you already know).

and will anyone know where you are in case of emergency?

 

[Evointrinsic]

mole skin?!??!

I do have extra socks, but I may not need to bring them if I am able to do this trip barefooted.

Fortunately I'm going in the summer time (july) so it shouldn't be too cold in most areas. Although I will be going over a few glaciers along the way, so -5 to -10 (Celsius) may be all I run in to (in which case is not bad at all!!! My city is an average of -20c in the winter, and has reached -50c, with a usual -40c each year for about a week). Which also makes me well assured that people do sweat even when cold, in fact it's unbelievably dangerous. But thank you

As for an emergency, take a look at the list of goodies.

The spot tracking system is a device which sends an email to 10 people of your choice every 10 minutes of your exact location on earth. There's also a S.O.S Button on it so that If there is any immediate emergency, press that, and any rescue crew in the area can pick that up and fly a chopper to the location. We also will have a satellite phone. Self Made Medical kit, Self Made Survival kit (located on our bodies, not our packs), and about 5 pounds of rice (only for emergency cases)

 

[jasoncran]

blisters , and also with that pack expect them as you will get them. have you ever hiked before?

mole skin keeps the blisters from busting open once they form.

and i think that some shin splints may happen.

good luck in your endeavor.

i have done some ruck runs and ruck marches for the army and the longest i went was 20k.

 

[Evointrinsic]

Where I live it's hard not to hike 15-20km is usual. I'm not too worried about getting tired. we're looking at about 20km a day in alberta because it's pretty flat and simple. BC 5-10km day, also with one day a week where we just rest and recover.

Not only that, but I've designed a workout plan that I've been doing for the past 9 months virtually every day just to make sure my body can handle a lot of excursion. I'm not going in this without preparing myself ;)

 

[Mike]

Do you know about energy gel packs? I've done a marathon and several 1/2 marathons and found these invaluable. Most marathoners have these on them. It's not the same as the lengthy walk that you're planning, but I could see them being of great help to you. If you haven't seen these, I've included a link with info. In looking at them, they might look like little plastic bottles, but they're actually flat soft plastic skins, and you rip off the top & squeeze the gel out. It's not even a mouthful. During the 26 mile race, I used about 4 of them just to replace vital nutrients that were being burned off at a rapid rate. You would probably need them less often.

Just a thought. Top Picks for Energy Gels - Best Energy Gels

 

[Pard]

That's a lot to carry... Sure you can do 20km (whatever a km is) a day with all that stuff? I mean you'd be surprised how quickly extra weight fatigues you.

 

[stovebolts]

12 miles a day seems like a pretty short hike each day. Just curious why? Is it because you have to find your own food each day and the food you do find isn't high in protein since you won't be hunting or fishing? What are you going to eat anyway? I mean, I know you get a lot of berries that time of year, but you can't live on berries. Also, are you going to start adjusting your diet in advance so your body is acclimated to the new diet before you take off on your journey?

Also, what about wolves? Any concerns there?

 

[Evointrinsic]

Mike: I have and do use those gel packs you speak of (the Gu brand). I was thinking about bringing supplements along the way but first need to measure out just how much weight I am carrying precisely.

Remember though, the point of this is to show the beauty of nature as well as sustainability within it. The more supplements i bring the less that message gets across.

Pard: I've taken that into account, fortunately I work at a big camping store, so I've been able to wear a back pack around most of my 8 hour shifts with 60 lbs in it. I'm not too worried about the weight as I am about the diet.

SteveBolts: 20 is the average we've calculated, it may be more it may be less. Food is the main factor behind it, yes. If we're able to take it slowly, the trek may be longer time-wise, but we'll be less fatigued therefore our mind stays calm, we make better decisions, and we're able to do more during the day (preparing, filming, so on). remember that this is a documentary as well, one who's hosts are the camera men. Which means as a daily occurance (especially if i'm alone), i'll have to walk hundreds of meters in a direction, only to plant the camera on the tripod, then walk back the same trail, then walk it again, just to get the shot.

There is an abundance of fruit and vegetation in bc and ab, especially in the later part of summer. Finding food shouldn't be a problem at all actually.

I have also already started adjusting my diet. I'm a vegan now (which is a lot easier than people make it sound to be, just to let everyone know). A few months from now I'll have to cut out grains, sugar and caffeine too, just because I don't want any other factors that I may rely on now that i wont have the luxury of relying on in the walk. After that a restricted calorie diet will follow.

As for wolves, bears, and cougars, I have bear spray, bear bangers, flares, and may also bring a firearm just as a precaution. the cougars and bears shouldn't bother me too much since I'll look 6'4", big and solid with my pack on.

 

[stovebolts]

Sounds like fun! I wanted to spend a summer hiking across the mountains in Montana when I was younger and never got to. I'm excited for you!
BTW, I thought that 20k was roughly 12 miles.

 

[Evointrinsic]

Thanks! And it is about 12 miles or so

 

[jasoncran]

20K x .6 mile = 12 miles.

1k is .6 mile.

I am the God of land navigation and invented the grid square system used by the military,lol

now that is a conversion i was taught when i did mounted navigation had to travel via tank, hmmv or 5 ton to get somewhere.

all distances are kilometers on the map and also when navigating but the odomoters use english of all things.