Last
week, Mom and I hiked the Fundy Footpath completing one of Mom's
lifelong goals. Last year we started overnight camping with a few one
night hikes and this year we were more strategic about building up to
the four day hike. We started with one night at the Kenomee canyon in
Economy, NS and followed up with a two night trip around Cape
Chignecto. We decided after that that we were ready to tackle the
Footpath.
All smiles at the beginning! |
We
began in St. Martins at the suspension bridge on a foggy Friday and
set off toward Alma.
Two minutes in! |
The hiking itself
was intense. The trail was not overly long but the ascents and
descents made every kilometre seem longer. The full bags on our
backs didn't help either. I think the intensity of the cliffs
surprises some people who are not ready for New Brunswick to be
tough. The trail repeatedly goes from sea level to the top of the
200m cliffs. We broke every day down to the number of climbs we would
have to do that day.
Day One
The first day was
our “easy day” with only a few serious climbs.The first section
from St. Martins to Little Salmon River had some stairs and a few
bridges to help with the cliffs and crossing streams. I'm not sure
the stairs helped everywhere because instead of switch backs, the
stairs meant climbing straight up or down the hills on the wet wobbly
stairs.
First stream crossing. |
It was pretty foggy
that first day so we didn't have great views at the look-offs but at
least it was not actively raining. The people we met on the first day
were soaked, having hiked through the rain of the previous two days
and seemed happy to be almost done. They all had a certain look in
their eyes when they said things like “wow it was hilly” and
“those cliffs...” and trailed off without finishing the sentence.
We had been warned before but it was a reminder that this would be
tougher than Cape Chignecto.
Stairs down to Cradle Brook. |
We camped at Cradle
Brook and after filtering and boiling water for the next day (this is
the only way I feel comfortable drinking stream water with my low
immune system. It means carrying more fuel and spending a lot of time
waiting for water to boil but I'm pretty nervous drinking raw water
otherwise), we spent the evening on the rocky beach watching the fog
roll into shore. And stretching our tired bodies. A lot of
stretching.
The cliff to climb in the morning. |
Day Two
The second day we
started by climbing out of the Cradle Brook valley and after breaking for lunch,
tackled the climb out of the Little Salmon River ravine.
Little Salmon River. |
All our
meals were dehydrated food we prepared and were quite delicious. We
had a supper of cheesy veggies, shrimp, and rice, and another of a
tomato bean mushroom risotto. For lunch we had chili or soup that we
would prep at breakfast and keep (semi) warm in a thermos. When
matched with melba toast and rehydrated hummus, it was quite filling.
Our hunger was the special ingredient that made every meal taste
amazing.
The climb out of
Little Salmon River was everything we had been warned. It started
with fairly okay switchbacks and then the trail narrowed so it felt
as though it would only take one misstep to tumble down the hill. The
wet roots and rocks didn't help the footing.
Kilometre sign before the climb! 23km left to the park! |
We reached a point
where the trail widened so there was less “I'm going to fall into
the ravine” fear. We stopped at a little look off and I started to
feel a bit lightheaded. My legs also started really complaining. At
first I thought it was just the heat and humidity that was taking me
down so I drank a ton of my Gatorade but that didn't really help. Two
minutes later, I was convinced that I wouldn't be able to do the
trail anymore because I felt so weak. And then I realized it was
probably just my blood sugars (after this long as a diabetic, you
would think I would recognize the symptoms faster). Sure enough, my
sugars were low. I stuffed my face with some food and waited for my
body to feel better.
Managing my diabetes
is the hardest part medically for me on these multi-day hikes. My
anti-rejection medication, vitamins, and digestive enzymes add weight
but they're so routine that I don't really think about it. The water
I treat as much as possible to avoid dying a stupid death, but
managing my blood sugars with activity is always a struggle. I can
generally manage okay with regular exercise but when I'm doing an
intense activity, day after day, my blood sugars and dosage
requirements get thrown off.
It doesn't help that
I take two types of insulin, short and long acting. The short acting
I take before every meal and ideally it kicks in after two hours. The
long term one I take in the morning and it's suppose peak with my
prednisone in the afternoon. Of course, exercise affects everything.
It changes how fast the insulin is absorbed, it varies how much I
need with food, and there is always an cumulative effect to think
about.
One thing I have
learned from getting diabetes is how much exercise changes blood
sugars for me. Short intense exercise in the morning has a reducing
effect for the rest of the day. Also, sustained intense activity one
day can lead to reductions on the next day as well. But then
sometimes intense activity means my pancreas kicks in and decides to
make insulin to help me out. It's all very confusing. It's a lot of
science and a little bit of magic to get my dosage right on multi-day
hikes.
The crash I had on
the Little Salmon River incline was my only one of the entire
Footpath hike which is really good for me. I had a couple on the Cape
Chignecto trail but it seems I'm getting better at management for
these types of events.
Bridge across Rapidly Brook |
Once my blood sugar
levels were back up to a reasonable level, I felt much better. The
trail all seemed much more manageable as well. Once we were at the
top, we had some reprieve before it was back down to Rapidly Brook.
The day continued and we had a nice break at the beautiful Wolfe
Brook when the sun came out. I would have camped there for the night
but Mom wanted to keep going to our planned stop.
