Thursday, October 23, 2003

Our Walking Season coming to the End!!

There are only three Walk Events for the remainder of the season............

(1) 2nd November 2003 @ 1:00pm, this is a 11Km, Guided Walk Event, Rated at 2C

Walk Leader for this event is our trail master/co-ordinator Bill Boutilier.

Location: Loch Lomond Road, near the Grand River Fire Hall.

Please note that the Start Point has been altered due to the fact that Bill has scouted out a more scenic route for our walk and this will eliminate the use of a shuttle bus back to the S/P, there will be signs at or near the fire hall pointing the way to the new Start Point.

(2) 9th November 2003 @ 1:00pm, this is a 10Km, Guided Walk Event, Rated at 3C

Walk Leader(s) for this event will be shared by Jacques, Micheline & Sinclair.

If you would like more Information about Ski Ben Eoin:Jacques Cote


Location: Ski Ben Eoin's cross country ski trails on Highway 4, Ben Eoin a 20-30 min. drive from Sydney.
This GW event is not on our regular schedule however it is SANCTIONED by the Canadian Volkssport Federation (CVF).This will be a tour of the trails before the snow comes and will be an introduction to the trails as our first event in 2004 will be a 10Km ski/snowshoe event (SK) at Ski Ben Eoin.

(3) Sunday 16 November 2003 @ 1:00pm, a 10Km, Guided Walk Event, Rated 2C.

Walk Leader is Bill Boutilier

Location: McKeigan Road/Mira Pastures, from Sydney take Highway 327 to the Community of Marion Bridge, go across Marion Bridge, McKeigan Rd and a sign indicating Mira Pastures are on the left. Bill will have CBIH signs posted as well.


END of the SEASON Function or Party!
All of our members are invited to attend a "kitchen party" & "pot luck", on Saturday 15 November, 6:30pm at Ann & Rollie Place in Glace Bay. Contact me for directions.

bretonhoppers@hotmail.ca
DISTANCE and EVENT AWARDS

Jim & Rilla McLean from Port Hawkesbury completed 10 Events.

Shirley Pettigrew from Mira Bay has completed 50 Events and 500Km.

Howard (Nip) Hillier has received a Distance award for 1500Km.

Isabel & Robin Grant from Sydney Mines have both completed 125 Events and have also received their Distance Awards for 2000Km.

Congratulations to you all and to anyone else whom I may have missed!!

The Information about who receives their distance and events awards can be found in the Canadian Volkssport newsletter 'VOLKSSPORT CANADA', if you are interested in the activities of the CVF, you can subscribe by sending your name and address to:

Canadian Volkssport Federation, PO 2668, Station D, OTTAWA, ON K1P 5W7

A one year subscription is $10.00

How do I apply for my awards?

First, ensure that your Distance or your Event Book is completed, all information such as name and address are recorded, all stamps are legible,

Send To:
Anna McAnally
CVF/FCV Awards Co-ordinator
182 Ontario Street, RR #4
Brighton, ON K0K 1H0

If You have more questions, please contact me at:

<bretonhoppers@hotmail.ca

Thursday, October 16, 2003

TIME CHANGE For The Next Walk Event:

Please check your schedule:

Our next Walk Event and all others for the remainder of the year begin at 1:00pm (13:00 Hrs)

Sunday 19 October at Crooked Lake

This is a 12Km Guided Walk, Rated 2B and led by Elsie Buck

Directions to the Start Point:

From Sydney follow Hwy 327 to the Village of Framboise, Crooked Lake Rd is located on the Left after crossing the Bailey Bridge in Framboise and a short distance from the General Store.
Thanksgiving Weekend in Dartmouth/Halifax-Friday 10 Oct. to Mon 13 Oct 2003

The 20th Anniverary for The Dartmouth Volksmarch Club was a great success.
The Cape Breton Island Hoppers received a plaque for the largest group who attended the Event. There was 21 of us who had registered and all attended the banquet on Saturday evening.

On Friday night The DVC scrambled to hold an evening Harvest Moon Walk, starting from Cole Harbour Place; the original start point at Salt lake Marsh had to be changed due to the trail being almost wiped out from Hurricane Juan.

We walked through parts of Colby Village where we were able to see some of the damage caused by the storm, but for the most part this proved to be a great walk and we were able to talk to some of the locals who seemed a little amazed and surprised to find a hundred or more of us tracking through their neighbourhood.

A bus tour led by Lea & Lorraine Dummer, Walking Tours International, from Seattle WA, joined us for this Event, doing a 5Km walk only as they had to fly out early Saturday AM.
Lea & Lorraine informed us that the group they led in August voted our walk at Usige Ban Falls in Baddeck as the number one walk of the tour of Eastern Canada.

