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The Joy of a Good Walk this Holiday Season

November 29, 2014

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With the Christmas season is upon us, things start to get a bit hectic. The malls fill up with shoppers (including you), family come from afar to stay in your guest room, you cook and bake for said family, you make lists, and look for parking at Chinook mall, and then you start to wonder WHAT exactly what is so great about the “holiday” season. I am here to tell you that a good walk is all that you need.

Turn off your texts and in fact, leave the phone behind and walk away. Keep walking until you feel alive (sane), relaxed and refreshed. And most importably, until you feel happy. It works, I do it everyday.

The Huffington Post had a great article this listed some walking quotes. Here is an excerpt.

Here are 17 eloquent literary quotes that remind us of the simple, restorative power of a good walk:

“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” — John Muir

“Now shall I walk or shall I ride?
‘Ride,’ Pleasure said;
‘Walk,’ Joy replied.” — W.H. Davies

“To walk is to lack a place. It is the indefinite process of being absent and in search of a proper.” — Michel de Certeau

“If I couldn’t walk fast and far, I should just explode and perish.” — Charles Dickens

“Only thoughts won by walking are valuable.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

“Walking and talking are two very great pleasures, but it is a mistake to combine them. Our own noise blots out the sounds and silences of the outdoor world; and talking leads almost inevitably to smoking, and then farewell to nature as far as one of our senses is concerned. The only friend to walk with is one… who so exactly shares your taste for each mood of the countryside that a glance, a halt, or at most a nudge, is enough to assure us that the pleasure is shared.” — C.S. Lewis

“I am alarmed when it happens that I have walked a mile into the woods bodily, without getting there in spirit.” — Henry David Thoreau

“After a day’s walk everything has twice its usual value.” — George Macauley Trevelyan

“I would walk along the quais when I had finished work or when I was trying to think something out. It was easier to think if I was walking and doing something or seeing people doing something that they understood.” — Ernest Hemingway

“I find more pleasure in wandering the fields than in musing among my silent neighbours who are insensible to everything but toiling and talking of it and that to no purpose.” — John Clare

“We ought to take outdoor walks, to refresh and raise our spirits by deep breathing in the open air.” — Seneca

“I always feel so sorry for women who don’t like to walk; they miss so much — so many rare little glimpses of life; and we women learn so little of life on the whole.” —Kate Chopin

“Thinking is generally thought of as doing nothing in a production-oriented culture, and doing nothing is hard to do. It’s best done by disguising it as doing something, and the something closest to doing nothing is walking.” — Rebecca Solnit

“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.” — Søren Kierkegaard

“Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around a lake.” — Wallace Stevens

“Walks. The body advances, while the mind flutters around it like a bird.” — Jules Renard

“[Walking] is the perfect way of moving if you want to see into the life of things. It is the one way of freedom. If you go to a place on anything but your own feet you are taken there too fast, and miss a thousand delicate joys that were waiting for you by the wayside.” — Elizabeth von Arnim

Mayor Nenshi’s Calgary Walk Challenge

September 9, 2014

lori

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I joined Mayor Nenshi at Calgary’s City Hall this morning to be part of the launch of the Major’s “Walk Challenge”. The Mayor is challenging all Calgarians to walk more, to choose active transportation, for their health and for the health of the city.

Calgary Herald Article

Calgary Sun Article

WALK OR BIKE TO SCHOOL

Today’s launch focussed on getting kids to walk or bike to school and my video of my son’s bike gang was part of the launch.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi launched his “Walk Challenge” on Tuesday and is asking all Calgarians, especially Calgary kids, to get moving by walking, biking, rollerblading, or scootering to school. Basically, take an active route to school!

“I’m encouraging all Calgarians to get just a little bit more walking into your daily life and in particular today, we want to talk about walking to school. We want to encourage more families to walk or bike or rollerblade or pogo stick, take active modes of transportation to school, It’s a simple challenge,” said Nenshi.

The children can share their experiences on twitter using #yycwalk and on Facebook HERE.

“Walk to school and tell us about it. Share it on twitter and Facebook or do it on your own or do it as a group,” said the Mayor.

The mayor says the children will help reduce greenhouse emissions, get extra exercise to stay fit and healthy and do better in school. He says traffic congestion on the streets around schools will also be reduced if more kids walk to school.

“It’s better for our health. It’s better for the environment and as any parent in the city knows today, one of the big problems we have at most schools is congestion and safety issues around the start and end of school and having more people walk is an excellent way to reduce that congestion and increase safety.”

