whitehorsewalks.com

Musings of a northern walker

Whitehorse is a great place to walk but it's not always obvious where trails are. I try to list maps, walking events, ideas for walks, natural history resources, etc. The site is also about building a walking culture, ways for making walking better: trails, bridges and boardwalks; a walking point of view in consultations; fiscal fairness for walking. Additionally, I highlight interesting things that others are doing, such as stewardship and healthy walking initiatives, some could easily be adapted here.

If you're just visiting or maybe you just moved here or you're new to recreational walking, see Welcome to Whitehorse. My Yukon Walking Strategy looks beyond Whitehorse and shows how we could become a more walkable territory and the Yukon could become a walking tourism destination.

Blog

December 30, 2015. American parents have become obsessed with their children being good at sports

Decenber 26, 2015. It's interesting watching how trails are fought for in other countries. We've walked the coastal trail around the Isle of Man and the Isle of Wight. Neat walks.

(2015) Hurrah for our growing coastal path – ideal for celebrating the joys of walking – It's surprising how little freedom we have to walk this land. Now we have more and we must use it responsibly

(2014) Nick Clegg pledges to complete England's coastal path by 2020– Deputy PM promises extra funding for building 3,000-mile trail along the English coast. "Investing in the coast path is not just good news for walkers, but will help to breathe new life into our coastal towns and villages, boosting tourism and the local economy and reconnecting people with their stretch of coast, helping to promote health and wellbeing."

Row over public paths on chair of Natural England's land Andrew Sells removes fences after campaigners point out contravention of public right of way "While local authorities are responsible for waymarks on rights of way, Ashbrook said: "Since Natural England has a statutory purpose of 'promoting access to the countryside and open spaces and encouraging open-air recreation',"

(2009) England to clear coast of barbed wire, blocked paths and irate landowners— Maps detail 2,748 miles of coastal paths as Natural England prepares to open up shoreline to walkers

December 24, 2015. Step It Up! The Surgeon General's call to action to promote walking and walkable communities. Interesting things here such as Step It Up! A partners guide to promote walking and walkable communities. Or Pro Walk/Pro Bike/Pro Place was established in 1980 and it is North America's premier conference on active transportation and active living. The conference draws a wide range of professionals who hold that more and better walking and bicycling improves quality-of-life and builds places. An international audience of urban planners, transportation designers and engineers, citizen advocates, placemakers, entrepreneurs, developers, elected officials, health professionals, and others will gather in Vancouver. Our delegates will hear the latest case studies, design standards, and research and will exchange best practices with their peers. Pro Walk/Pro Bike/Pro Place to be held in Vancouver, BC, September 12-15, 2016. Moving Towards a Healthier World

December 16, 2015. Just think of what this could look like for the Yukon if there was a focus on walking.

December 14, 2015. Watch for bikes, Sat Dec. 19 as the Bikers do the 2015 5+ Hours of Light at the Magnusson area. Race start is at sunrise (10:08am), finish is sunset (3:46pm) Map is here.

Got the first reminder for next year's Jane's Walk yesterday! Here's their Lead a Walk! page

December 6, 2015. The Daily Walk Hippocrates said it best: "Walking is man's best medicine." Longevity studies often reveal that those living the longest tend to walk daily as a form of exercise, well into their golden years.

Walking: your steps to health Says it all!!

What's up Yukon It's slow, but it's so good for you The joy of walking where you need to go. Good link Michael mentions is Walking with arthritis

December 3, 2015. Skier would likely have died overnight, RCMP believe A rescue mission saved a Dawson City cross-country skier from a certain death on Monday evening.

Nudging kids into wonder—then science

December 1, 2015. Grizzly attacks ice climbers on Mount Wilson in Banff National Park Remember we live in the wilderness, even in our neighbourhoods. Be conscious of that. Wildlife viewing publications.

November 30, 2015. 'Non responders' need to try harder when exercising, study suggests

November 25, 2015. The Norwegian secret to enjoying a long winter: Residents of Norway view their long dark winters as something to celebrate.

The right shoes for the season: Preventing winter falls for seniors "The fear of falling itself can have devastating effects on health. Keeping active is important to maintain health yet most older adults become sedentary in the winter."

