[2023 – Prince Edward Island – 592 km – North Cape to East Point and return]
I slather another coat of insect repellent over my exposed skin.
Jeepers, I can’t remember the mosquitoes ever being so bad on Prince Edward Island, though a friend warned me about them.
The Confederation Trail runs from Tignish on the north-west of the island to Elmira in the east, following the old abandoned railroad.
But my goal is to walk from lighthouse to lighthouse and back again, which adds about twelve kilometres on either end.
I make excellent progress on the trail, averaging about sixty kilometres per day.
There isn’t much else to do but walk when the bugs are so bad and the skies are full of rain.
–
The frequent villages and towns along the route provide some refuge from the elements, and cafes with coffee and pastries to warm a walker’s belly and soul.
I meet no other hikers along the trail, just a few people walking their dogs near civilization.
That is, until I meet a couple emerging from the trail in Elmira wearing backpacks.
The woman is wearing a sweater with the words “DO EPIC SH*T”
I see they have a support vehicle waiting in the parking lot with a similar logo.
–
I’m delighted to see them and am eager to chat.
The woman is wandering around with her phone in the air.
She is distracted, but confirms that she and her partner have just finished hiking the full length of the Confederation Trail.
She seems to be in some sort of distress.
It’s because she is looking for something and can’t find it.
She asks me if I’ve seen the sign for #22, one of the numbered points of interest that are scattered around Prince Edward Island.
I tell her that, unfortunately, I haven’t been paying attention.
She says she must find it.
She scurries around.
She has no time to talk to me.
She must, absolutely must, find the sign.
No photo means it didn’t happen! she says.
–
What the heck?
No photo means it didn’t happen?
What kind of nonsense is that?
Just the idea of that takes me back to my years working in long-term care, when nurses would say that if resident care wasn’t charted, it didn’t happen.
Even if it did happen.
–
I think about that for the rest of the day.
The anxiety the poor woman had just for the sake of photo evidence of her walk for what I presume is an audience somewhere, likely online.
I also consider that photos aren’t really evidence of anything at all.
Photos can be used to deceive an audience of an accomplishment, if that is the goal.
And the absence of a photograph is certainly not proof that an event did not occur.
So, what’s the point?
Why so much anxiety over something so insignificant?
Whether an audience believes something has been accomplished or hasn’t, it shouldn’t matter.
A long walk has intrinsic value.
Some people record their hikes, and some don’t.
If encouraging others to Do Epic Sh*t causes one so much anxiety, then why bother?
My internal rant over, I enjoy the final five days of my walk – rain, mosquitoes, and all.