Nenshi says if you drive your kids to school, consider stopping a few blocks away and walking the rest of the way.

For more information on the Mayor’s Walk Challenge, click HERE.

Self-propelled kids in Calgary told to make way for drivers when CBE letter should have said: DRIVE LESS!

January 13, 2014

lori

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The letter below should have began with:

WATCH OUT FOR GROUPS OF KIDS ON FOOT AND BIKE! PLEASE DRIVE LESS OR AVOID DRIVING ON THE SIDE-STREETS AROUND SCHOOLS

My son has been a self-propelled commuter to school and back all his life. When he moved schools in grade 5 he changed from walking to cycling since the school was further away. I have blogged and videoed about his bike gang and they have been written up by Tom Babin in the Calgary Herald. Last week his school sent the letter below to the school community and handed it to some of the kids who bike. This letter was about “bike safety”. And before I dissect this letter, I want to say that I think the administration at my son’s school are excellent. They have been very supportive of kids biking and walking. The principal sends weekly reports and always starts off with telling drivers to stop dangerous behaviour. However, the bike safety letter they sent home is a reflection of our society’s belief that cars should always have the right of way. I agree that cyclists need to be safe and cautious since any altercation with a car and cyclist will end badly for the cyclist, however, I wish the letter would have told the drivers to avoid driving the side streets around the schools, especially in the winter when roads are narrow and cyclists may be in the middle of the road.

THE BIGGEST SAFETY CONCERN FOR KIDS WHO WALK AND BIKE ARE PARENTS WHO DRIVE AND DROP

The parents who drive and drop their kids every day and who clog the streets around every Calgary school are the biggest threat to children living active lifestyles. Not only are the kids who are driven missing an opportunity for some fresh air, exercise, independent exploration and time with their friends, but the parents who drive make the streets unsafe for those kids who are walking and cycling to school. And it is not just parents of children, but many Calgarians expect to zip through Calgary’s side-streets in their car at anytime of day or in any season. My son’s school had complaints from the parents and the community about children cycling on the roads. If we want kids (and adults) to be adopt healthy habits like incorporating physical activity into their days though walking and biking, skate-boarding or scootering, then we need to change our approach. We need to encourage kids to walk and bike, and to tell drivers to stay away from the side-streets around schools. It is the cars that make these side-streets unsafe.

ARE WE DRIVING OUR KIDS TO UNHEALTHY BEHAVIOURS? WE SURE ARE.

The irony is that most parents won’t let their kids walk and bike because they are afraid the kids will be hit by a car. So the parents drive their kids, thus becoming the problem, another car on the streets around the school. Active Healthy Kids Canada’s report on kids and active transport found that in Canada, although 58% of parents walked to school when they were kids, only 28% of their children walk to school today. The report also stated that: “While rates of walking are declining, the percentage of adolescents who take all of their trips by car has gone up over time. This trend leads to more car traffic in school surroundings – and a sizable proportion of this traffic comes from parents whose children live within a reasonable walking distance but are nevertheless driven to and from school. Parents may feel that they are keeping their children safe by driving them to school. Ironically, they are contributing to increased traffic volumes around schools (and thus the risk of road accidents) for children who use active transportation, creating a vicious circle. In this context, it is an uphill battle to promote active transportation to individuals who are in the habit of taking most trips by car.”

DRIVERS NEED TO CHANGE BEHAVIOURS FOR KIDS TO ENGAGE IN ACTIVE TRANSPORT AND BE SAFE

Instead of telling kids to get out of the way of cars, we need to tell the cars to stay out of the way of kids who are walking and biking. And yes, there could be big groups of kids crossing streets and biking on the road. This makes driving difficult so choose another route to drive. And just in case you are not sure why living actively is so important, make sure to check our Dr. Mike Evans Youtube video called 23 1/2 hours. You’ll be hanging up those car keys in no time.

Be healthier in 2014 with these “revolutionary” treatments

January 7, 2014

lori

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From the Globe and Mail article on Jan. 5, Fifteen things Canadians can do to be healthier this year, here are two fantastic suggestions by two experts in mental and physical wellness; get outside and walk more! Living a healthy lifestyle is pretty simple stuff.

Try a revolutionary ‘new’ treatment

There is a super expensive new drug coming out. It reduces heart disease by 60 per cent, cancer by 27 per cent, Alzheimer’s by 50 per cent and arthritis by 47 per cent. It’s now our best treatment for fatigue and low back pain. It cures a third of erectile dysfunction, and cuts anxiety and depression by 48 per cent. People even lose weight on this stuff … Okay, it’s not new or expensive or even a pill. It’s walking. If I had to pick one thing, I’d say movement is the best medicine.