Why writers run. Racking up mile after mile is difficult, mind-expanding, and hypnotic—just like putting words down on a page. You can replace running by walking for this story too.

November 10, 2015. Fitter legs linked to a 'fitter' brain

November 8, 2015. YUKON: Millennium Trail – The Yukon's first accessible multi-use trail "This project has sparked enthusiasm at both the city and community level for creating environments that are accessible to all."

Securing funding resources for trail projects continues to be the biggest hurdle, although gas tax money has helped in this regard. When limited funds are available, trail projects tend to lose out to road or sewer upgrades. Concerned groups and individuals [emphasis added by me!] need to make noise to keep bringing active living, and health and wellness considerations back onto the agenda.

Brisk walking: is it better than vigorous exercise for losing weight? This fits into interval training, well discussed in Harvard Special Report on Walking: Interval walking (costs $$; perhaps your local library can purchase it?)

Also Walking: Your steps to health

November 7, 2015. How to learn Class 1 to 4 rock scrambling Interesting. Me I'm good for 1 and 2!

November 3, 2015. Care costs for seniors forecast to more than double by 2026 Keep mobile?

October 28, 2015. Always something we need to be aware of — Getting Lost

October 27, 2015. Walking for health

October 25, 2015. This 81-year-old teaches kids to climb mountains Fabián Zurita started hiking in 1950. Sixty-five years later, he's still introducing city kids to Ecuador's natural beauty and encouraging them to test their limits.

October 22, 2015. Loop Walking Trails updated.

The (pretty much totally) complete health case for urban nature An annotated, chart-filled look at the scientific evidence.

From a recent Harvard Special Report on Walking: Interval walking. For this type of walk, you alternate fast walking for short periods of time with equal or longer intervals of slower or moderate-paced walking to recover. High-intensity interval training has been used for decades by elite athletes to gain a competitive edge, but recent studies show it's beneficial for all levels of exercisers. If you walk at the same pace day after day, your body becomes accustomed to that level of activity, and benefits such as weight loss and cardio improvements start to plateau. Intervals are a fun, easy way to get you out of your comfort zone for just a little while—plus you'll burn more calories and get fitter faster. Intervals are also a good solution to the common "I don't have time to exercise" excuse, since you can accomplish more in less time.

October 11, 2015. Loop Walking Trailsupdated.

October 6, 2015. CANADA WALKS newsletter

October 3, 2015. As I GPS the Chadburn Lake ski trails I became aware that many of the loop trails I've identified in that area use bits and pieces of these. I've identified these and noted for winter users: Please try to walk and snowshoe next to —not on top of — the ski tracks of the Chadburn Lake ski trails. I've identified these in the PDF at Loop Walking Trails

September 29, 2015. I updated the Loop Walking Trails. It's on a separate page now so easier to maintain. I Combined Chadburn Blue north and south to just have one trail: Chadburn Blue. I also saw that there was a wonderful short version that could be done so I made 'A Taste of Blue' loop.

A national model for better streets is suddenly at risk– In challenging the Times Square pedestrian plaza, New York City leaders are showing a profound misunderstanding about the impact of public space. Shows how communities need vision that is not biased. Gee, it's election year in Whitehorse. Federal and municipal. I wonder if walking and community development will make the agenda. Let's see: it's economic and safety so maybe......

Eyes down, minds elsewhere, 'deadwalkers' are among us.

September 26, 2015. Is it better to walk or run in the rain? Fun, but a bit irrelevant as it's snowing here this morning.

September 24, 2015. MOVE is a weekly outdoor fitness program for people in Edmonton to become active beside family physician Dr. Doug Klein and an exercise specialist. It is a great chance to get some physical activity, connect with nature and meet other people working to improve their health.

September 11, 2015. Wayfinding with Lance Wyman A talk with the designer behind some of North America's most famous subways, walkways, zoos—and pretty much any other place people need help finding their way around. What's needed for my loop trail collection is a wayfinding system that promotes Whitehorse, is international in communicating and tells our story in a unique and inexpensive manner; essentially we don't want people getting lost.

September 9, 2015. The CTO of the United States on getting your kid excited about math and science. Watch the videos. Have a read of my Yukon Walking Strategy and you'll see a pretty good fit here.

September 7, 2015. A public consultation process is getting started to develop the Chadburn Lake Park Management Plan. The map on the right shows the loop walking trails in red over each of the 5 OCP parks.

