CaptainOrange

City Walk 2022 - A Quest Like No Other Every year that I do this (since 1994!), I get asked many of the same questions. Why I am doing it, or why again. I get awed looks and eye-rolls. If I encounter a stranger, they very often wonder, what cause I am supporting? It's complicated. In the past, I might have directed you to a previous blog post where I wax eloquent about my reasons. This year, I realized that the reason has managed to change a little bit every year. So, the answer, you may ask? Connection. To nature, the city, myself, family, and friends. This walk has gone from an individual pursuit, to an exercise in team building. So, what happened this year? 03:34 I had an alarm set for 4am, but as is so often the case, when you are keyed up you don't really wind up needing the alarm. I got up, grabbed the clothes that I had laid out the night before, posted on the City Walk Discord channel, and made an espresso. 04:00 Leo and Wen were not able to sleep with me grinding...

Here we are again. The universe is bigger than ever and that includes Saskatoon—both because of the expansion of space-time and due to the more pedestrian fact of population growth. We must make some plans. The Plan: Saturday, July 14th, 4:15 am at David and Bri’s house (if you don’t know, ask someone). 4:30 am departure. It is my plan to walk counter clockwise. This means no wet river crossing*. Leaving from a new location means that I don’t quite know where the lunch should happen, but I suspect somewhere out past the Shaw Center in the early afternoon. *Stay tuned for late breaking news about direction and/or river activity. I expect you fall into one of the categories below: Accidental Tourist : Google brought me here by mistake... <cough> Observer : You think the Hopefuls are idiots, but you love us anyway. In other circumstances you would consider being on the Support Team but it won’t work this year. You will observe from a safe distance in case our crazy is ...

Google Photos Album of City Walk 2017

Bri, David, Henry, and Me 11:59pm - Sleep I wanted to get to bed early, but if all of you who know me are aware that The Planning is not strong within me. I spent the early evening packing my gear: bandaids, granola bars, water, sports drinks. I spent the late evening changing my mind about which pack I was going to take, packed and unpacked each of my 3 cameras, charged batteries, etc... Finally, at 10:30, I was ready to go to sleep. That's when one of my daughters asked me to read them to sleep. What Daddy could say no to that? 3:45am - Breakfast Coffee, black & toasted bagel, dry 4:15-4:25am - Arrivals My friend, Jim, dropped his 13-year-old son, Henry, off. While we chatted and got ready to leave, David and Bri arrived. 4:30am - departure David Photobombs the Sunrise. Thanks, Dave, much improved! Even with the 4am wake time, the departure really is the best time of the whole day. I always feel like Frodo at the beginning of The Fellowship of t...

Departure 4:34am Return 11:31pm (18h 57m) link to the  online map . You can download a kml or gpx file, if you like. Until I get the issues resolved, the timestamps on the map are all 6hrs early. Departure It was an interesting start to the day. We had a record 6 people depart at a pretty unusual hour for a stroll. I was impressed with everyone who even showed up. The "Glow" Phase Me . I've done this a few times before. This is my 4th completion and longest time to date. Perhaps old age calls... My brother James . Can't remember, but I think it is his 4th serious effort, although on this occasion he only planned to be with me until noonish Nephew David Groot . 2nd attempt. Bri Groot . 1st attempt. Tim Nickel . 1st outing. Had a busy day planned but managed to visit with us for about 3 1/2 hrs. Ryan Bradshaw . 1st outing. His successful plan was for a few hours of early morning birding. He at least got the early part. In addition there were s...

City Walk is fast approaching (101 hrs for anyone counting). I've been doing some thinking about where I find inspiration and why I have this need for adventure. Below are just some thoughts, good literature, movies and songs. Get your brain ready. Childhood The Wizard of Oz . While we had a copy of the book in the house, it is the 4 LP version that I listened to endlessly. It is probably the first great journey to inspire me. It might have been better if Dorothy had to travel the vast desert that surrounds the land on foot. All the same, once the cyclone drops her down, Baum does a great job of making the many miles she puts beneath her feet seem worthwhile (even if she could have avoided every single step with the simple click of her heels). The Hobbit is the book that will always be my benchmark for a good journey. I first read it in grade 3. I took it out over and over again from my school library. There was a beautiful fold out map in the back. I stared at it for hours,...

It's a whole new game. The score is tied at 3 victories a piece. I left the house at 4:40am--10 minutes behind schedule. I have often had company for this section of the journey, but this year I was on my own. The first new thing for this trip is the new Tim Horton's in Stonebridge. I availed myself of a little pick-me-up and headed East. The morning was cold and calm. The moon looked over my shoulder as I headed out parallel to the railroad tracks. All the rain we've had this summer meant healthy plant growth and the cool morning was heavy with dew. My shoes were shortly soaked through and I found it necessary to pause every couple of hours to strip off my shoes and dry them in the sun. A major change from previous years is that I didn't take a "real" camera. I had only my trusty iPhone3GS. I was feeling unsure about my ability to complete the trek this year and I was concerned about the extra weight a camera would add. That and Environment Canada pre...

I'm excited to announce that on Sunday morning, at about 4:30am, I will be departing on my questing marathon known as the City Walk. A brief history of how and why I started doing it can be found in a 2006 post just before I make my first complete circumnavigation. The score stands at Saskatoon 3 (1994, 2005,  2007 ) - Mike 2 ( 2006  and  2008 ). I'm out to even the score. As usual, you are all welcome to attend part or all of the marathon. I'll have my cell phone with me, so feel free to give me a call to meet up. Here is a map of Saskatoon with two previous trips on it, so you can have an idea of the route. Possible Itinerary:* 4:30am -- departure from Clarence Ave S (counterclockwise this year) 12-12:30 -- river crossing sans bridge (a first! Could save me 8-10km) 12:30 -- Picnic lunch on Spadina (hopefully... it will be near here ) 4:30pm -- North of YXE 7pm -- 11th St Esso 10pm -- Finish *later times show increasing approximation ;)

As foretold, Leo, Anwyn and I went to the Ex per usual. The Weather was fantastic. I posted several pictures to Facebook and Buzz, but it's taken me until now to get my Pentax pictures in order and have enough time down off my roof project to put this blog together. Enough with the excuses. Commence with the pictures. First Ride of the Year The girls enjoyed themselves, but I don't think it was as fun for them as last year. They both got more nauseus and were more easily tired out. Yes. Old age. Sadly, it affects us all -- Even ten-year-olds. The super passes that we bought for them still paid off (especially since one of them covered my gate costs), but not by the huge margin of last Ex. It's not always easy to get the sun to go where you want it. On this occasion, it was more accommodating than usual. There were still plenty of laughs and screams to be had. They just have to make sure to take something to settle their stomachs before next year's excursion.