Mike Evans, staff physician at St. Michael’s Hospital, associate professor of family medicine and public health at the University of Toronto

Take it outside

Go for a noontime walk outside, especially in winter. Why? You get at least five times as much light as the brightest office (even on dark, stormy days). You get exercise (well, at least some activity). And you avoid big lunches (or at least have less time to eat). All of which helps your mood, memory and weight.

Raymond Lam, professor of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia and director of the Mood Disorders Centre, UBC Hospital

Merry, snowy Christmas!

December 21, 2013

lori

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Merry Christmas!

I hope you will join us on the snowy trails this winter! The snowshoeing and cross-country skiing is fantastic right now in the Alberta and British Columbia Rocky Mountains. The urban hikes in Calgary are great year-round. Come on out for a fresh walk and cup of coffee at unique local coffee shops in Calgary.

Check our calendar of events, the winter programs begin on January 7th. Come once or get a membership for the winter session.

Join us for a fresh, outdoor, active New Year!

Hope to see you on the trails in 2014,

– Lori

Where to hike in the Rockies and Calgary after the Alberta flood?

August 15, 2013

lori

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Helen Lake Trail, Banff National Park

I have been researching trails to hike after the June flooding and thought I would share my findings. The most up-to-date information on where to hike after the flood can be found at this link . It is a wonderful resource of all the post-flood trail conditions in Kananaskis and Banff National Park. Thanks to Rachel for putting this together!

Douglas Fir Trail, Edworthy Park, Calgary

And for those of you who want to hit the urban trails, most routes from my guidebook, Calgary’s Best Hikes and Walks, are doable. The major changes to the pathway system that affect urban hikes are the three missing pedestrian bridges over the Elbow River in the southwest. The bridge at Sandy Beach Park is the most inconvenient change since it is a critical link. It is easy to navigate around the other two missing bridges by using the road bridges.

I’ll continue to provide updates as I work on my new book, Calgary’s Best Urban Hikes, and as I hike the mountain trails!

Enjoy the wonderful weather out there! Lori

Calgary’s Best Urban Hikes Series: Inglewood, Harvie Passage, The Bird Sanctuary and The Blackfoot Diner

May 13, 2013

lori

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The Blackfoot Diner milkshake is

“Like sucking cake through a straw”

I am having a lot of fun researching my new book, a brand new version of my book Calgary’s Best Hikes and Walks. On Mother’s Day, my family joined me to test a new route for the book in the Inglewood, SE area. We started at 15 St, SE and followed the Bow River Pathway to Pearce Estate Park and the new Harvie Passage Whitewater Park on the Bow River. Harvie Passage water park replaces the deadly weir, the drowning machine as it used to be known.

The Harvie Passage website explains the benefits that will come out of the new weir project.

“Countless benefits will flow from this project – for people, fish, birds and wildlife, and the environment itself. This new park will provide a central connection node for numerous public amenities in the area, including the Calgary Zoo, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Pearce Estate Park Interpretive Wetland, Sam Livingston Fish Hatchery, East Village and the future site of the Calgary Science Centre. A reconfiguration of the river-bed will result in an aesthetically attractive passage through the centre of the city, while respecting fisheries and the aquatic ecosystem. Naturalization of the area will improve local habitat, movement corridors and riparian functions, allowing all kinds of wildlife to pass freely up and down the river. Perhaps most importantly, the hydraulic roller known as the “drowning machine” will be eliminated, giving safe and unrestricted access to emergency safety patrols, recreational paddlers and fish.”

Harvie Passage is across from Pearce Estate Park and the Livingston Fish Hatchery. The park is home to many trails for walkers, abundant bird life that flock to the wetlands, picnic tables, the Fish Hatchery, and the Bow Habitat Station, where kids can learn to fish in stocked bonds. YOu can also get a tour of the Fish Hatchery.

Continuing east along the Bow River Pathway, we passed wetlands full of the sounds of red-winged blackbirds and we saw an impressive beaver house with significant square footage! We continued past new and beautifully renovated older homes in a hidden neighbourhood along the Bow River; a neighourhood tucked away behind the industrial area off Blackfoot and 17 Ave., SE .

