GUYSBOROUGH — Taking a long walk is a popular way to clear one’s mind. But what if you take a really long walk; an outing that takes not hours, but years?
Bailey Whitnack knows all about the benefits. The hiker — who grew up in B.C. and New Zealand — travelled the length of New Zealand from Nov. 2021 to April 2022. The experience inspired the 26-year-old to embark on a cross-country walk of her other home country. She spent a couple of days in Guysborough recently during her Trans Canada Trail journey between Whycocomagh and New Glasgow.
“It started out as a pipe dream that I never thought was achievable,” she told The Journal during a chat along the Guysborough waterfront on June 20. Whitnack and her dog, Stoney, covered Newfoundland and Labrador and much of Cape Breton last year. They came off the trail at Whycocomagh for the winter, which is where they picked up the route again this spring.
Her five-month hike across New Zealand covered 3,000 kms. That’s how she “fell in love with through-hiking and getting to know my country that way.” She experienced “a lot of personal growth” on that long walk, she said.
Her sister died when Whitnack was 20, and the New Zealand hike helped her process her grief and learn “to live life to the fullest.”
“When I’m living like this for an extended period of time, it’s when I feel the most human.” Part of that, she said, is about “staying away from a lot of societal pressures.”
Hiking constantly produces feel-good endorphins, she noted. “I try to bring that [positivity] into my everyday life when I’m not on the trail, too.”
The long hike means she gets to “witness how capable I am to keep doing hard things every day.”
After the New Zealand hike, Whitnack started researching hiking routes and was drawn to the Trans Canada Trail, the longest network of multi-use trails in the world.
Normally sleeping in a tent along the trail, she said it was “so lovely” when a Guysborough couple offered their camper for the night on June 19. “I’ve met so many incredibly kind people along the way.”
She was well aware of the reputation of Atlantic Canadians as kind and welcoming, she said, “And, so far, they have lived up to that description.”
After Guysborough, she faced a six-day hike to New Glasgow, where she planned to do part of the trail via kayak. She’ll also pick up her bike with a special trailer for Stoney in Halifax and do much of the trail on wheels over the coming months. She hopes to get to Lake Superior before getting off the trail for the winter.
The Journal heard from Whitnack again on Sunday, when she emerged at Country Harbour Crossroads. Once again, a local resident offered her shelter and, with a rainy night forecast, she was most grateful for the kindness.
Whitnack shares updates from her journey on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and the travel tracking app Polarsteps.
