Feet first!

The weather here is fabulous. The days are hot and long. At the end of the day, the setting sun on the mountains provides a splendid view. The most exquisite light appears between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Yesterday, the moon showed up around 11:30 p.m. and added its own particular magic to the show. You have to write a blog to get access to it, because at this time everybody is in bed … except Jessy, Youssef, and Mika who are playing dice. In fact, they play when they are not disturbed by a traveller from Manitoba who loves to tell his stories. ?

This Tuesday morning, we are a little less in a hurry. A 5 km morning hike to adjust our equipment and stretch a little before the main event, officially starting Thursday morning after Wednesday’s helicopter flight to Mount Assiniboine Park, is on the agenda. And on this Tuesday afternoon takes place the distribution of hiking equipment.

So, before the Tuesday morning hike, the guides emphasized the importance of taking care of our feet, since they evidently will be our means of transportation for the stay. The lack of care could result in an evacuation and premature end for the injured person. Certainly no one is considering that. So we have to be very attentive to the slightest pain. No matter when and where the pain is felt, we will have to stop the group to take care of it. The preferred solution is prevention.

We did a short hike this morning to allow everyone to know where there might be pain. That way, we apply preventive dressings on it.

The hike was great. On the banks of a small river, Olivier, our guide, showed us how the water filters we will use work. It’s a gravity filtration system allowing us to get four litres of water ready for consumption in about 20 minutes. We will have 2 systems per 10 people. He also stressed the need to handle these devices carefully, as they will be indispensable in the coming days. We also received information on the fit and handling of walking sticks.

Finally, Olivier told us about ticks and what to do to avoid them. We need to pay attention to where we put our clothes and bags, shake off our clothes before we wear them, and check our neighbours for the ticks’ presence. In the case of a bite, we have the instrument to remove the tick and also antibiotics can be administered.

This afternoon, everyone received their personal hiking equipment. You could feel a little stress arising… Advice was given to help distribute the material inside the bag.

Each item must be wrapped in a waterproof bag and strategically placed. “Your bag is your home! You need to know the location of each object. It should only contain the items you need to carry for 6 days.” These were Olivier’s main guidelines. The rest of the afternoon was spent preparing the luggage.

To end the day, we had a discussion to get impressions of the morning walk. Aurélie speaks right away with her usual passion to express how excited she is to go on the great hike. By the way, she says that today’s was a little easy and she skipped right through it. For his part, Arnaud enjoyed the discussions as he walked, especially with Jemmy. Myriam told us about the fear that she has of heights and that the idea of having to spend the next few days going up and down frightens her enormously. Despite this idea, she greatly appreciates the experience and support of the group. Vincent offered to help tie the boots properly, knowing the importance of this manoeuvre.

Jemmy had a great day, especially because Larissa promised to lend her a dress for one of the weddings she will be attending this summer. The idea of sleeping in a tent for six days brings anxiety to Cindy, though she is sure she can get used to it. When Leo mentioned that he could carry more things in his bag, Marie-Michelle told him that she could go into a bag herself—she had to prove it! The discussion ended in an investigation by Detective Larissa to find out who misplaced the Ziploc bag that protects the log book. Mario admitted taking it while he had to do some cleaning up. Simon suggested that he cleans his feet rather than clean the premises…

Everyone is doing very well. Mutual trust is gaining ground. Last night in the “Alpine Lodge”; the excitement of the departure is palpable…

Nicolas Tremblay, Blogger and Photographer for the On the Tip of the Toes Foundation.