We arrived at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and the start of the train yards. My son loves trains so we did did a photo shoot beside a parked rail car before strolling the pathways of the bird Sanctuary. My son reminded me of the time he and his friends got “kicked out” of the Bird Sanctuary for some enthusiastic owl discoveries that they had at a friends birthday party. Too loud, too much running. Enthusiastic boys in nature, lets put a stop to that says the naturalist.

The kids were set on a burger for lunch, and it was lunchtime so we started the search. Within minutes we arrived at the infamous Blackfoot Diner Truck Stop. I had heard of it but had never eaten there.

It’s legit. It’s a truck stop and it was the perfect stop for our Mother’s Day lunch.

The kids ordered the burgers and a milkshake (and people wonder how we get them to walk so far…) My daughter summed up the milkshake experience in a way that I never had, “it’s like sucking cake through a straw”. And it was! They were chocolatey, creamy and sweet. Yum. The bugers were tasty too, topped with “crappy cheese” (when my daughter was little she thought that Kraft slices were called “crap” slices and hence the name crappy cheese). She likes the cheese slices. They are just another “treat” that she can’t get at home.

We continued west on 9 Avenue past some industial areas but soon were back into the newly developed part of 9 Avenue. A turn north on 15 St and we were back in the neighbourhood, soaking up the smells of poplar buds and enjoying the sights of flowering fruit trees. Inglewood is the hot spot in Calgary, and not just because it is a micro climate of warmth. Gardens are fuller and pear trees live strong. Inglewood is one of the most interesting neighbourhoods to walk in Calgary. You never know what might be around the next corner and that is what makes for a fantastic urban hike.

Snowshoe the Rockies (with the kids!)

January 17, 2013

lori

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It’s time to play in the snow! Grab your friends and your family, a duffel bag full of clothes, your backpacks, some snowshoes, a crazy carpet, a shovel (for building snow forts at the trailhead!) and a heck of a lot of yummy food and thermoses of hot drinks; you are going snowshoeing in the Rockies!

Snowshoeing is as easy as walking! It’s simply left, right and repeat. There is no skill needed, no technique. But you do need to have some cardiovascular fitness because it can be challenging when you step off the beaten trail. And that, by the way, if the best part (the whole point) of snowshoeing! Get into the deep, powdery snow! Play, fall down and pounce. Snowshoeing generally follows some well know hiking trails, but snowshoeing is not as much about destination as it is about playing in snow.

There are some wonderful snowshoe routes in the Kananaskis Rockies as well as in Banff National Park and Yoho National Park. The main thing to know about choosing a wonderful snowshoe route is to be aware of and to avoid avalanche terrain and to ensure that you have the topographical maps (and know how to use them!) so you do not get lost or end up in avalanche terrain. And remember, cellphones rarely work in the the mountains so the motto, “BE PREPARED” is a good one to follow.

Our next snowshoe day is this weekend, January 20th and our next FAMILY FUN club Fit Frog snowshoe is on Saturday, Feb. 9th! Both outings will be full of powder pouncing and route finding and having fun in the snow. And if you are keen to take a weekend away, join us for a Family Fun getaway in YOHO National Park based in tiny Field, BC on February 15-17, 2013.

SNOWSHOE PRESENTATION
If you want to know more, or see a slide presentation to help you learn all you need to know to get started snowshoeing, get in touch and I can come and speak to your group!

Come on out and join us! Make winter your new favourite season!

Self-propelled kids in Calgary, cycling to school, even at -30!

November 27, 2012

lori

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Journalist Tom Babin at the Calgary Herald just did a fantastic story on some cycle commuting kids in Calgary. One of them, my son, was part of that gang. Like I said in my previous post when I critiqued the Alberta Walkability Project, the built environment plays a minor role in getting people to be more active on a day to day basis. What makes these kids bike instead of taking the warm school bus is that it’s fun to bike!! It’s fun to bike on any day and especially through the snow and ice. It’s also fun to do it with your friends. Simple really. Let’s all get active because it is fun and feels great!

Take a look at the Calgary Herald story here!

–

Here are the Elboya School Grade 5-7, cycling kids!

“Alberta Walkability Roadshow” research missed the big picture and won’t get people to walk more

November 12, 2012

lori

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We have all heard that walking is good for us for a whole bunch of reasons. And in case you have not heard why walking is the best acitvity for your health, then check out one of my favourite presentations on why you need to walk more by Doc Mike Evans. The bigger question is why do people walk? Or better still, why don’t people walk, or exercise, more? Active living, or incorporating activity into your every day, is the goal of all health advocates. The active living message has a hard time competing with our multi-tasking car culture. Living in an active way is a no brainer as far as health goes, but for most people, driving to and getting cheap stuff at Costco or Walmart, is a bigger priority than the health benefits of walking to the local store.

