4 Sleeps and 4 Peeps

June 8, 2025June 9, 2025 / runningforthegate / 4 Comments

The next Running for the Gate adventure is just 4 sleeps away! So it’s probably a good time to introduce you to the crew!

Over the next few weeks you are going to see way too many photos of our cute little mugs … so having a little fun here with our introductions using Anime versions of us. Thanks ChatGPT!

Brande aka Doctor Boots

Brande (that’s me!) is an experienced long distance path hiker with over 2,000 clocked between all her solo and group hikes. Brande’s first long distance hike was solo in 2008 on the West Highland Way in Scotland and she was hooked! She hails originally from Alberta, Canada but lives in Vancouver, British Columbia with her hubby and their land shark (Jack Russel) named Bella Bean Pup Pup.

With some long distance path kilometers under her belt, Brande offers the following advice about this amazing adventure: You have nothing else to do today but walk to your destination – it’s not a race, it’s a goal. So take your time, take the breaks, take the photos, take deep breath and slow the world down.

Shar aka Early Bear

Shar is addicted to long distance path adventures and particularly loves the ones with big climbs. Her joy is the hard work to get to amazing views! Shar’s first long distance path was in 2013 (Great Glen Way in Scotland with me!) and it lit a fire to do ALL the walks and bag as many Munros and Wainwrights that she can (aka touch the trig on top of the mountains in Scotland and England)! She lives in Canmore, Alberta with her hubby, 2 fantastic teen boys and 2 adorable, also a bit crazy, dogs Mac and Otis.

Thinking back on her long distance path experience, Shar has the following advice to share: embrace the prep and enjoy the process of it! The lead up to the adventure is an adventure in itself! Do research but also do some fun fact finding and have those great conversations about different things that your travel partners pre-discovered about the trail and the areas you are about to visit!

Shar is the one who chose the Coast to Coast Path for this adventure (if it’s awful Shar, you will never hear the end of it). She had the honour of choosing our path away from home because this walk is actually all about celebrating her 50th and our dad’s 70th!

Hai (trail name TBD)

Hailey is a natural at anything she puts her mind to (from smarts to athletics) and while she has not had a chance to get long distance paths on the list of accomplishments – she is made for this kind of adventure. She summited Kilimanjaro in 2015 (with me!) and loved the experience of getting to a new destination each day with just the power of her own two feet and two poles. Hailey lives in Alberta with her hubster and their three young kiddos (who this Auntie thinks are the most adorable and most entertaining ever!)

Dad aka Steve (trail name TBD)

Steve (Dad, Daddio, Captain) is 70 this year and we are hiking to celebrate his bday. He is the quiet hero of our amazingly loud and dramatic family. Dad lives in Alberta with our Ma, and is the father of 7 crazy kiddos (oldest is almost 50 Shar and youngest is 19). The chance for us 3 daughters to get this much Dad time with so many of us crazy kids about is an absolute treat! Now let’s just hope we can keep up with this guy – he enjoys long runs, regular time at the gym and healthy eating. Bar is high!

I am excited to discover the trail names this long distance adventure will whisper into the hiking realm for Dad and Hai. And to see what their advice would be to other mere mortals who take up this amazing hobby as we approach our finish line. We will see!

Just 4 sleeps! Wow!

Brande

Coast to Coast – A New Adventure

May 7, 2025June 6, 2025 / runningforthegate / 4 Comments

The next adventure begins …

While the last couple of years have been more local adventures (so a little quiet here on Running for the Gate), that is all changing folks! In just 36 sleeps my bloggy blog friends, I am off to England to walk the Coast to Coast Path.

What is the Coast to Coast Path you ask?

Oh, you are in for a treat on this one – and I hope, as the person walking this sucker, I am too. The Coast to Coast Path is just over 300kms of glorious, rugged England landscape. You literally start the walk with your toes in the West coast (St. Bees) and meander a shot jaunt across the country in a straight-ish line to dip them in the East coast (Robin Hood’s Bay). On the journey, we will walk through 3 National Parks: Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors. I think we even dabble just a wee bit in the Pennines National Park as well. It is going to be amazing!

