Huron Expositor, 2015-12-16, Page 19Wednesday, December 16, 2015 • Huron Expositor 19
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Contributed
A map of the G2GRT
Woman walks G2GRT in seven days and writes a book to prove it
The passageway connects to the
Trans Canada Trail, which is
believed to the longest in the world
Shaun Gregory
Huron Expositor
It was a hot and muggy
week in June of last year, the
G2G Rail Trail was halfway
complete. Armed with a spe-
cial permit issued by the prov-
ince, one woman accompa-
nied by her husband "bush
wacked" and trekked through
the entire dense outback with
the intent of writing a novel
about the experience.
The 127 kilometre route
meant for bicyclers and walk-
ers stretches from the waters of
Lake Huron in Goderich all the
way to the forests of Guelph. As
well the G2GRT intertwines
with the Trans Canada Trail,
which is currently the world's
longest set of connections of
multi -use recreational pas-
sageways according to the TCT
website. The married couple at
the time was one of only two
people from the public to be
given authorization to travel
the old CPR railways that were
abandoned in 1988. It was a
bold decision at the time, con-
sidering the fact that several
citizens involved in the agricul-
tural world had other plans for
the long stretch of land that
spans throughout a large part
of Huron County and the sur-
rounding areas.
"Of course there are some
land owners that are a little
upset about the trail or finding
it difficult to come to terms,
with a bit of a change that's
been happening. So some of
the pieces of property, we just
skirted when we needed to,
we would detour if we abso-
lutely had to," explained
Lynda Wilson who hiked the
path in one week's time.
"For the most part we were
able to get through pretty
much every bit of the trail."
The 53 -year-old refers to her-
self as an Albertan and this spe-
cific trip developed into a voy-
age focused on getting to know
the province she moved to in
1991 a "little better:' Wilson
joined by her husband Doug
embarked on the Guelph side
6%ivsfmu
and wishes for health
and happiness
throughout the year
1 'Lc K[ LLO I
Shannon Craig, CII) Agent
32 Main St. S., Seaforth, ON NOK 1 WO
519-600-6256
and headed west with an esti-
mation of 22-23 km persistently
walked daily. Theywere on foot
constantly and found them-
selves being the onlookers of
Mennonite and Amish country-
side. "Not a lot of wild life but
we certainly saw a lot of farm
animals," Wilson said, adding
that she was more than fulfilled
with the picturesque sights. "It
was just so beautiful, all of it"
Due to her significant oth-
er's heart complication from
previous surgeries, the out-
door stroll was halted at times,
resulting in Wilson "dragging"
and "pushing" him through
parts of the way.
When first hearing the
news regarding the twosomes
plans to pursue the expedi-
tion, Chris Lee who is also on
the board of directors for the
Regional Tourism Organiza-
tion with Doug stated that he
was somewhat skeptical. Spe-
cifically, he was concerned
with the health condition
associated with his colleague.
"Doug is the same age as I
am. He (isn't) exactly a lean
spandex wearing trail trekker,
so that was a bit of a surprise
they would undertake it,"
commented Lee, 64, on
December 9.
These minor setbacks related
to Doug's well being did not
cause the lengthy G2GRT to
come to a standstill. The pair
kept moving said Wilson. This
walk entailed plenty of physical
activity, occasionallytouringfor
13 hours at time, pit stopping
for rest at bed and breakfasts,
hotels and friends houses along
the way. The Wilson's held in
reserve the center of attention
at hand, which is to document
this occurrence and transform
it into a book. The writing
assignment entitled Walking
Home subsequently ended up
taking the now Kitchener Ont.
native roughly seven months to
write. A manuscript she trusts
will press the community
Smile!
rt s ckristmas i
Ho!Ho!Hope'our
ho!idayspark!e.
Thanksforvisiting us
this pasiyear
TULIPS DENTAL CENTRE
(519) 527-1370
Dr. S. Elizabeth van Maanen
Elizabeth van Maanen Dentistry Professional Corporation
CLOSED DEC. 23, 2015 to JAN. 4, 2016
together. "After the railways
were pulled out of the ground
that connection was lost," she
said. And the chronicle does
not just center on the aspect of
the history of the train tracks, it
also leans towards a more per-
sonal note mentioned the expe-
riencedwriter.
"You can't spend seven
days with someone, every
minute and not have the story
be about a relationship," said
Wilson in a recent interview.
Since last month the book
has been available to the public,
Wilson added the feedback is
increasing not just locally, but
people as far as the U.S. are pur-
chasing Walking Home. At the
moment if Huron East residents
are interested, Timber Outfit-
ters in Seaforth has several cop-
ies. This will be her second
book related to railroads, the
tale called the Story of St. Jacobs
& Aberfoyle Model Railway is
about a few artists who, over 40
years, created one of the most
prevalent and prized 'O' -scale
model railways in the country
as reported by amazon.ca.
As for the G2GRT, Lee
revealed to the Expositor 50
percent of the trails are up and
running and if all goes as
intended, the completion will
tie together with Canada's Cen-
tennial Day in 2017.
"If you read it (Walking
Home), from somebody that's
lived next to it and used it for
20 years, it gave me a whole
new appreciation of what it
offers," Lee said.
"I've ran on it, walked my
dog, used my bicycle, the
whole nine yards. I never
really thought of it being a
novelty locally!'
-'1%447...,--41,4
Church bells are ringing, and we want to say,
"Have a happy holiday."
May it resound with joy and good cheer,
and echo with fond memories throughout the whole year!
Oftbk,
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itior irininilatAl LEP
TF'AC aA iEr1171:15WfI.11.5 "
50 Railway St., Seaforth
519-527-0967