So, what’s a health advocate to do? How do we get people to focus in on their health while they are rushing from one activity to the next, eating prepared meals, sometimes while driving?

In my 20 years of leading people on thousands of urban and wilderness walks in Calgary and Alberta, writing guidebooks on urban walking and biking in Calgary, promoting active living through through presentations, and through my magazine and newspaper articles, I have learned why people walk.

Why people walk

The majority of people who choose to walk, to be active daily, do so for these reasons:

1. For fitness and health

2. For friendship (mostly women)

3. To attain a goal or reach a destination (mostly men)

The Alberta Walkability Roadshow project launched by Alberta Health Services in 2011, is, on the surface, admirable. Their goal is to help Albertans integrate activity into their day-to-day lives; a fantastic idea. The problem with their research is that the initiative leads to a lot of long term, built environment talk as a way to get people to walk. There is a lot of focus on making it nicer for people to walk, on signage for walkers, infrastructure to encourage walking, and having useful things for people to walk to in their communities. Don’t get me wrong, I do agree that all of this would be wonderful. I would love all communities in Canada to be set up for walkers and cyclists. I would love it if more people would walk for transportation as I do everyday in Calgary. However, this is not a reasonable, immediate goal for most of Canada. With the exception of high density cities like Vancouver and Montreal, most communities are being built or redesigned for cars. Small towns and cities across Canada are losing their main street life due to the Walmart fungus. Walmart is always on the outskirts of communities and once it gets a hold, all other services, like the supermarkets, the liquor store, the McDonalds, the Tim Horton’s, follow.

The Walmart phenomenon: my on foot research in Woodstock, New Brunswick

My research on this Walmart phenomenom was done in Woodstock, the oldest town in the province of New Brunswick. I grew up in Woodstock, a town of 5000 people, and now my family and I spend our summers there. The little town situated along the Saint John River, is historic and picturesque. Unfortunately the town and the province moved ALL services out the downtown core. And I do blame the town and province for the death of Woodstock’s downtown core since it was the shortsightedness of the town that allowed Walmart to locate on the TransCanada Highway, away from all neighbourhoods. The province then moved the liquor store out to be close to Walmart. The supermarkets, fast food outlets and movie theatre are also nearby. The location of these services means that most people need to drive to get groceries. And since cheap food is a priority pretty much everywhere nowadays, including Woodstock, the McDonald’s drive-through always has a line up at lunch.The built environment is set in Woodstock and in many small towns across Canada and it is not set up for active transport.

Get people walking right now: A Grassroots Initiative

In order to get people to start walking today, right now, there needs to be more grassroots initiatives in all villages, towns and cities across Canada.There needs to be a lot less talk of built environment, walkable communities and walking for transportation and a lot more encouragement for people to just walk for recreation, for fun and for fitness. And once people start enjoying more walking, get hooked on healthy behaviours, then perhaps these people will begin to recognize the value in having a walkable community.

How to get people to WALK MORE

Through my hands on, grassroots workshops, I help recreation departments in all cities and towns create walking programs and that easy to operate, and inexpensive. The goal? Get community members walking, right now!

1. Start of “Walking for Fitness” program with walking guides. Research and create a variety of routes in and around the town or city. Provide route maps!

2. Make it social and fun! Create a variety of walks to attract a diverse group; “Coffee shop hikes” or “Family Treks“

3. Provide a goal or add some brainwork! Create a program called “Hiking Training” to attract the goal oriented people to the group. Work towards the goal of doing longer hikes and add these hikes to the ongoing walking program. For example, in Woodstock , NB, the town walks could build fitness for the upcoming trek to Mount Carleton.

4. Create walking maps! Many people may like to head out on walks independently.

Creating a walking culture

Or better yet, create a culture of self-propelled living! Waiting for a community to become more walkable, to have the infrastructure to make walking or cycling pleasant and easy, is not a short term goal for most communities. And most communities need to make a change now, get people moving now, in order to combat the health decline of its citizens. It is critical that more people see the value in walking, the benefits to active living. Once they are hooked on an active lifestyle, then and only then will they start to make a push for more walkable communities. A walking culture is created when people just start walking more. Get out there!!

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active families

Try a revolutionary ‘new’ treatment

Take it outside

Merry Christmas!

The Blackfoot Diner milkshake is

“Like sucking cake through a straw”