Greetings Walking Friends,
We've used this blog-space for several years now to let you know about Padakun and our other projects, like the KAPPS group. As Padakun evolves into the Padakun Centre for Contemplative Walking, we are changing and updating our online presence.

Our main website will remain www.padakun.com

We are setting up a new Facebook page for news, sharing and announcements. We'll post that link shortly.

We are building :

• Padakasts - all new audio podcasts on the exploration of contemplative walking
• You Tube Channel - short Walk-u-mentaries
• Walking with Jizo  - a Tumblr photo journal 

We invite walkers everywhere to join us and follow our footsteps forward.

Innen Ray Parchelo

WALKING PRESENTATION

Preparing for my presentation at the ISCS 2016 in San Diego.

This event is called "The premier meeting for Contemplative Studies" and features the most important conversations about contemplative activities. I am so honoured to have been invited this time. 

I'll be posting more later, including links to a copy of the paper I shared there.

I'll get a day and a half to walk around near San Diego, so I'll have photos to share too.

ENGLAND

Just back from 4 fantastic weeks of walking along the west coast of Britain. We had a week each in Devon, The Yorkshire dales and the legendary Lakes District. Each had its own character and delights. Couldn't say what we preferred.

another blustery day in The Lakes

Will reflect and present more in coming months

BLOG AND WEBSITE UPDATES

Greetings fellow walkers,

After a few months of refreshment and some new walking, we're back with a revised blog and a brand new website
Check out the new Padakun website

 

AFTER THE WEEKEND

The Kick and Push Pedestrian Society (KAPPS) would like to thank those who attended our Walkers Weekend over the past weekend. We appreciate your support and your donations to the Renfrew Hospice

We want to extend special thanks to:

• The Renfrew Hospice for their partnership,
• Finnegan's Restaurant for welcoming us
• Kelly and Susan at the Library
• Joanne and Erin at the Rec Centre
• Speakers and helpers Doug H-W and Lara M
• Media Support from
  • MyFM
  • Ashley at Star 96
  • Theresa and Sherry from the Renfrew Mercury
  • Helen at the Ottawa Valley Tourist Association
• poster services from Renfrew Printing
• the many merchants who put up posters

Thanks to those who came out to support us.
See you next year or this month on the trail,
Walk More !
Ray

WALKERS WEEKEND

Check out the Walkers' Weekend page above  ...^

ANNOUNCING THE 2016 WALKERS' WEEKEND

We're very pleased to announce the repeat and expansion of our very successful Walkers' Weekend from last year. This year we will repeat the Film Festival with two new films, on the Friday and Saturday evenings, followed by the KAPPS walk on the Sunday morning. New this year will be several other events. The planned weekend is April 22-24.

Once again, the event will be a combination of promoting walking as a recreational activity in the County, especially our KAPPS project, on one hand, and, on the other, a fund-raising vehicle for the Renfrew Hospice. The 2016 Hike for Hospice will follow our event by a week. The program is still in development, so watch for more announcements here.

So far we have selected our two films. Friday evening we'll screenthe Australian bio-pic, Tracks, (see IMDB details at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2167266/ ). It tells the true story of Robyn Davidson as she sets of on the first solo walk across the Great Western Desert, a journey of some 1,700 miles. The Saturday feature will be The Way Back (see IMDB details http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1023114/?ref_=nv_sr_1 ), another true story set at the end of the Second World War. In it, a group of prisoners in a Russian Gulag prison decide to escape and walk 4,000 miles to India.

On the Saturday morning, in cooperation with the Renfrew Library, we are hosting a Walkers' Panel, where several speakers will present their own unique experiences of different kinds of walking. On the Saturday afternoon we are developing a short workshop of interest for walkers. On the Sunday morning, the KAPPS group will sponsor its monthly walk along the K and P Trail. They will set off from downtown Renfrew for a 90 minute walk, returning back to town for a brunch and a short presentation at a downtown eatery (to be named soon).

The weekend promises to be full of fun for walkers of all skill and interests. Mark your calendars now.

Yours , on the journey,

Ray

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks ~ John Muir

WALKING AND SOUND

WALKING AND SOUND

Walking is a naturally rhythmic activity. Once you find your pace you will notice that cadence, that’s called the beats per minute (BPM). We can use this cadence to layer the practice we are doing. We can incorporate some auditory input at that BPM which will reinforce our walking practice and make it more stable and deep. The typical auditory methods we have are counting and recitations.