Quick stretch break. |
We made it to
Telegraph Brook where the camping site was close to the rocky beach
beside the waterfall. It was a beautiful place to camp. A predator
bird (a peregrine falcon maybe?) kept flying over the ravine, making
the most terrifying screech as it flew overhead.
Campsite at Telegraph Brook. |
Day Three
The rain started
around 2am. I think. Mom says I slept through most of it but woke up
when it started thundering. The lightning seemed scary close but that
may have been because we only had a thin tent between us and the
storm. Thankfully the most intense rain ended by morning, leaving a
mist and occasional drizzle. We tried our best to keep everything dry
but we were pretty wet by the time we started hiking.
That morning we met
Amy and Dad at an access road. They drove through the maze of back
roads behind Sussex and brought us some new supplies. Is this
cheating? Maybe. But it's not like it shortened our time any and we
were carrying a lot of fuel for my high maintenance water demands. It
was nice to get a change of dry clothes and drink water that didn't
have a hint of old coffee (we stored our boiled water in old coffee
bags while it cooled). The iced coffee and raspberries Amy brought
were heavenly. We packed up enough stuff to last us to a fifth day
just in case we needed it.
It cleared off in the afternoon for a great view of St. Martin's head. |
That third day was a
shorter day which was nice because it was unbelievably humid after
the rain. The air had that 'pea soup' quality that has come to define
this summer in the Maritimes. We managed but were very happy by the
time we reached our campsite at the Brandy Brook beside the Tweedle
Dee and Tweedle Dum waterfall. There was no beach access that night
but we were able to dry out our stuff a bit before we went to bed.
Airing out the tent! |
Day Four
The fourth and last
day was our longest. Thankfully, the weather was cooperating and the
humidity had finally dropped. The perfect day for hiking 18km. We
crossed Goose Creek around low tide as planned (there is no way to
cross at high tide) and after that the kilometre markers seemed to
pass by at a reasonable speed even with the five climbs that day.
Goose Creek! |
We
reached the zero kilometre trail marker of the Fundy Footpath at
Goose River and I wish I had captured Mom's squeal of excitement at
that point.
Look at that sweat shine. |
We were officially
done but there was another 10km to get to an actual access road. The
last 10km through Fundy National Park is pretty boring. It has all
been turned into a mountain biking trail so it's wide and mostly
gravel. Very monotonous after spending four days on a beautiful trail
through the forest. It was an anticlimactic way to end the hike. But
at least it wasn't very strenuous (although the loose rocks were
surprisingly hard on the bottom of our feet) and after a few hours on
that trail we were out!
Yay done! |
Dad was there waiting for us with sticky buns
from Alma and then took our smelly selves for some fried food at the
take out.
The Conclusion
I said a few times
while on the Footpath that it was the hardest hike I've ever done but
I'm not really sure that's true. I never doubted my physical ability
to do it (minus the one time I had low blood sugar). There was never
any point where I looked at the cliff ahead and thought "I can't
climb up that." I had descents where I said, “Wow, that was
terrible” and ascents where I said, “I hope we don't have to go
back down for awhile” but my legs were strong and carried me
through. I was tired but fully capable.
So was it more
demanding than the hike in Naxos to 'Zeus's cave' where I must have
thrown up at least 4 times along the way? Or the hike in Newfoundland
where I had to turn around early because the humidity and heat made
me feel nauseous and unable to breathe? Those made me physically sick
with my CF lungs.
The difference
between my past experiences and now makes me feel as though I've
lived two separated lives. My pre-transplant life where I threw up on
hikes and the post transplant hike where I can tackle one of the
hardest hikes in the Maritimes without a second thought. It's such a
disconnect that I sometimes don't even feel like that part was real.
But I still remember it vividly, how I couldn't even imagine ever
feeling so healthy again that the Footpath would be on my radar. How
it became a struggle some mornings to just get to the street car to
take me to physiotherapy at the hospital.
I am so privileged
to have been given this gift. My new lungs have helped change my body
to be stronger and healthier than it ever has before. Sure, I still
need rest days. I need my chill days where I relax and read my book
or watch TV but that's part of the balance. And one side of the
balance is to strap on my bag and hike for four days through the
wilderness of New Brunswick.
4 comments:
wow..congrats to you and your Mom!! what an awesome experience you two have had hiking that trail! Love your account of each day and the tribute to your "new" lungs and "new" post transplant life made me think that anyone reading that would be signing their donor card immediately and letting everyone they know that they've done so! Thanks Allison for giving us a peak into what it's like on the trail!
so inspiring . Happy you are doing so well and able to enjoy these experiences with your family.
WOW...that's incredible Ali! Your essay was very well done and I enjoyed reading every sentence! Your excursion was amazing and to think you could share this milestone with your Mom... very special indeed! You sure are a trooper and I have so much respect for you and your resilience is beyond words! Your strength is remarkable and it's obvious you inherited great genes, from both your Mom & Dad! You need to be a motivational speaker... your words would motivate anyone, no matter what their condition! Thanks for sharing Ali... you are a true inspiration! Sincerely Kelly Constantine
Thanks everyone!
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