Coast to coast, one step at a time
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- Published on Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Submitted photo. Sarah Jackson and her temporary walking partner, Stephen Wynnyk, stayed at the Chabot residence while passing through the area on Jackson鈥檚 cross-Canada trek. From left: Stephen Wynnyk, Sarah Jackson, Karen Chabot and Bob Chabot.
By Kira Paterson
Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
Sarah Jackson, who is on a cross-Canada trek from British Columbia to Newfoundland, passed through the Neepawa area last week. Jackson stayed with Bob and Karen Chabot, who live about seven miles south of Neepawa, for a few days on her walk. She set off again on Wednesday, April 13 to continue east.
Jackson has been travelling the Trans-Canada Trail for over 200 days now, keeping track of her daily progress on her blog and social media. The 24-year-old of Edmonton studied Sociology in university, but is taking a break to explore her home country. She started in June of last year, dipping her foot in the Pacific Ocean and will end at the Atlantic. She said once she finishes her journey, she is planning to go back to school.
As for her reasons behind the trek, 鈥淚t鈥檚 more a personal journey,鈥� she explained. She said she was looking for something to do and she鈥檚 always been interested in long distance walking, so she decided to go on this trip. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been wonderful,鈥� she said, noting that she didn鈥檛 initially expect to go across the whole country, but she enjoys it more and more every day, so she keeps going. Now that she鈥檚 about halfway, she said she might as well see it through to the end.
Jackson starts her days expecting to tent wherever she ends up that evening, but sometimes, she meets people who want to help out and welcome her into their homes. Chabot was an example of one of those people. Other times, she has family or friends in the area that she is able to stay with.
She鈥檚 had many different walking partners throughout her journey, as well. Some have been strangers, others have been friends or family. Currently, she is walking with her neighbour, Stephen Wynnyk, who will be with her until she reaches Winnipeg. She said she recently met someone from Belgium who might join her, too.
Taking it as it comes, Jackson has no timeline to follow. She said that sometimes, if she finds a place really interesting, she stays there for a while and explores a bit. She hopes to reach the east coast before the snow starts to fall again, other than that, she doesn鈥檛 really have a projected time of arrival.
Jackson鈥檚 progress can be followed on her blog, sarahrosewalks.wordpress.com, where she tries to post a picture and how many kilometres she鈥檚 covered each day. She also has a Facebook page, a Twitter account and an Instagram account, which can all be found by searching SarahRoseWalks on any of the sites.