Counting is the simplest and it can be counting steps or breaths. When you are walking, if it is slower in pace, you can synchronize your step, usually alternate steps, as in every left step, with the breath. This would mean each time you plant the left heel and move forward, you do it with an out breath. In our temple practice, we may do this kind of slow pace walking and use the moktak (wooden drum) to maintain that cadence. This works well with a slow indoor pace, but becomes awkward as we increase the pace and BPM.

If the pace is faster, you can count the steps in between out-breaths. This would mean you count the left foot/out breath as 1, then count the subsequent steps to the next out breath. This might mean you count 1-2-3-4-5 steps (depending on your pace) and then another out breath and begin again. This kind of step/breath counting is a very supportive addition to outdoor walking which maintains your concentration. This is one of the simplest ways of layering breath, step and cadence.

 

Walk a mile in anybody's shoes ...just walk

Ray

TREADMILL WORKSTATIONS

I was investigating the latest workplace wellness fad - treadmill desks. There's a variety of them (here's one - http://www.nextdesks.com/treadmill-desk?gclid=CKmas_yAm8sCFQmqaQodxqYCLA ). You can get powered ones or what is called an "incline model, which has no motor but relies on gravity to get you to drive the belt against an incline. There are beautiful high-end models , up to $4k and there are bargain designs where you can retro-fit a desk and a surplus treadmill.
Basically, the idea is to get you off you ass while working, a "step above" (so to speak :) ) the standing workstations that appeared a few years ago. It seems we can be as lazy with the standing versions as just sitting all the time. We need to move to benefit from a standing workstation. 

Do we really want our kids (or ourselves) having more excuses to avoid being outdoors and staring at screens?

While I laud the efforts to get us more active, it seems to me we are missing a few critical points:
1. Walking on a treadmill is hardly a substitute for a brisk walk in a non-work natural space. Perhaps what we need more than high-end fitness equipment crossbred with desks is more opportunities to interrupt work with exposure to natural environments?
2. Do we really want to find new ways for our kids or ourselves to spend less time outdoors and staring at screens in an isolated space?
3. How does getting some exercise while staring at a screen cultivate any greater sense of our physical lives? Its not that different from the banks of gym-people watching Ellen DeG while they workout?

I'm more inclined to ask questions about the nature and form of work in our lives. We are being engineered to be less and less autonomous individuals and more like "units". I can't see how these desks are step in the right direction.

WALKING AND GENIUS

In his new book, The Geography of Genius, Eric Weiner proposes that genius is not something resident in an individual but rather the product of certain conditions in the person's social, political and physical environment – their geography. One of the common threads for geography and genius in Weiner's findings is walking. Charles Dickens walked through London at night working on plots, Mark Twain was known as a constant pacer. Many of Greece's most important philosophers walked to the Agora, into life and chaos, which fed the imagination.

There is, in fact a wonderful book which documents the role of walking in the life and work of centuries of great Western minds. A Philosophy of Walking is a fascinating work by Frederic Gros. He writes:

Walking is not sport. Sport is a discipline, "an ethic, a labour". It is a performance. Walking, on the other hand, is the best way to go more slowly than any other method that has ever been found. If you want to go faster, don't walk. Do something else: drive, slide, fly.

Creative thinking improves while a person is walking and shortly thereafter, according to a study co-authored by Marilyn Oppezzo, a Stanford doctoral graduate in educational psychology, and Daniel Schwartz, an Education professor at Stanford.
The study found that walking indoors or outdoors similarly boosted creative inspiration. The act of walking itself, and not the environment, was the main factor. Across the board, creativity levels were consistently and significantly higher for those walking compared to those sitting.
"Many people anecdotally claim they do their best thinking when walking. We finally may be taking a step, or two, toward discovering why," Oppezzo and Schwartz wrote in the study published this week in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition.

Weiner was interviewed on CBC's The Current a few days ago. Hear the interview here:

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-february-3-2016-1.3431564/genius-linked-to-geography-more-than-genes-says-author-eric-weiner-1.3431585

The Stanford article is here:

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/april/walking-vs-sitting-042414.html

Yours , on the journey,

Ray

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks ~John Muir

TRAIL PLAN AND LETTER TO THE EDITOR

The recreation department in the town has recently approved its master plan for our favourite municipal park, Mateway Park. If you have a chance to look at this document it is available online, see my previous entry for the address.

Below is the text of a letter to the local paper, the Mercury, which summarizes my reaction to the plan and the reality of the way the park is currently being mistreated by motorized vehicles.