In an effort to provide long term residential and housing options, the City is investigating pre-feasibility for development in the Northeast (across the Yukon River) and Southern (McLean Lake Quarries area) Urban Containment Boundary (UCB) Expansion Areas. These are the two thinner yellow lines on the above map.

September 6, 2015. Quebec doctors can now prescribe exercise Quebec Federation of General Practitioners' initiative allows physicians to order 'exercise cubes'

September 4, 2015. Here's what one group does for their weekly walks. My Loop walking trail booklet can be used for this kind of thing. Today I got the 14 mb PDF to be a balance between size and quality. What do you think?

Why many drivers in China intentionally kill the pedestrians they hit

September 3, 2015. Loop Trail Booklet has a year of hiking, at one trail per week—that's over 320 kms of walking! Eventually more trail names will be added and the file broken apart to allow even higher resolution Google Earth images.

August 28, 2015. Nature Rx Part 1

August 24, 2015. I've now got the next stage of the Loop Trails projectl. It's a Loop Trail Booklet. Very much a draft. 13 test trails in progress of annotationg and seeing how pages could look. Lot's of obvios graphical problems but a start.

August 22, 2015. The end of walking In Orwellian fashion, Americans have been stripped of the right to walk, challenging their humanity, freedom and health

August 17, 2015. Trans Canada Trail's move onto roadways puts spotlight on safety Putting recreational path alongside vehicles called 'perverse'

Loop map is still in process and the current version is online. The index pages are undergoing an update and the rough draft is online. Over 50 loops chosen for first draft!

August 13, 2015. Grizzly and 2 cubs in Copper Ridge/Granger: Conservation Officer twitter

August 9, 2015. ParticipACTION Report card on physical activity for children and youth: The biggest risk is keeping kids indoors

August 8, 2015. Loop Trails Map updated, new Hospital trail added: Breath of Life. Note page 1 is BIG: 65 x 27 inches, 9 MB! But it covers the whole city. Pages 2,3 are 8.5 x 11 and list walking improvements we could lobby for. This document is getting daily updates so is out of date fast. Feedback is certainly wanted.

11 scientifically proven reasons you should be spending less time in the office.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-being-outside-in-nature-is-healthy-2015-6#ixzz3iFBTLFSX

August 7, 2015. Loop Trail Map now has start of fixes showing. These are places to better walking opportunities.

August 7, 2015. The Loop Trail Map will shortly show places that need walking fixes.

When walking was a spectator sport A brief history of Pedestrianism.

Trail Closure Notice: Upper Airport Trail to be closed from Alaska Highway to the top of the Black Street Stairs effective August 24 - 31, 2015 inclusive. All trail users should use Two Mile Hill as the alternate route. City crews will be replacing a portion of the trail and repaving as required. Any questions should be directed to Parks and Community Development at 668-8325 or parks@whitehorse.ca

August 3-5, 2015. Loop Trail Map: Working on making Loops and Loop identification clearer. Added Valerie Lakes Trail.

August 3, 2015. Again the Loop Map is updated. Reorganized Riverdale trails around dam/Hidden Lakes. Added a couple.

August 1, 2015. Again the Loop Map is updated. This was to show non-loop trails better.

July 30, 2015. Loop Map updated. Started preliminary trail names, and added them and distance into the loops. Added a few more loops.

Welcome to the quietest square inch in the U.S. Where are Whitehorse's quiet spots?

July 29, 2015. I merged the two Loop Trail Maps. Started to break the map into regions.

A bear risk assessment for Yukon Place talks about bear activity in part of the middle McIntyre Creek area and what the college can do to help. Consider filling out this very quick survey on McIntyre Creek Park recreational use.

July 28, 2015. I've made a new version of the Smaller Loop Trails Map using my base Walking in Whitehorse map. I've added in a numbering/naming scheme for the loop trails. Does this work? Hmmmm. (Click here for the Longer Loop Trails Map)

July 26, 2015. #16: Grey Mountain Rd./Lakes Trail/Blues Brothers 11.7 km added to the Loop Trails Map. I've also started a version showing smaller loop trails. Pretty experimental at present. Comments?