Thanks to the DVC's commitment to safety, all of us had a wonderful and safe walk.
A note of caution on a Guided Night Walk "make sure the Walk Leader or someone in the group know what bathroom you are going to"!!! and thats another story....

The CBIH has had only one evening walk in its history, a Christmas Light Walk, that was found to be interesting but cold and slippery; therefore we have not repeated the experiment. The Walk Committee is open to suggestions.

Saturdays walk at Mt. Uniacke was a Volksmarch/Map walk, but most of the island hoppers opted to walk together, though there was some friendly discussions about the directions on the map, but we all made it in the end, though I'm still looking for the check point.
A tour of the home at Mt Uniacke proved to be a highlight for those of us who enjoy old historical homes.

On Sunday the guided walk around the lakes in Sackville became overwhelming to the hoppers when we encountered snow at the back of an arena, we just had to stop and have pictures taken and throw snowballs, we had Fun, our host and their guests scratched their heads and continued walking thou some volunteered to take group pictures for us.

Sunday night our club members came together for dinner and the party carried over to a card game at the motel.

A Rainy Monday morning found all of us at Smitty's for breakfast; some of us headed back to Cape Breton while 11 out of our 21 completed the event at East Gore and then a second event at the Mastadoon Ridge near Enfield with the Central Nova Club from Truro.

The Dartmouth Volksmarch Club will be in Fundy National Park in 2004 and some of our members are making plans for this event as well.

As president of the CBIH I extended an invitation to the DVC and their President Gerry Simpson to come to Cape Breton in 2005. Gerry and his committee readily accepted this invitation and our respective walk committees will begin the process of selecting trails and entertainment.

Tuesday, October 07, 2003

The Walk Event at Kennington Cove

What a great place for a walk, beautiful beaches, the surf was definitely up as we watched a couple of surfers on the water; however the weather did not cooperate as we were caught in the rain but that did not deter our Cape Breton Volksmarchers from continuing the walk and of course the sun came back out as those of us in the rear headed for the finish line.

After the walk, Clare & Blaise treated us to fresh apples from their orchard in Craigmore, welcome to the club folks.Their enthusasim to travel to our side of the island should be an inspiration to all of us when planning walk events throughout the island.

2004 Schedule of Walking Events:

The schedule for 2004 has been published and was passed out at Kennington Cove, if you haven't received yours please contact me at:
rajcoombes@ns.sympatico.ca
or
bretonhoppers@hotmail.com

You can also get a new schedule at our next Walk Event:

Sunday 19 October 13:00Hrs (1:00pm) @ Crooked Lake,

this is a 12Km Guided Walk, Rated 2B led by Elsie Buck and Joe MacKinnon

How Do I Get There?

From Sydney follow Hwy 327 to the Community of Framboise, after crossing the second one-lane Bailey Bridge Crooked Lake Rd is located a very short distance pass the general store on the left.


AFTER HURRICANE JUAN !

Lionel Conrod from the Dartmouth Walk Club has sent word that the Harvest Moon Walk on Friday 10th of October will continue, but at a new location:
Cole Harbourplace on Forest Hill Drive starting at 19:00Hrs (7:00pm).

Lionel sent 12 photos of the trail at Salt Marsh, the only thought that came to mind was " What a mess! There will be no walking on this trail for a very long time to come, picnic areas are wiped out, the trail has disappeared in places, trees and large rocks strewn about.

The Long Weekend of Walking Events Will continue and all those who have registered are encouraged to continue with their plans to attend the 20th anniversary event and follow up on any changes to each walk event with the walk leaders; their telephone numbers can be found in your brochures.

Wednesday, October 01, 2003

The Next Walk Event for The Cape Breton Island Hoppers:

Sunday 05 October 2003 @ 2pm, registration begins at 1:30pm.

Kennington Cove, Louisbourg, NS

Walk Leader for this Event: Shirley Boutilier.

This is a 10km Guided Walk Event, Rated at 2B, some coastal and wooded trail systems near Fortress Louisbourg.

How do I get there?

From Hwy 125 (Sydney bypass) take route 22 onto Main Street in the Community Of Louisbourg, turn right at the fountain to Riverdale Street and pass the Park headquarters, continue pass the gatehouse then to Kennington Cove and Picnic areas.

This should be a very exciting walk due to weather conditions along the coast.

The Following weekend should find a number (18 at last count) of our club members celebrating with our friends The Dartmouth Volksmarch Club on their 20th Anniversary. Hopefully the trails will be cleared of debris by that time and the power will be on for the banquet.

Dartmouth and Halifax and surrounding areas are going through a tough time but they are of good maritime stock and they will not falter, they will be winners in the end. Good Luck Folks!