In the beginning a long long time ago...well there was nothing....Wait! This a bad place to start so lets begin again a little later shall we...
I hike the Trans Canada Trail to all 3 oceans of this glorious country because the Trail exists, because I can, because someone had a dream to build it and now it is my dream to hike it all. I live in a country where I have the right to explore and learn with free will should I want....and I want...and thus I do.
I'm in no hurry, still though I make good distance all considered as my goal is a body of work that will pay tribute to this glorious country..but for a little background on how this came to be please read the following...
Not that long ago, in relative terms I suppose, I was growing up with a curious nature. I was always out exploring the various towns and cities I had either lived in or were visiting at the time. But mainly I grew up just outside of Prince George British Columbia Canada, an industrial city in the Central Interior of the Province known as the Spruce Capitol Of The World. The Caribou Region to be more precise. The City is built where the Nechako and mighty Fraser Rivers meet to flow South eventually making it to Vancouver.
My favourite place in P.G. as a child was Fort George Park located next to the Fraser River. A marvellous place filled with all kinds of things to climb and mischief to find. As a curious young lad playing in Fort George Park next to the Fraser River I thought it not unreasonable to ask the question Why is it named the Fraser River?...and thus I learned about the great explorers/fur traders of the day. Alexander Mackenzie (Mackenzie River) was the first Westerner to pass through the area in 1793 but Simon Fraser was the first to navigate the entire River for the Nor Western Company in 1806-08 and thus is named after him. A fur trading post was established in 1807 named Fort George in honour of King George III of England to trade furs with the Carrier First Nations People Occupied the region for thousands of years prior to European settlement. The Lheidli T'Enneh (People from the Confluence of Two Rivers) lived in modern day Prince George.
After learning this I was fascinated by how the Country was settled, how vast and diverse it really was and more than ever is. The seed was planted. I was to somehow traverse this country under my own power...
My second moment of memorable inspiration came shortly after and again found myself in awe. This time I was 11 years old. Another fellow adventurer and British Columbian would lift me to grand heights once again. In 1985, at the age of 27, Rick Hansen set out on a journey that would make history. Inspired by the dream of creating an accessible and inclusive world, and fuelled by a deep seated belief that ‘anything is possible,’ Rick and his team battled the elements and the odds for more than two years through 34 countries on four continents. He wheeled the equivalent of two marathons every day (40,000 kilometres in total) WHAT? This would be a great accomplishment if you flew or drove or whatever the means but to do it in a Wheel Chair!? AMAZING INDEED!
But how was I to do this? I couldn't have imagined walking the highway. Well in 1997 I heard about the Trans Canada Trail and knew immediately this was the way. Fuelled with my childhood desire to explore and learn I set out to put myself into a position to do it. I looked for reasons which were all around me not excuses to accomplish this goal. So on May 6th 2008 at the edge of the Earth in Cape Spear Nfld. the same place Terry Fox had begun 28 years earlier I set out to hike all 3 oceans of Canada via the. Trans Canada Trail...
(Don't have time, read the highlights)
I hike the Trans Canada Trail to all 3 oceans of this glorious country because the Trail exists, because I can, because someone had a dream to build it and now it is my dream to hike it all. I live in a country where I have the right to explore and learn with free will should I want....and I want...and thus I do.
I'm in no hurry, still though I make good distance all considered as my goal is a body of work that will pay tribute to this glorious country..but for a little background on how this came to be please read the following...
Not that long ago, in relative terms I suppose, I was growing up with a curious nature. I was always out exploring the various towns and cities I had either lived in or were visiting at the time. But mainly I grew up just outside of Prince George British Columbia Canada, an industrial city in the Central Interior of the Province known as the Spruce Capitol Of The World. The Caribou Region to be more precise. The City is built where the Nechako and mighty Fraser Rivers meet to flow South eventually making it to Vancouver.
My favourite place in P.G. as a child was Fort George Park located next to the Fraser River. A marvellous place filled with all kinds of things to climb and mischief to find. As a curious young lad playing in Fort George Park next to the Fraser River I thought it not unreasonable to ask the question Why is it named the Fraser River?...and thus I learned about the great explorers/fur traders of the day. Alexander Mackenzie (Mackenzie River) was the first Westerner to pass through the area in 1793 but Simon Fraser was the first to navigate the entire River for the Nor Western Company in 1806-08 and thus is named after him. A fur trading post was established in 1807 named Fort George in honour of King George III of England to trade furs with the Carrier First Nations People Occupied the region for thousands of years prior to European settlement. The Lheidli T'Enneh (People from the Confluence of Two Rivers) lived in modern day Prince George.
After learning this I was fascinated by how the Country was settled, how vast and diverse it really was and more than ever is. The seed was planted. I was to somehow traverse this country under my own power...