Edmonton's entomologist explains why mosquito season is on hold

July 24, 2015. L.A.'s Most Ambitious Walking Tour Who says no one walks in L.A.? Great idea!!

July 17, 2015. #15 Wolf Creek/Transcanada/Swanstrom/train tracks 12.7 km added to the Loop Trails Map

July 11, 2015. As Crestview works to modify its beaver dam here's some beaver reading: The beaver restoration guidebook – working with beaver to restore streams, wetlands, and floodplains

July 9, 2015. My latest addition to a Loop Trails map is here. Thoughts?

#1 Porter Creek/Stinky Lake/College Pond Loop: 9.1 km
#2 Whistle Bend/Range Point/College Loop: 10.5 km
#3 Ski Club/Porcupine/24 Hour Loop: 10.4 km
#4 McIntyre/Arkell – ridges and wetlands Loop: 11 km
#5 Copper Ridge Loop: 8.8 km
#6 Paddy's Pond/Ice Lake/Rock Gardens Loop: 10.0 km
#7 Airport Perimeter Trail: 8.0 km
#8 Waterfront/Clay Cliff Trail/Millennium Trail Loop: 10.75 km
#9 Hospital/Long Lake Loop: 8.1 km
#10 Schwatka Lake/Yukon River/Miles Canyon Loop: 13.3 km
#11 Hidden Lakes/ Chadden Lake Loop: 14.6 km
#12 Chadburn Lake/Yukon River Loop: 15.0 km
#13 Canyon City /Yukon River/Chadburn Loop: 12.7 km
#14 Wolf Creek/Yukon River/ Pineridge Loop: 10 km

Have a look at this for loop trails or some of these Irish trail publications. We have a ways to go!

July 8, 2015. Citylab: It's all part of the city's struggle with its role as a tourism hotspot. "To preserve the character of exactly what your city is selling, you have to balance hunting down tourism profits with maintaining a good quality of life for locals. The most important part of finding this balance is of course that it makes locals' lives better, but it also helps to preserve the uniqueness of a city from death by overexploitation." I say that we need to make walking better for residents; tourists are a value-added aspect to being a great walking place.

July 4, 2015. Places to walk, guides, maps has a start of showing some longer ( mostly about 10 km or more) trails.

June 22, 2015. Let me try to see about identifying some longer trails. The Policy manual of the American Volkssport Association gives a look at what international attractions talk about:

  1. A short distance walk must be a minimum of 10 kilometers (km) and less than 20 km in length. Along with the short distance walk, a minor distance walk (minimum of 5 km and less than 9 km) may be offered. A checkpoint must be located on the minor distance walk. The minor distance walk must be laid out as a circular route with the start and finish at the same location. Permitting the minor distance to be walked twice in lieu of a 10 km walk is not allowed. The minor distance walk is allowed on Year Round and Seasonal Events.
  2. A medium distance walk must be a minimum of 20 km and a maximum of 30 km in length.
  3. A long distance walk must be more than 30 km and must be approved by the AVA National Headquarters.
  4. A marathon must be 42 km in length.

June 15, 2015. Green spaces are linked to improved memory and focus in children

May 29, 2015. The waymaker "Strauss is a consultant for municipalities and non-profit groups on land preservation and the creation of hiking and biking trails from old rights-of-way, and few of the projects he works on are simple."

May 27, 2015. I'm updating my Make Walking Better map.

We've heard of Rails2Trails. Here's Rails-with-trails: Lessons learned – Lliterature review, current practices, conclusions

May 26, 2015. As we walked on one of our trails today and saw the ATV damage, I wondered if other jurisdictions have this problem. Found this interesting publication Wetland Trail Design and Construction, one of many publications from the US Department of Transportation's Recreational Trails Program

May 22, 2015. What to do when you're hit by a car It's scary and unimaginable, but pedestrians and cyclists must know how to react if it happens to them—or to someone else. American, but interesting to read.

May 19, 2015. Another fact of life here: Human-Bear Conflict, Whitehorse and Southern Lakes

May 17, 2015. To explore: Making an interpretive hike on Sima

May 15, 2015.Off-road vehicle regulation consultation The deadline for comment submission is June 22, 2015.

Just sent in my input to the Whitehorse Corridor – Alaska Highway project: My submission is in 3 parts: Input, Map, and highway intersections.

