Thu 24 Mar 2022 Tom Wilson 2022 Hike the Highlands Festival Comments Off on Spring Hiking – Be Prepared

Spring Hiking – Be Prepared

  Be prepared when hiking in the spring for wet and tough conditions. Expect the unexpected. Some conditions you should expect are – milder temps – snow melting, higher brooks and streams, icy conditions,  windfalls, muddy conditions, slippery steps & bridges, slippery...Read more

Sun 13 Feb 2022 Tom Wilson 2022 Hike the Highlands Festival Comments Off on New Opportunities / / / / /

New Opportunities

                  An otter enjoying his fish. Photo credit – Tom Wilson It’s a new year – full of possibilities, challenges, opportunities, achievements… and much more. Why not take a piece of paper and pen and write down the...Read more

Sun 26 Sep 2021 Tom Wilson Uncategorized Comments Off on Thank-you Hikers

Thank-you Hikers

  A big Thank-you to all the hikers who participated in the 18th Annual Hike the Highlands Festival from Sept. 10-19th.  This includes virtual hikers and in person hikers. Our festival thought it was important to offer hikers both safety options during the pandemic and fourth wave of...Read more

Wed 07 Apr 2021 Tom Wilson 2021 Hike the Highlands Festival / Hiking Gear / Hiking Tips Comments Off on Spring Inventory / / / /

Spring Inventory

It is time to bring out your hiking gear and see what is good, needs repair or added to ie- first aid kit and what needs to be purchased. To help you get ready for hiking season here is a checklist I developed : 1) Hiking boots,  hiking socks, hiking poles & hiking gloves 2) […]Read more

Tue 02 Mar 2021 Tom Wilson 2021 Hike the Highlands Festival Comments Off on Future of Hiking / / /

Future of Hiking

 Scary if the above video is the future for hiking. This UK video, 4:18 minutes, “5 Reasons Why People will go Hiking in the Future,” was produced by Simply Hike in 2018 before social media groups starting promoting favourite hiking trails, and before COVID-19 and its impact on...Read more

Thu 21 Jan 2021 Tom Wilson 2021 Hike the Highlands Festival Comments Off on The Challenges in 2021 / / / / /

The Challenges in 2021

There are no shortages of walking & hiking challenges in 2021. Hike the Highlands Festival Society on Cape Breton Island, has two challenges – a) the Cape Breton Highlands 3 Peaks Challenge on July 17, 2021, hike 3 mountains in one day, and b) the Hiker Distance Award program during Hike...Read more

Tue 19 Jan 2021 Tom Wilson 2021 Hike the Highlands Festival Comments Off on Remembering 2020 / / / /

Remembering 2020

It was a year that many walkers & hikers would like to forget with many restrictions & protocols in place. Social distancing, masks, hand sanitizer, gloves, parking nightmares were all part of the equation.  What to do if you met a walker/hiker on a narrow trail ? Masks, Hand...Read more

Tue 22 Sep 2020 Tom Wilson 2020 Hike the Highlands Festival Comments Off on Thank-you Hikers / / / / /

Thank-you Hikers

A big thank-you goes out to all the hikers who participated in the 2020 Hike the Highlands Virtual Festival. It was a new concept for us and you supported us in this difficult year. Our team had to think outside the box and learn from other virtual events. A virtual festival can be held anywhere...Read more

Tue 22 Sep 2020 Tom Wilson 2020 Hike the Highlands Festival Comments Off on Day 10 – Virtual Festival / / / / / / /

Day 10 – Virtual Festival

Day 10 of our virtual festival and last day, signals the end of our festival. On a day we say our goodbyes and do our last hike. Some of the last hikes were Forest Hills (PEI),  Branch Pond Look-off,  Uisge Ban Falls, La Foret Blanche(Que). Where did the ten days go. It went by so...Read more

Tue 22 Sep 2020 Tom Wilson 2020 Hike the Highlands Festival Comments Off on Day 9 – Virtual Festival / / / /

Day 9 – Virtual Festival

  Day 9 of the virtual festival has hikers doing High Lonesome Nature Reserve (ON), Hope Trail in Gatineau Park, White Point to Burnt Head Trail. The daily poll question today was – What brand of hiking boots do you wear ?  44.44% wear Merrell, 22.22% wear Scarpa, 22.22% other,...Read more