The recent release of the development plan for Mateway Park by the town's Recreation Department was a reassuring and welcome document for those of use who routinely use the park on foot. It was further reassuring to see that, after the major facility, the trails are the most used and valued parts of the park. As the leader of Renfrew's recreational walking group, The Kick and Push Pedestrian Society and as a regular dog walker at Mateway, I am pleased at this. I think the Department shows real foresight in looking at ways to further improve the area, especially the ideas of an outdoor cross-fit area and improved accessibility for wheelchair users and less mobile others. This really acknowledges both ends of the ability spectrum, as it does of the importance of recreational walking for a healthy community.

For these plans to work, the Department is going to have to address what I see as a major obstacle for us foot-powered users. This is the night-time use of the trails by various motorized vehicles. In recent months the few yahoos who are unaware of the purpose of these trails have chewed up and damaged trails, making them unsafe for pedestrians. With the most recent snowfall, another group of 4-wheeling truckers have utterly destroyed the trails for walkers, skiers or snow-shoers. I am disappointed that this inappropriate use by a few makes it unusable by so many. Its not as if there aren't kilometres of proper seasonal roads which are open to motorized vehicles.

The signage in and around the park is either absent, illegible or, in places, where the signs are so old, seems to approve motorized vehicles. There are very few obstacles to motorized vehicle travel on the trails. A few open barriers which would not affect pedestrians would go a long way to discouraging vehicles. Hopefully, there is something which would get the message across to motorized vehicles without having to rely on any enforcement or fines. There is not much use to imagining a great park if the property's managers allow uncontrolled misuse that discourages intended users from enjoying the trails.

Yours , on the journey,

Ray

Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet

Thich Nhat Hahn

MATEWAY MASTER PLAN AND WALKERS

This week the town of Renfrew released its and much-anticipated master plan for everybody's favourite park, Mateway. This park provides facilities and programming for a wide swath of our community, walkers can be pleased that there are some new improvements coming their way. This plan does not replace the much broader community plan that was released in 2009, rather it focuses specifically on Mateway Park. The Town has earned our praise and support.

The plan is based on a survey and study that was completed over the past year or so, which consulted citizens from all age groups. From a walkers perspective, the outdoor portions of the park were identified as being primarily used by walkers. The use of the trails was more than half of the access to the park, only slightly behind the use of the interior space, and hockey arena. In general the public is satisfied or very satisfied with the trails. There were some complaints, however these were not identified in the study, beyond a few general complaints. These are addressed in the proposed improvements.

The first of the improvements will be trail maps, signage and night time lighting. Continuing the theme of accessibility, there will be improvements to the trails below the hill making them much more usable for wheelchair users. There will be new picnic tables installed, creating a kind of outdoor dining room facility. There will be improved access and parking on the East side of the trails, where one accesses from Opeongo Drive. There is one other addition to the park for walkers and outdoor fitness people. In the North corner, beside where the soccer fields are, there will be a CrossFit workout area developed. There was some discussion of an indoor walking track, but this is something for the future.

It is clear from the report that the town is paying special attention to environmental concerns. There will be more recycling bins available. More importantly, the park will protect certain areas as conservation. Walkers can feel satisfaction at these developments. In combination with the parallel improvements all along the K&P and Millennium trails, we will have excellent outdoor walking facilities.

The Report is viewable here

http://www.town.renfrew.on.ca/2015%20Recreation/Proposed%20Master%20Plan%20Renfrew%20Presentation%20October%2022%202015.pdf 

(PDF 11.MB)

You will need to rotate the presentation.

Yours , on the journey,

Ray

Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet

Thich Nhat Hahn

WALKING IN PORTUGAL

Walking in Portugal was as wonderful as every other aspect of our recent visit. The main difference was getting used to two things, the first of these was cobblestones. So many places that we walked we found were paved with century old cobblestones. Very often these dated back to Roman times and, in particular, in cities like Lisbon , they were laid in fantastic geometric patterns , swirls, end sweeping designs in various tones of pinks and roses.

The other thing to get used to was the elevation. Being from a relatively flat environment it was always a little bit disorienting to be faced with steep climbs up or down as part of any given walk. One story in particular happened again in Lisbon. Late in the afternoon the four of us decided we would go out to a seafood restaurant, located in an old convent, which in itself had been converted into a brewery. We checked the map and, from our hotel, it was a mere four or five streets to the north. What we hadn't accounted for was that the restaurant's location was also uphill. This meant five blocks of continuous stairways , often twisting and turning between single lane three-story buildings. Because we were not used to street signage, we're not entirely sure if we were going the right way. At each intersection we would stop and look around and wonder whether we are to continue going up or give up and return to our hotel. In the end we found our restaurant and had one of the most memorable seafood meals of the trip, and possibly of all time. Thankfully after our meal, full of large quantities of seafood and Portuguese wine, we knew we had only a downhill walk back to our hotel .