I hope I've made the case that active transportation walking is different than recreational walking, and that the pedestrian guidelines don't seem to capture this. It should come down to Whitehorse is an active living place and the highway has the potential to encourage more walking, or to discourage it.

May 7, 2015. In Paris, plans for a Seine reinvention – Mayor Anne Hidalgo has announced an "almost philosophical project" to take the famed river's quayside back from cars. "All this is part of a comprehensive policy in which we assume very deliberately that there will be fewer cars in Paris. Therefore in calculating the flow of spillover traffic I don't project myself into a world where there are as many cars as today. Objectively that will no longer be the case." Now compare this to the city's desire to put a road thru McIntyre Creek and YG's plan to double the highway through town to relieve the terrible vehicle congestion.

May 6, 2015. As I look at these various city plans as a walking advocate, I'm reminded of this line from Leading from the Emerging Future: From Ego-System to Eco-System Economies by C. Otto Scharmer, Katrin Kaufer: "Since the governance mechanisms of a 3.0 society give power to organized interest groups, they systematically disadvantage all groups that cannot organize as easily because they are too large (e.g., consumers, taxpayers, citizens) or because they do not yet have a voice (future generations)." Let me add walkers to the list. For the more curious, here's table 2 from the book.

May 4, 2015. Input to the Sustainability Plan's Ideas for Action items (May 4, 2015)

Apr. 30, 2015.Whitehorsewalks.com submission to the proposed update of the city's Sustainability Plan from the viewpoint of a walker.

Apr. 29, 2015. Running into old age. While about running, I'd hazard a guess that walking is also covered: "Even for the adults who haven't exercised in years or even decades, research suggests that late is still better than never."

Or, Walking for a better brain. "what we're finding is that of all of these noninvasive ways of intervening, it is exercise that seems to have the most efficacy at this point—more so than nutritional supplements, vitamins and cognitive interventions ... The literature on exercise is just tremendous." — "Anyone can walk," Weston said in 1910. "It's free, like the sun by day and the stars by night. All we have to do is get on our legs, and the roads will take us everywhere."

Apr. 27, 2015. How do we protect New York City's pedestrians? The goal was to determine how to make the intersection safer for pedestrians without significantly reducing the almighty "level of service."

Apr. 24-27, 2015. On Alaska Highway Corridor pageI just updated the Highway intersections map. The latest version also shows the distance between intersections; also added this to the a few sample longer walks map which will get more issues added. I also added the distance between intersections to the 3 background maps.

Apr 23, 2015. On Alaska Highway Corridor page my latest highway-focussed map looks at a few sample longer walks, 10-15 km, that people would need to cross the highway to do ( it's very much a draft map: green is OCP Park; Zoning: Tan is future development and purple is FN future development). Obviously our city's goal is an active healthy population that can often walk to recreational opportunities. Intersections need to be walkable. What I hear is the project is overkill. 7 lane intersection for Hillcrest as an example. Let me know if there are other intersections that need special help for pedestrians.

Are we a creative class city? Do we aspire to that? Would this balance being in an extraction class territory?

Two interesting books: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail", by Cheryl Strayed "It had nothing to do with gear or footwear or the backpacking fads or philosophies of any particular era or even with getting from point A to point B.

It had to do with how it felt to be in the wild. With what it was like to walk for miles with no reason other than to witness the accumulation of trees and meadows, mountains and deserts, streams and rocks, rivers and grasses, sunrises and sunsets. The experience was powerful and fundamental. It seemed to me that it had always felt like this to be a human in the wild, and as long as the wild existed it would always feel this way." ― Cheryl Strayed, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail"

Born to Walk, by Dan Rubinstein "Because we tend to rush around so much in our lives, from place to place and appointment to appointment, time shrinks. Walking allows you to have these meaningful and memorable experiences. It gives you time to figure things out."

Apr 21, 2015. I've updated the Alaska Highway Corridor page with 2 more maps: one showing the city's future development ideas and industrial areas, the other showing the 5 OCP parks.

Jane's Walk is a movement of free, citizen-led walking tours inspired by Jane Jacobs. The walks get people to tell stories about their communities, explore their cities, and connect with neighbours. Wouldn't it be neat if people led walks in the city that used intersections on the Alaska Highway where no pedestrian crossings are proposed!

