DIXON ROLLER-PACK:REVIEW

In preparation for my Camino Portuguese walk in the fall, I decided I would use an alternative to a conventional back-pack . Too old for that kind of lugging. I identified the Dixon Roller Pack, developed by Bob Dixon in the USA, as the ideal choice. It’s a modern variation on the “travois” which was used by Plains Indians to carry loads by foot or on horseback or pulled by a dog. And yes, the Dixon Roller adds a wheel at the ground, so you are rolling the weight not dragging it. 

It appealed to me because it transfers the pack weight to the hips, and rolls it. This seemed a kindness to my back and knees. I got mine about 6 weeks ago (cost about $400.00) and it includes a nice duffel bag designed for the pack. It was a piece-of-cake to assemble and I was rolling in less than 30 minutes. I have been playing with the straps and such since then to get the weight distribution optimized. I have been testing it out with light and medium weight loads over 30-120 minute distances on road surfaces or forest trails.

I have found it a wonderful means of walking with equipment. There is zero strain on the upper body and the location of weight along the hips is easily accommodated while walking. It does take some getting used-to because it limits your mobility in that, like a tandem trailer, you need to swing slowly when turning. This can make walking on a narrow and twisting trail awkward. It is imperative that you balance the weight properly too. I tried carrying some wine bottles back from the store and did not pay enough attention to the balance. The liquid sloshed and shifted making for an annoying wonkiness. I’m still perfecting the hook-up process, which can be fumbly at times. 


My other accomodation is while pole walking. Good poling form requires a smooth hip-swinging and this can conflict with the pack-harness fitting. At first I had it tight, which was comfortable for weight but not motion. Now I need some fine tuning for the swinging motion - there’s a sweet spot I have almost found. I’ll keep testing it and report more later.
The Dixon Roller Pack comes in 2 load sizes and has a winter ski attachment too. So far I give it 5 out of 5 stars for performance and quality.

You can see numerous videos on these units in use - http://dixonrollerpack.com/

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

A CAMINO DECISION

Things have fallen into place so that I can walk a large part of the Camino Portugues. This is an alternate route to Santiago. Instead of the Northwest-to Northeast routes that go from France along the mountains and plains to Northern Spain, this route starts in Lisbon and heads due north through the upper half of Portugal into Spain.  Here’s a slide show someone recently posted followed by a map of the route.

http://www.caminodesantiago.org.uk/threads/camino-portugues-landscape-photos.4889/



I’ll be leaving in late October and walking for about 2 weeks. After I arrive and complete that route, I’ll head back to Lisbon to meet my wife and another couple for a much more leisurely boat cruise down the Duoro River , from Wetserrn Spain to the Atlantic and the city of Porto.

Here’s the cruise details:

http://www.vikingrivercruisescanada.com/cruise-destinations/europe/portugals-river-gold/2015-porto-pinhao-porto/index.html

It hardly needs saying that I am excited to join the path of thousands and thousands of other pilgrims who have criss-crossed that corner of Spain. I am equally thrilled and shaky at the prospect of doing this walk solo. I have never attempted anything as long or challenging, so this will mark a new part of my life-journey.

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

WALKING AND PHILOSOPHY

For many of us, walking can be a break from thinking. It can be a time to just be, just breath, just step and enjoy the unmediated experience of being alive. I recently finished a new book called  A Philosophy of Walking by Frederic Gros, a philosophy lecturer from Paris, which takes the opposite slant. It presents the importance of walking in the lives of several central thinkers of the Western tradition.
 

The chapters include the obvious and expected story of Thoreau and his time “sauntering” around Walden Pond and the phenomenon of the “flaneur”, the public walkers of Paris in the later 19th century. What was new to me was the passion of Nietzche, whose walking slowed and moderated his gradual descent into madness. I hadn’t realized how much of a walker the French poet, Rimbaud, had been. I loved the portrait of Kant, who only ever had one route, which he took daily, like clockwork, through his town. Other walkers - Rousseau, Snyder and more - fill out a broad landscape of different thinking walkers or walking thinkers who walked in different ways for different reasons in different times.
An excellent and highly recommended read and thanks to my brother, Joe, for the gift of this book. I look forward to walking and philosophizing with you again soon.