HOW SENIORS WALK

I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to attend some further training in relation to doing assessments for memory loss and other conditions related to aging. In the course of our training we had a brief workshop on gait analysis. This involved examining how an individual walks and how that can be evidence to support a particular diagnosis.

Gait analysis gets used often in assessing orthotic devices for athletes or people with common anatomical issues related to walking. It can be used in a highly specialized way for elite athletes to refine their technique towards maximal performance. In the case of my training we were looking particularly at how gait relates to events that may be occurring in the brain or nervous system. Of primary interest were dementias, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, palsy conditions and so on.

Within the workshop we watched a set of video demonstrations by an extraordinary physician named Benjamin Weiss. Here is a link to Dr. Weiss's video set which you may find interesting in describing disease-related walking conditions.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaCGXOiLr-_WEbnybtwNYGnLiYaK_MB40

On that same channel you can also find more general links to gait analysis as it might be done in a chiropractic setting.

Yours , on the journey,

Ray

Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet

Thich Nhat Hahn

MANITOU MOUNTAIN PART 2

The KAPPS walk on Sunday was another in the set of the past four incredible walks. We began at the Barret's Chute end of Manitou Mountain and walked over to the Eagle's Nest again. This was about 10 km, including some interesting side-trails. It took us about 3-3.5 hours.
This trail was absolutely breath-taking. It was that time of year with flourescent yellow, golden brown and lime green foliage. The trail was almost obliterated by fresh leaf-fall. Fortunately we had the services of our loyal track-master, Josh, who sniffed his way to indicate where to go, when the blue slashes eluded us. 

We climbed one lookout at Red Arrow Lookout. From there I thought we would walk below Manitou Mountain Lookout, but we actually walked right up onto it again. This put us back on the trail we did in August. It felt somewhat familiar, but with the changed colours, it had a freshness too.
We looked for a back access to Eagle's Nest and tried 2-3 different side-trails. Maybe we gave up too soon. Who knows. We never did find anything in spite of Doug's "theories". 
Afterwards we all ate like starved children at Mumfords. Even Joshy got a half-sausage and some bacon trimmings.
Thanks to the whole walk team.
The other insight we got from the walk is how many more great walks are waiting for us on Manitou Mountain.

As a side-note, I attended a lecture at the Renfrew Library the weekend before. It was given by a wonderful Algonquin elder/dancer who described what indigenous life in the Valley was like 400 years ago. He made many references to the area around Calabogie, where he grew up and where his ancestors lived. This added some interesting dimension to our walk.

GOODBYE OLD FRIENDS

These old friends are retiring today. 
These are my Keen walking shoes, can't remember the model name but they have been wonderful companions and earned their rest.
They have supported me through sun, rain and snow; beaches and mountains, trails and sidewalks. Their slim soles (souls?) taught me not to pound the pavement but to slip into each step. To feel the ground and roll along it.
You can tell that the lesson was not fully learned by the heavy wear pattern on the right heel. As is my pattern, this is more pronounced on the right than the left. The black mark on the left toe-cap is from the persistent wear/pressure from a small fungal  growth that has re-appeared on my 2nd toe over the last few years. Sometimes its big and hard enough that it wore that hole.
This model seems to have disappeared, so I will go back to the Keen catalogue ( I wouldn't wear anything else) and find my next companions.

THANKS FOR THE BLUEBERRIES

Went out on the Blueberry Mountain hike as advertised. Great to have Doug, Maura and new friend Pat along. And the Padakun Walkin' Dog too of course, who joined the other 2 dozen four-leggeds. A real mix of seniors, kids, families and couples. Nice to run into a few old acquaintances from our days in Almonte.
The approach is a gradual and flowing blend of the best of eastern Ontario Shield landscape. About 10 minutes from the summit it tilts upward and gives an exhilirating mini-climb, leading up to another spectacular view. Its similar to Eagle's Nest, only a bit higher. You could see all the way across the Valley to Bon Echo Park.
I'd never been at the Alba Wilderness SChool and I could now imagine it being a fine place to visit. Mr. Clifford Junior had a fascinating "soundscape" set up. He had micropones buried in pond mud attached to headphones. Lots of folks got to "hear" the many critters chatting away in the swamp. Cool!