More on trails: Cross Country Yukon – $20,000 – To complete engineering designs and cost estimates to pave five km of existing trails at Mount McIntyre Recreation Centre. The project will also include the development of project financing, management and maintenance plans.

Apr. 20, 2015. Only 7 out of 46 intersections proposed for the Alaska Highway widening project accommodate pedestrians. Can we change this?

I submitted feedback to the city's draft Economic Development Strategy. I have this crazy idea that walking in Whitehorse could be an economic driver. After all, we just came back from walking in Spain; last year Turkey; before that Isle of Man, Isle of Wight, Hadrian's Wall, Wales — I'm sure we added to their economies.

Apr 18, 2015. As a community that needs some concept of a walking culture I look at Toronto's program of community involvement and their Volunteer Now opportunities. Our much smaller city obviously can't afford their efforts, but they could try to involve residents in stewardship at level much broader than a couple of trail-focussed groups.

Apr 16, 2015. Just when you think you know the consultations happenings that affect walking! Strategic Sustainability Plan Update is in process, coming to council May 4.

To Mayor and Council: A new bridge at Whistle Bend "I sent a version of the attached document in February but I fear it was lost in the frustrations of listening to competing views.

I wanted it to reflect a new approach, as a project that makes sense on its own merits, not as a counter to protecting the Millennium Trails non-motorized character. I also noted that I had left off the city limits on the front page map. This is important since it gives a sense of the area motorized recreational vehicles travel as they recreate.

I feel my idea has merit and want it to be considered in the light of having the Rotary Centennial Bridge affirmed as non-motorized, and some motorized people as frustrated as to what to do.

Thanks for your consideration. There is an incredible opportunity to do a lot for the city. I look forward to discussing aspects of this with you."

Apr. 13, 2015. Yet more city stuff: Council adopted the 2015 Action Plan for the Whitehorse Trail and Greenways Advisory Committee.

Input to the Parks and Public Open Space Bylaw; Input to the Whitehorse corridor functional plan.

Apr 12, 2015. Trail-Fit (12 classes~$155) Tuesdays and Thursdays, May 12 – June 18 5:30–6:30 pm; Riverdale intake parking lot & Millennium Trail more...

Apr. 10, 2015. Busy time for walking things. Here's a few on-going processes.

Apr. 4, 2015. Smothering a problem with money An interesting take on alternate uses for $200,000,000 than making a high speed bypass for traffic going past Whitehorse.

Mar. 24, 2015. You know where they're doing an amazing job tracking infrastructure? The Yukon
A sparsely populated Canadian territory is beating out big-city interactives with a public-engagement plan combining the best of high and low tech.

I emailed the project contact person: "I've been working on trying to improve community walkability. So at first glance I don't see much on crossing on foot. I assume traffic lights will also have pedestrian aspects, but what about crosswalks, safety islands? There are many informal highway crossings on foot."

The answer: "Pedestrian crossings will be provided at signalized intersections. The signals at 15th Ave will be pedestrian activated. Safety islands will be provided as shown on the Functional Plan drawings."

The project folk provided a PDF containing all 54 segment maps and I've posted a reduced filesize version. And to save looking: there are traffic lights at: South Access, Hillcrest Dr, Two Mile Hill, KK, Birch/15th, Wann Rd, MacDonald Rd.

So what does this say to any idea of encouraging walking in Whitehorse? If we wish to cross the highway at other than approved crossings are we going to be encouraged to drive a car? Stay tuned....

Mar. 10, 2015. Friend of Aston's Eyot. I'm in Oxford, UK and came on this little space by the river. Nice to walk thru, even with a kid asleep in a stroller! Neat model of a neighbourhood park.

Mar. 4, 2015. Finally a chance to work on the legend page for the Walking in Whitehorse maps. I'll bump an earlier entry here... Walking. I've been working on the next set of maps to promote walking. Whitehorse is big and offers a lot of places to walk, and as a walking advocate, I see lots of things to think about. Basically I'm trying to encourage more people to walk here — locals and tourists.

So here's 4 maps. They are fairly detailed prototypes: 65 x 28 inches ~7-8mb. Don't try to print them, just zoom in using the PDF zoom tool. Start with areas you know, like your neighbourhood, then explore. Observations, corrections are very welcome. Improvements will come as I get time to update them, time to walk other parts of the city.