My first inspiration came when I was actually living a short while in Saskatchewan trying to adjust to a prairie life having just moved from Cranbrook B.C. nestled in the Kootenay Rocky Mountains...It was 1980 I was 6 years old. I couldn't take my eyes of the T.V. I was mesmerized, confounded, in awe of what I saw. I had always had a fascination with maps, and distances so when I saw a man with only one good leg the other a prosthetic running across the country I knew immediately just how much effort that must have taken. I understood distance well, my friend lived 2 km's away, it seemed a slow painful lifetime to get there. Enter Terry Fox fellow British Columbian and dreamer...When he ended his Marathon of hope which was his quest for a Cancer Cure outside of Thunder Bay Ontario in a community called Shuniah Ontario on Sept 1st after running for 143 days and 5,373 km's averaging 37.57 km's a day, I was shocked but optimistic. People like him don't die, I remember thinking. On June 28th 1981 he did. I like the rest of Canada cried. On Sept 13th two and a half months after his death I participated in the first Terry Fox Run. I Ran 5 km's that had been organized by my school in Prairie River Saskatchewan.
 |
| . . . . OF HOPE! Thank You Mr. Fox . . . "Dreams Are Made Possible If You Try". . . . Terry Fox . . . . Click This Link For More Info . . . . |
My second moment of memorable inspiration came shortly after and again found myself in awe. This time I was 11 years old. Another fellow adventurer and British Columbian would lift me to grand heights once again. In 1985, at the age of 27, Rick Hansen set out on a journey that would make history. Inspired by the dream of creating an accessible and inclusive world, and fuelled by a deep seated belief that ‘anything is possible,’ Rick and his team battled the elements and the odds for more than two years through 34 countries on four continents. He wheeled the equivalent of two marathons every day (40,000 kilometres in total) WHAT? This would be a great accomplishment if you flew or drove or whatever the means but to do it in a Wheel Chair!? AMAZING INDEED!
 |
| Man In Motion Indeed . . . Thank You Mr. Hansen "There is nothing you can’t do, if you set your mind to it. Anything is possible." . . . . Rick Hansen . . . . Click This Link For More Info . . . . |
OK...Let me get this straight a one legged man with cancer runs 5,373 km's in 143 days, and a man in a Wheel Chair, Wheels around the world 40,000 km's in over 2 years...Please tell me again why I can't follow any dream I want?
The constant flow inspirational influences wasn't over yet this time it would would come from, outstandingly enough, another British Columbian. Though this time much closer to home...I was 12 years old and needed all the help from my two hero's I could muster to get through the next few years...My Dad Ronny had a massive Brain Aneurism that left him severely physically, and mentally disabled. It was a miracle he survived in the first place. We were told he would never walk again, he would never be able to do anything again for that matter. I didn't understand how or why this had happened only that it left me confused, angry, lost. At the time I couldn't see it for what it was...it was a lesson in courage, humility, and hope.
I watched my father sit in a chair everyday unable to communicate his discomfort his pain, but everyday I saw him struggle to get out of that chair. At first he made virtually unnoticeable progress, soon however he was sitting up on his own then trying to lift himself up then he could stand. it took my Father years to walk again, and once he did he walked everywhere and loved every minute of it. He has an unbreakable spirit just ask anyone at the Prince George Brain Injured Group of which he is a member they will tell ya.
It was during this time that I attempted my first long walk. Early one summer morning from our home in P.G. in the Spruceland area I packed some water and some food leaving our house to walk to my Grandpa Pete's house out at West Lake the Blackwater Sub-Division. I was 13 years old and as memory serves me it took me 8-9 hrs to walk the roughly 20-25 or so km's to his house. To his astonishment and beaming with pride my Grandfather Peter Meise congratulated me with excitement but with a reserve of knowing I would do it.
I watched my father sit in a chair everyday unable to communicate his discomfort his pain, but everyday I saw him struggle to get out of that chair. At first he made virtually unnoticeable progress, soon however he was sitting up on his own then trying to lift himself up then he could stand. it took my Father years to walk again, and once he did he walked everywhere and loved every minute of it. He has an unbreakable spirit just ask anyone at the Prince George Brain Injured Group of which he is a member they will tell ya.
 |
| We've All Felt This Way . . . . |
 |
| . . . . And We've All Felt This Way . . . . |
Still however I grew up becoming a Forest Tech and ultimately putting my dreams of exploration aside as most do. Then another pivotal moment occurred. My father who had survived through so much in his life had a massive stroke and lost his ability to walk forever making him Wheel Chair bound for life further destroying his already limited ability for independents. Nothing in this world did my Dad love more than to walk. You would think this would break his spirits...not in the least of leasts in fact nothing seems to break his incontestable soul. It was then that I realized that dreams are meant to be lived and living is what I intended to do.
But how was I to do this? I couldn't have imagined walking the highway. Well in 1997 I heard about the Trans Canada Trail and knew immediately this was the way. Fuelled with my childhood desire to explore and learn I set out to put myself into a position to do it. I looked for reasons which were all around me not excuses to accomplish this goal. So on May 6th 2008 at the edge of the Earth in Cape Spear Nfld. the same place Terry Fox had begun 28 years earlier I set out to hike all 3 oceans of Canada via the. Trans Canada Trail...
 |
| My Journey Laid Before Me . . . . |
Thank you,
WELCOME TO THE GREAT HIKE...PLEASE ENJOY...