If you are rambler, a fellwalker, a hill walker, a long-distance path walker, a hiker, a thru hiker, a weekend warrior of the hills, adventurer of landscapes, you get where I am going here … you have likely heard of the legend Alfred Wainright. This man is a fellwalking superstar. He walked up and down and around all of the Lake District and more England, all the while creating pictorial guides of his routes for others to give this amazing hobby a go. The Coast to Coast Path is his creation. We will be walking in the steps of ole A.W. for this one and cannot thank him enough for forging the way.

When, Who, Where of the Coast to Coast Path?

Well, this is where excitement about walking this Path and giddiness of the company I will be with combines into the most amazing of combos. This is a father and daughters’ adventure! We are celebrating a 70th (Daddio) and a 50th (my sister Shar, a name you have seen on Running for the Gate many times) with this walk. My sister Hailey (another name you would have seen in the Kilimanjaro hiking blogs) and I tagging along to ensure the right level of shenanigans and tom foolery.

The four of us kick off our adventure in just 36 sleeps. On June 12 we will make our way from Canada to London via plane, London to St Bees via train, St Bees to Robin’s Hood Bay via hiking boot, Robin Hood’s Bay to Londa via bus and plan, then back to Canada in the air for July 3. In there somewhere we will visit Kendal (the birthplace of Wainright himself), walk 16 days and visit York. So excited!

As we make our way to departure and while on our adventure, I will be sure to post highlights here. For videos, check out @runningforthegate on Instagram. I do a little morning ‘this is what our day looks like’ and an evening ‘this is actually what the day felt like’ video and sometimes a few in between.

For now I will leave you with this most amazing quite from our Path founder …

“Oh, how can I put into words the joys of a walk over country such as this; the scenes that delight the eyes, the blessed peace of mind, the sheer exuberance which fills your soul as you tread the firm turf? This is something to be lived, not read about. On these breezy heights, a transformation is wondrously wrought within you. Your thoughts are simple, in tune with your surroundings; the complicated problems you brought with you from the town are smoothed away.” A.W.

Yes to ALL of that A.W. – there is just nothing like walking up and away from it all to free the mind and soar the soul.

Brande aka Doctor Boots

Offa’s Dyke Path, Day14 Tintern to Sedbury

July 9, 2022July 9, 2022 / runningforthegate / 4 Comments

Day 14 of 14 done! That’s right today we reached the ‘finish line’ – wrapping up the Offa’s Dyke Path adventure in Sedbury!

We started the day in Tintern cross a very cool old Tramway Bridge that is now only for pedestrians and bikes to cross the River Wye (which seems to be pronounced We in mid to North Wales but in South Wales is Way). You could see the amazing Abbey ruins to the right as we walked across!

Then we had a longer than expected flat forest walk to kick off the morning .. aka we got to chatting and missed out turn (there was no sign post or way marking in our defense)! We ended up adding an extra couple of kilometers when we back tracked but also a great conversation – so still a win.

We got ourselves sorted and were happy to see the first Offa’s Dyke Signage for the day!

From there it was up and up and up into the forest which had a very Lord of the Rings vibe to it – so fantastic! There were many Gondor and Elves and Baggins and Shire references. Largely by me, total Tolkien nerd!

Our time in the forest continued for the morning and into the early afternoon. Thank goodness as the day quickly heating up to 26C and the shade of the trees and soft path kept us cool and warm for most of the day!

We had our lunch at the top of the forest at a place called the Devil’s Pulpit – with views of the Tintern Abbey again but much farther below.

I may have jinxed my juju up too though … there is a ancient Yew tree that is growing it of som rocks and I put out some incense someone had burning by the tree. They lit it and walked away – no one was around. Sorry but burning and forest are not a good mix and I could not just walk away from it! Hope I didn’t screw up anyone’s ritual or something.

After the forest we had some field walking and then we were in Chepstow (Wales) and then Sedbury (England) for the official finish of the path. It is a bit of an underwhelming finish, truth be told, after so much amazing scenery and then just ending in city stuff. I guess one of the benefits of walking the other direction is finishing with your toes in the ocean in Prestatyn. But we were elated all the same!