Think about trails which you've hiked, which ones you'd recommend that visitors can safely do. If we ever get the community energy to have a walking festival here, which walks would you recommend?

Mar. 1, 2015. Fictional dementia evokes the harsh reality, KATE TAYLOR: "lJay Ingram, the Canadian science writer and broadcaster, has just published The End of Memory, a natural history of Alzheimer's, and he has found that people always have three questions for him: Will I get the disease? Is there anything I can do to prevent it? And, if I do get it, what will it feel like? He has responses to the first two – including "walk 40 minutes a day" – but nobody can give a definitive reply to that last one."

Feb. 18, 2015. My submission to the discussion on motorizing the Rotary Centennial Bridge: An alternative to motorizing the Rotary Centennial Bridge

Also on this topic... Whistle Bend: This new area of the city should be a model of non-car-centric planning, a walkable community. More recently for YESAB: A walker's look at Whistle Bend

Feb. 16. Pan AM Path. Watch the video. Must be big budget but then in Whitehorse we seem to take on big projects with much smaller budgets. Lots of interesting concepts: built for Torontonians but tourists will like it; linking suburbs to downtown; arts; getting people moving; mingling.... See their Project overview.

Feb. 15, 2015. Motorized recreation vehicles feel trapped by not being able to cross the river. An alternative to making the Rotary Centennial Bridge motorized would be to build a wider version of this bridge at Whistle Bend. Access would be using the motorized vehicle trail network past Long Lake. The bridge would link the motorized trails on both sides of the river. Check the Making walking better map I posted yesterday for a better sense of this. This could be a win win situation.

A bridge at Whistle Bend was suggested during the Whistle Bend Charrette process. Area residents will gain access to green space and river trails, something the 7-8000 people living there will want. It will certainly make lots more desirable.

A curiosity. Just which trails would you recommend to a tourist? Well marked, hard to get lost. Assume they have a degree of being safe in the wilderness, are bear aware. (See my New to walking Whitehorse trails? page) Here's a start:

Hmmm... pretty short list. Have to think about this.

Feb. 14, 2015. Walking. I've been working on the next set of maps to promote walking. Whitehorse is big and offers a lot of places to walk, and as a walking advocate, I see lots of things to think about. Basically I'm trying to encourage more people to walk here — locals and tourists.

So here's 4 maps. They are fairly detailed prototypes: 65 x 28 inches ~7-8mb. Don't try to print them, just zoom in using the PDF zoom tool. Start with areas you know, like your neighbourhood, then explore.

Legend and overview coming next. Observations, corrections are very welcome. Improvements will come as I get time to update them, time to walk other parts of the city.

Think about trails which you've hiked, which ones you'd recommend that visitors can safely do. If we ever get the community energy to have a walking festival here, which walks would you recommend?

If you've not read it, my Yukon Walking Strategy is a part of my motivation for making these maps. There's lot's of interesting opportunities around making and maintaining our walking trails.

Feb.. 9, 2015. 'Permission to stop, think and dawdle.' An outdoor experiment in problem solving.

Jan 25, 2015. What's up with that: building bigger roads actually makes traffic worse Do we really need to make our Whitehorse roads bigger?

Jan 24, 2015. Walking holidays: 20 great country walks: These routes were meant for walking The Ramblers aims to help everyone, everywhere, enjoy walking and protect the places we all love to walk in. It is the only charity dedicated to looking after paths and green spaces, leading walks, opening up new places to explore and encouraging everyone to get outside and discover how walking boosts your health and happiness.

Jan. 13, 2015. Five simple ways to help your child get into the wild "Rather than choosing iPads over frogs or Twitter over the lonely song of a robin in January, I hope we can still enrich ourselves with both. As a parent of young children, I'm interested in the practical ways we can reforge our bonds with nature, given the constraints of modern life." This is one pillar of my walking strategy.

Jan. 4, 2015. How will you work out when crossfit is no longer hip? That means walking, running, biking, swimming, lifting weights — activities without gimmicks. While they might be common and too pedestrian for some, they're cheap, easy and manageable on your own. Let's see the new trends top that.

Jan. 1, 2015. Icefield discovery camp

Peter
pjl at whitehorsewalks period com