8 Aug 2023 – Days 1-5
Fri: Day1 ~21k/13m ~7hrs including rest stops+haircut. Started in Charlottetown@JoeGhizPk on the ConfederationTrail; thru’ the city continuing to Cornwall
where I managed to get a needed haircut.
Well deserved seafood dinner@Lobster on the Wharf.
Nancy: PEI (Prince Edward Island) – August 4- Day 1 – 12.9 miles. Beautiful day. Trail was not tough but pavement walking is brutal. Because we are shuttling ourselves, I’m hiking opposite the direction of the others and today I was accompanied by Hi Hills/Glenda. I was a little confused at times so we did a few circles trying to line up the trail with google maps. Even so, we finished in 7 hours, including stops. The rest of our group was a little faster. My beginning was along small roads with beautiful scenery. Then we hit a long stretch of navigating main roads through Charlottetown. Finally, we got on the Confederation trail for a few miles to the finish where we all reunited. Then, off to a wonderful dinner at Lobster on the Wharf.
Karen: First day on PEI island walk completing 12.9 miles or 21k
Sat: Day2 ~24k/15m ~8+hrs including rest stops. A long&hard day from Dunedik(red clay paths), ArgyleShore(beautiful flowering potato fields with the sea on the background…
You never know what peace is until you walk on the shores or in the fields or along the winding red roads of Prince Edward Island in a summer twilight when the dew is falling and the old stars are peeping out and the sea keeps its mighty tryst with the little land it loves – LM Montgomery
thru’farms and ending in Victoria with heavy rains at the last section getting us all us soaked to the skin. Pizza&chicken wings dinner delivered.
Nancy: PEI – Day 2 -15 miles. Long day. We dropped our friends off and found our starting point in Victoria. A beautiful little town. We started out making our way across a causeway. We had various road types, including a long stretch on a dirt road before reaching an even longer stretch along a back road that was fairly busy with traffic. We stopped at a community center for a break- just sat on the steps- no picnic tables or porch. A few raindrops started falling so we got back on the road. I have to say that the road shoulders are fairly generous if a little uneven. We experienced heavy rainfall off and on for the rest of the day. It was rather miserable. Our other friends took a little longer so we were faced with the possibility of standing under a tree for at least a half an hour in the rain when we finished – not a good way to end the day. I knocked on the door of the house across the street and asked if we could stand in their garage. They generously agreed and as soon as we got in, the rain became heavy again. We were really lucky!
Karen: Whew – what a day w 24k & 15 rainy wet miles w long red clay roads.
Accommodations from 3-6Aug: CityModernApt/Charlottetown
Sun: Day3 ~20-k/13m ~7+hrs including a long lunch break+rest-stops. Started@Victoria-Tyron
AugustineCove, tkx to our first TrailAngels Garlene&Norman for gracious hospitality with T&biscuits+poetry reading in the beautiful gazebo made by Norman.
Tkx to Lori for lemonade.
A nice picnic table across the road from the IceboatAntique shop which was probably a church originally, did not have time to go inside the shop.
Distant view of ConferderationBridge along Route10 towards BordenCarleton where the car was. Drove back to Victoria to meet with Glenda&Nancy and it was oyster dinner for me@Richards.
Nancy: PEI – Day 3 – 12 miles. What a difference 3 less miles and no rain makes. We had sun most of the day, wide shoulders, and beautiful farm country. And trail magic! Just as we were meeting up with our friends hiking in the opposite direction, Tiger Lil spotted a beautifully landscaped home and asked if we could rest in their gazebo. Turns out, they actually watch for PEI hikers and love to visit with them. Norman and Gailene provided us with tea and cookies and told us stories about island living. It added so much to our day to meet these lovely folks. Glenda and I headed off and reached Victoria with no problem, loving the glimpses of the ocean we were provided. Our friends found trail magic again when a local lady saw them, drove home, and came back with lemonade! At the end of the day, we all met up in Victoria and ate at a local seafood place. All of our menu items were very delicious. We then proceeded to a new accommodation- a cute little cabin with 3 bedrooms where we will stay the next 6 nights.
Karen: PEI Day #3 with 12.5 miles/21 k – beautiful day w Trail Magic
Mon: Day4 ~24k/15m ~8hrs including a late lunch break+rest-stops. BordenCarleton-Summerside, too many road walks, especially on TransCanadaHw1 where it was too close for comfort. Good milkshakes@StarlidDiner&Dairy before hitting the final stretch @ConfederationTrail. Dinner@RedRooster.
Nancy: PEI – Day 4 – 21km. Nope- I think it was much closer to 24 km. I was counting on a 13 mile day and got almost 15 instead. Not a happy camper here but I still had fun. Sort of. I dropped three hikers off in Borden- Carleton and proceeded to Summerside. I took note that they had a long road walk ahead and then promptly forgot. Lori and I started in Summerside on the Confederation trail (beautiful trail) for a couple of miles and then another mile through a neighborhood. We stopped at a cute diner where I ordered a sandwich to go and then we moved onto Route 1 – a four lane highway with lots of traffic, including huge trucks. 5 miles. Pretty horrendous. Thought we’d never make it. We then went through a nice hamlet and had about a mile or a little more on a red clay road through farmland- the highlight of the day! We finally reached a 2 lane busy highway and I forgot we had a long trek ahead. After several miles and thinking we had gone 13+ miles and should be nearing the finish, I checked my map and found we had another 1.5 to go. Oh my! Our group is feeling a little overwhelmed with a few minor, hopefully, repetitive use injuries. Too much walking on road shoulders with little variety in terrain. We plan to carry on though. Hope tomorrow is better! (At least I didn’t get rained on today. Very thankful for that!)
Karen: PEI day #4 when 21k turned into 24k (14.5 miles) with a long road walk
Tue: Day5 ~24k/15m ~9+hrs including rest stops and straying from the trail ~3+k/2m! Northam-Miscouch passing by oyster farms along GrandRiver. Long&tiring day ending with dinner@StarlidDiner&Dairy/Summerside. Karen&Lori took a rest day from hiking.
Nancy: PEI-Day 5 – 21km – Nope, not 21 – another day when we walked much further than the stated amount. However, this time it was totally my fault. I misread the street signs, passed up a clearly marked road that looked like a weed field and took us on a long walk into a town where we purchased a nice lunch before discovering my error. We learned all about garlic fingers, bennys and Donair sauce. On the way, we saw a parked airplane with no runway. My thought was that they could just use the road as a runway. The walk back to my mis-turn was long so I tried getting someone to give us a ride. After a few tries, we found a trail angel to help us out. Even so, we had a 9 hour day – I won’t mention how many miles I think we did. The happy parts of the day – no rain even though there were threatening clouds, lots of red dirt roads, even the road walks were nice-not much traffic, beautiful scenery along the coast, and good fellowship. Dinner at Starlite Diner was delightful. Karen and Lori took the day off and visited the bottle house, a machinery museum, a church, and a fox museum. They also did our Walmart shopping and dropped us off in the morning at the trailhead and picked us up at the end of the long day.
Karen: today have not been on the trail due to shin splints that I’m treating with the RICE method. Nice to see some local sites yesterday with Lizard. Chapel built by Edouard Arsenault who developed this hobby at the age of 66 recycling glass bottles from local restaurants, dance halls & candles from local Catholic Churches many years before recycling was in vogue (1980-1984)
Accommodations from 6-12Aug: AgyleCampgroundCottage