Doug and his monocular

 

BLUEBERRY MOUNTAIN WALK, OCTOBER 4

 

Our September KAPPS walk is a Special Event, only partly because its not in September! We will bump the September walk a week forward to October 4 so we can join an important walking and environmental day in this region, the Annual Fall Walk to Blueberry Mountain on Sunday, October 4th, at 9:30 a.m. (rain or shine)

Each year the Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust (MMLT) offers its annual Fall Colours Nature Walk at cliffLAND. Registration for the Nature Walk begins at 9:30 a.m. and a guided, interpretive tour will set out at 10:00 a.m. sharp. A donation of $10 per person (children under 12 are free) will go towards maintaining the Land Trust's protected properties. As usual, refreshments will be served following the hike.

For more on the MMLT and cliffLAND, including a map, go to http://mmlt.ca/event/fall-colours-nature-walk-on-blueberry-mountain/
For info, call Ray at 433-9405.

DISCOVERING THE CITY SECRETS

In the last few months I've been reading about the modern history of walking in city environments. This walking practice has to do with discovering aspects and subcultures within the city that are either invisible to vehicular traffic or at risk of being erased by urban development. It might seem a stretch to be considering this kind of walking in a small rural town, however that has proven not to be the case.

Over these last few weeks, partly in combination with my Blue-Box Walking,I've discovered two or three secret places in our small town. It's easy to see how people could ignore these places. They're not very well developed, but they clearly provide a getaway for certain citizens of our town. You can call them secret patios,since what they seem to provide is outdoor social space where people will meet. I have no idea who these people might be, they could be youth or homeless or secret drinkers. There doesn't seem to be the usual kind of evidence that one sees with a secret drinking place - no beer cans, wine bottles or the like. My guess would be this is a secret meeting place for young people who probably have no similar place to meet. These are the kind of people also see hanging out in schoolyards or on Main Street. Further, since our municipal government has removed all public seating in the main public spaces,young people or people limited to very small or shared housing have few options but to create personal social space where they can. What I believe that I see are such spaces.

These are not random places either, clearly they have arranged seating and cleared away brush to make room for sustained visits and conversation. And in some of them there are even small fire pits where I would guess a small inconspicuous fire has been set, partly for warmth and partly for social ambiance.

Yours , on the journey,

Ray

Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet

Thich Nhat Hahn

CELEBRATING THE HILLS

Sunday, September 13, 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
150 Donald B. Munro Drive, Carp
A donation of $5 per person, $10 per family is requested.

Join the Friends of Huntley Highlands in “Celebrating the Hills”, a public event on a 50-acre private property in the Carp Hills near the village of Carp.  Surrounded by an old forest with rocky outcrops of rugged Canadian Shield, participants can enjoy many activities, explore nature trails, and climb to an exceptional view overlooking the Carp River valley. An art show and sale, guided and self-guided nature walks, music, refreshments, and children’s activities are planned.  The West Carleton War Memorial sculpture by artist Ron Cowle will be on display.

Celebrate the Hills has two purposes:  to raise awareness about this scenic and ecologically important wilderness area and to raise funds for the Friends of Huntley Highlands.  First and foremost is to show people how special the Carp Hills are.  These hills comprise the only expression in the city of Ottawa of the billion-year-old Canadian Shield, the oldest rock on earth and a Canadian icon worldwide that inspired the famous landscapes of the Group of Seven. The Carp Hills are also acknowledged by the City as one of its most important natural features and by the province of Ontario as an Area of Natural and Scientific Interest hosting provincially significant wetlands.

Dr. Owen Clarkin will lead nature walks along paths in the forest and up onto the Carp Hills ridge. Dr. Clarkin is the conservation committee chair of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists, and is well known for his expert knowledge of trees. We are excited to welcome him back to explain the special ecology of the Carp Hills. The old red oak tree that was the winner of our recent Biggest Tree contest will be just one of the highlights of the nature walks.

A call-out has been sent to artists in the region to display their work at this event.  The art on display will be inspired by nature and depict the landscape of the Carp Hills:  hardwood and coniferous forests, wetland and rocky outcrop vegetation, spectacular igneous and sedimentary (including glacial) geology, and wildlife, including species at risk. A marketplace table will be selling small or donated items such as pins, cards, books, small trees, etc, and refreshments from local establishments will be available.

This will also be the final day to bid on Autumn Splendour, a oil painting by by the late, renowned Canadian artist, John Mlacak, donated by his widow, Beth.

Bring your family, enjoy the scenery, and discover the Carp Hills.  For more details, go to www.huntleyhighlands.com

Yours , on the journey,                           
Ray
Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet
Thich Nhat Hahn