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

LOTS TO DO FOR WALKERS

All of a sudden there’s a lot for us pedestrians to do to compliment our trail time.

1. The Hikers’ Film Fest is on this weekend in Renfrew at the Rec Centre on Argyle.
On Friday at 6.30 pm we’re showing Wild and on Saturday we’ve got The Way.  Also on Saturday, Mike and Adele Boire will be present to talk about their Compostela walk last fall.

2. Our April KAPPS walk is scheduled for April 26. We’re sampling the HyperHike route we’ve set for the Hike For Hospice on the next weekend, May 3
Meet at 9.45 AM at the Official KAPPS Station next to the Adult High School at the corner of Carswell and Renfrew.

3. KAPPSter and Assistant KAPPS Konductor, Lara Mylly is hosting a 5 week poling course in Cobden starting on Tuesday April 28, 6.30-8.00pm. This course teaches the basics and some advanced techniques and offers some great walks too. Best of all - its FREE. Poles provided and also for sale if you are looking. Call Lara at 613-582-3685 to register.
AND.... don't forget to get some pledges for the Hike For Hospice, May 3, 1.30 pm in Renfrew

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

FILM FEST POSTER

HIKE FOR HOSPICE AND HYPER-HIKE:

 
Its only about a month from now that we will be joining so many other walkers for the annual Hike for Hospice in Renfrew. This event, scheduled this year for Sunday May 10, is an excellent opportunity to combine our favourite activity with one of the County’s most valued facilities, the Renfrew Hospice. If you don’t know their service, visit the website http://www.hospicerenfrew.ca/ .

Their major fund-raising walk is the Hike for Hospice,
http://www.hospicerenfrew.ca/hike_for_hospice.php , and it normally extends about 4 km (approx 1 hour’s walking) out from Raglan and O’Brien to Mateway Park and back. This year our KAPPS group is promoting the first Hyper-Hike which adds to the route with additional 7 km round-trip, from the turn-off at Mateway, out to Hiway 132 and back, for a total walk of about 12 km (approx 1.5 hours).    This just makes the Hike a bit more challenging for walkers and runners, and we hope will raise more money for the Hospice.

To prepare walkers for this event, we are also sponsoring the Hikers’ Film Fest on the weekend of April 17-18 at the Recreation Centre on Argyle St. In Renfrew. We’re showing two films:

Wild
Friday, April 17,
6.30 pm

The Way,
Saturday, April 18
2.30 pm

The admission for each film is $4.00 and all the profit goes to the Hospice. You can get pledge sheets for the Hike as well. We will have information on KAPPS and its walks too.

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

SPRING HAS ARRIVED

Finally Spring has arrived! The transformation of walking is so welcome. I can now walk longer time and distance without bundling up or dodging around ice-patches or leaping over snow-banks. No need to bundle my dogs up either.
In walking around my town (Renfrew, Ontario, pop. 7,500) I have been distressed by the awful condition of the roads and sidewalks. You can’t even say that walkers are disadvantaged because of cars, because the roads are every bit in disrepair as the sidewalks. One of my maintenance walks takes me out to a new housing development, appended to the back of one of the major shopping malls. With all the talk about accessible communities and the importance of public walking space, I am shocked to see this set of about 50 new dwellings completely ignores sidewalks. There a few lay-bys which run for parts of blocks, but these are clearly intended as off-street parking concessions.
On the other hand, I do have to congratulate some parts of the community which managed to acquire a multi-million dollar grant for the maintenance of the K and P Trail, a local snowmobile track favoured by walkers in the summer. The K and P is one of our best kept walking secrets and this money promises to keep it in top shape for years. I don’t often thank politicians for much, but in this case, a tip o’ the ball-cap is in order.
see you out walking,
Ray