Arlene Gregoire, left, and Anda Bruinsma finished hiking the 3500km Appalachian Trail,at the top of Mt Katadin in Maine, one month ahead of their original schedule. The Ottawa women undertook the hike to raise money for the Alzheimer Society.

Orleans News Cumberland’s Anda Bruinsma spent days on end in pouring rain, hiking one step at a time along a trail with wet shoes, socks, and a heavy backpack.

So when a kind stranger was waiting at the end of the trail with a snack or a dry pair of socks, there couldn’t have been anything better.

It’s referred to as “trail magic”, the kindness of strangers along the 3,500 km-Appalachian Trail route that Bruinsma returned home from on Aug. 8.

“They come out, they have drinks, they have water, they have extra socks,” Bruinsma said. “They do it all totally out of the kindness of their hearts.”

Sometimes on hot days, it was a cold drink in a strategically placed cooler left by a kind-hearted stranger, on other days it was a ride into town to the local hikers’ hostel with a town resident.

One person who drove Bruinsma and her hiking partner, Kanata’s Arlene Gregoire, to their hostel let them know he’d be back the next day at 7 a.m. to take them to breakfast.

He drove them to a church, where volunteers had been awake and cooking for two hours to prepare pancakes and food for all the hungry hikers.

For two months of the year, when the most hikers are passing through their town on the epic trail hike, volunteers prepare the food every day.

“I’ve never experienced that generosity. They’ll never see you again,” Bruinsma said. “It’s southern hospitality.”

The help and support was appreciated. The trail is known as a long and gruelling adventure. Bruinsma said only 20 per cent of those who start the hike along the trail in Georgia actually make it to the end in Maine.

“It’s not something that’s going to be over fast,” she said. “It was full of highs and lows. It was eat, walk, eat, walk, sleep … we were walking every day, weeks at a time.”

She quickly lost the 10- to 15-lbs. she had purposely gained over the winter in preparation for the trek, and then some – she lost a total of 30 lbs. during the trip from her already athletic frame – meaning any calories she could take in, were good.

The trail was far from just rainy days and tough climbs. There were “spectacularly beautiful” mountain ranges and different terrain to see, and many youth hiking alongside groups or their families that brought a smile to Bruinsma’s face.

“There were times where we walked five days with wet shoes, wet socks,” she said. “Then the sun came out and every time I felt like it was smiling on us. And it lifted our spirits every day.”

FUNDRAISER

Undertaking the hike wasn’t just for the fun of it, it was for the pair of retired women to raise money for the Alzheimer Society.

Appropriately titled the Walk to Remember, their fundraising goal was set relatively high at $10 per mile the pair walked, for a total $218,920.

The duo have reached 10 per cent of their goal, but don’t want to stop their fundraising effort just because the walk is over.

Bruinsma is hoping that Gregoire and herself can speak to groups about their hike, and continue to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s and collect donations to help fund research into the disease.

As a woman, Bruinsma said she is particularly interested in future research. According to the Alzheimer Society of Canada, 72 per cent of those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s are women – and there still isn’t a cure.

“The bigger task is to raise the money,” Bruinsma said, “which seems to be harder than the Appalachian Trail.”