Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 11, 2009, Winnipeg, Manitoba C m y k Page 8 w talking said Sheila Spence photographer and founding member of Prairie pathfinders is like a tim based Art piece. You go through a Range of moods. The first mood is often Why am i doing this i dont feel like doing this. Ism not doing this again. Then a transformation occurs. By and by walkers find a resolve a rhythm and ultimately a kind of inner peace or at least an inner space previously closed to them. Even on the longest walks said Wendy Wilson another founding member i often find i have More Energy at the end than at the beginning which is astonishing. Its been 10 years since Leone Banks Kathleen leathers Wilson and Spence launched Prairie pathfinders and began leading walking Tours across Manitoba. In that time they have put one foot in front of the other Over roughly 8,500 Kilometres within the province. Its 7,300 Kilometres across Canada. They have changed attitudes to both walking and our landscape. They guide Tours twice a week in Winnipeg and about a dozen times a year in the country including five trips with overnight stays. They usually forge Little known trails illuminating interesting history geography and plants. When you drive through the country you dont see it said Spence. They have authored four books that serve As walking guides that have sold a combined 23,000 copies. Prairie pathfinders has about 400 registered members. Prairie pathfinders promotes not just walking and exploring Manitoba but introduced the group walk. From 50 to 60 people regularly turn up for guided walks. I find it much easier to visit with someone by walking than sitting across the table said leathers. Adds Little sister Wilson that does not mean you dont have time to yourself. But a lot of people still dont get it. People will spot the group walking and will suppose its for Charity. People will often ask what were walking for and we say for fun and they just look at you said Banks. The four friends got the idea from their forays to England. A walk in the Woods is a much bigger part of the culture there Ever since poet William Wordsworth helped popularize it in the first half of the 1800s. Only poor people walked at one time until it started to become fashionable said leathers. Today every English town has a walking club and hikers arrive at a Small town every five Kilometres. People can take a cab Back to their hotel after a walking tour. The Ramblers association Bri taints biggest walking club has been around for Over 70 years. There was a frustration for us with people Here thinking that there was nowhere to hike in Manitoba said Wilson. So their original idea was to publish a Guidebook to walking trails in Winnipeg. They self published Winnipeg walks 1999 after a publisher told them the eyed be Lucky to sell 200 copies. They sold 11,000. They initially called them walks. Hikes conjured up images of fitness lederhosen and alpe stocks. Initially hiking seemed a threatening term. For hiking you had to be fit As opposed to just walking said Wilson. But they Call themselves hikers today. Their level of Confidence has changed they say. It also began As unisex women Only. They were concerned males would make walks too vigorous and goal oriented. They like to loll gag if the mood strikes them. But they dont feel threatened anymore and Many males join walks today usually with a spouse. To promote their first Book they started organizing the walks. The first one outside the City was a nine Day hike on the trans Canada Trail. They stayed in bed and breakfasts and Small town hotels along the Way. It was the first week of May. More than 40 people took part in at least some part of the trek Many of them recruited by leathers at a new years eve party. The eyed been drinking quipped Wilson. The group researched historic weather patterns for Spring and ascertained that the lowest precipitation was for that week. But thatus not How it turned out. It rained every Day and it was a disaster by most counts said leathers. But eight people did the walks every Day. And the silly fools. At the end of it All they wanted to know what we were doing next year. They will be replicating part of that walk later this year. On another trek some people got ahead of the main group and took a wrong turn. They waded through swamp up to their waists and then crawled under barbed wire so that the dried mud and sedges stuck to their clothing and exposed skin. They looked horrible. By the end of the Day they said it was one of the Best Damn times of their lives said leathers. You become like bosom pals. Their books include Winnipeg walks 1999manitoba walks 2001manitoba picnic perfect 2003 and hiking the heartland 2007. With picnic perfect they had a romanticized idea of the picnic in the Woods and tried to re popularize it. Banks thinks it May be their Best Book but its been the poorest seller. They feel safer travelling in Large groups and tend to make enough noise that they dont see much wildlife. They have encountered the occasional Bear. One Bear leave the Trail. So they appealed to its patriotism and Sang o Canada. The singing was so bad that the Bear shambles off. The women will be marking the 10th anniversary on Jan. 24 with an eight Kilometre hike along the Lasalle River followed by lunch and a retrospective of their highlights and misadventures. See wow. Prairie pathfinders. My. Ca for More details. Bill. Redekop @ free press. My. Ca a 8 sunday january 11, 2009 sunday special a decade of hiking Prairie pathfinders see Manitoba one step at a time Winnipeg repress. Com pathfinders Wendy Wilson Leone Banks Kathleen leathers and Sheila Spence. They ave changed Manitoban a attitudes to walking and to the landscape. Photos by Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg free press some Little known Scenic places recommended by Prairie pathfinders. Brandon Hills just South of Brandon. The Hills run East West for about 12 Kilometres. The Trail begins on Cross country ski tracks and snakes along a South facing Ridge. Once you reach the Bald Hills of the Eastern Ridge you have one panoramic View after another. Rae Trail its 28 pm South of the Tran Canada Highway on provincial Road 34. This hike snakes through secluded rolling Woodland interspersed with a succession of Lush wildflower Meadows. The Scenic overlooks Are a revelation. Coulter sour Isford Park South of Melita off Hwy. 83, at the Junction of the Souris and South Antler Creek. Considered Western Canadas oldest Park and full of history. Centennial Trail the 11 pm route in the White Shell is a real treasure. Youll climb Over Steep Granite ridges and Down through Lush Tamarack Forest. The route is marked by a series of Cairns. Developed in 1970 and still maintained by scouts and girl guides. Trail can be accessed from Mcgillvary Falls or Bear Lake picnic site both Are off Hwy. 44. Poole property South of Deloraine East of Hwy. 21. Terrific views of the Prairie from the Western Edge of Turtle Mountain. This 120 acre parcel of native Grassland & Hardwood Forest was donated to the Turtle Mountain conservation District by the late William r. Poole. Souris Riverbend North of Margaret off Hwy. 23. This wildlife management area spans both sides of the Souris River. The East Side has the most impressive Lookout and is a grand place to explore. Bellsite Hogback Overlook 1.5 pm North of Bellsite turnoff off Hwy. 10, North of Duck Mountain. The Trail ascends the Northern end of the Manitoba escarpment through dense mixed Forest. The destination is a narrow Footpath along a Hogback land form out to the Bell River Canyon Overlook. The founders have written Bill four walking guides. Redekop a 08_ Jan 11 09. Ind a8 1/ 10/ 09 10 21 54 pm ;