Stacking The Steps

A nice day for a fire in the gazebo 🔥❄️ we love winter days like this. We've been pretty lucky here in Manitoba with mild tempatures and very little snow. How's the weather where you are? ☃️🌞

Hey everyone, this is Jake! the newest member to stacking the steps! Once Jake gets a bit bigger training will start and he will begin the adventure of a lifetime! 👣🐾🐾👣

Oct,14th, 2025.

We got the worst news a few days ago and it shook us to the core. We took Jade into the vet for what we thought was a intestinal blockage from getting into the garbage but the signs became evident once we got the diagnosis. She refused to eat dog food and drank what little water her kidneys would allow her to take in. Just a week before she was a chunky sassy little butthead. After the vet visit things progressed very quickly she would go outside only to sit in the van like she was ready for her next adventure. Her eyes grew heavy and she began to look very discomforted. She began to refuse her treats, cheese, salmon, or any other of her favourites. In a few short days we knew she was not getting better. Jade came inside that night and insisted on sleeping in the spare room so I quickly grabbed my pillow and my blanket and nestled in beside her for the night. Jade's not normally a cuddler she loves her own space. But that night she pushed in close and we spooned for most of the night the odd tail wag when she woke up beside me before a little shuffle and back to sleep. I thank you so much for that my dear angel it really helped me know you were ready. The next day we called the vet and made an appointment to see if there was anything else, maybe the bloodwork was wrong, how could she have final stage kidney failure. We spent our last day laying in the sun on the front grass by now she was tired of all the sad stares and would go just out of reach of our energy, but still close enough that she didn't leave sight. If we moved she wasn't far behind. We enjoyed the sun and shared our tears and listened to your favorite song "Woke the f**k up" as you tried to howl along with whatever you had left.

Jade no matter what I want you to know that you were the one who saved me from myself many times over. You listened without judgement spoke without fear you kept me safe from everything and inspired me to conquer the world. You gave me strength to begin my healing and the soft fur to soak my tears for years and you inspired thousands to start a journey of their own. Don't fear my little angel the adventure isn't over but I am sorry you'll have to do this part alone for a while. I will find you again friends like you will never be forgotten we will meet again before the end.

With the weather looming over for the next week and camping booked solid, we've decided to head home. With hiking long distance, it's nearly impossible to know when you'll be at a campground, given so many unknown factors like fatigue, injury, or impassible sections - you just never know what the true timeline is, making it difficult to secure a good, legal campsite for the night. We hope to be back later this summer! We'll hit some more trails, and hopefully, we'll bring the whole family this time, so we can all share the experience of the Canadian Rockies together!

This year's hike, we managed to get a whopping 180 km with our feet on the ground during the 10 days of walking we did in the 16 days of being in the mountains, seeing some of the most beautiful views Canada has to offer. The trail systems I walked were kept in pristine condition, with very minimal trash or waste, even for such a high-traffic tourist area.

I can't thank my support driver, Robert Zanussi , enough for coming along and running back and forth for supplies, drop-offs, and pick-ups where camping wasn't available. And Mr. Larry Gutt for tagging along whenever he could, ensuring I had company along the way. It was an amazing journey!

And don't forget, even though the sections of trail we were walking on were well-kept, a little donation can go a long way in helping to keep these trails beautiful and well-maintained - not to mention all those bridges!! That takes time and money for everyone's enjoyment. So, reach out to your local trail systems and see how you can help, or you can donate directly to the Trans Canada Trail @ https://tctrail.ca/join-bens-journey/
and they'll make sure the money is put exactly where it needs to be.

Thanks again for following we hope to see you again later this summer!!

We woke up knowing we had to move camps today, as everything was booked. So we started with a nice hot coffee around the fire and slowly began to pack up around 8:30-ish. I was hoping to hit the trail a bit earlier; it's only 20 km from Banff to Canmore taking the TCT, but with rain looming above, I wanted to get ahead of the weather. By the time we were all packed up and ready to go, it was nearly 10 am.

Jade and I grabbed our bags and water and said our goodbyes for the day. We headed out of the campsite, having to make a little bit of a detour north before we could reconnect with the Trans Canada Trail. This section is called the Banff Legacy Trail. The sights were beautiful; it followed the highway all the way down to Canmore, making it very noisy - not quite the same serenity we were used to, but still just as beautiful. The trail was busy with bikers going back and forth from Banff to Canmore, a few stopping for a quick hello, and others motoring along to reach their destination.

By the end of the walk, the rain had caught up. I had been watching it coming over the mountain, but we had just beaten it as we walked up to the van and jumped in to go to our campsite at Bow River Campground. We hit the store, loaded up on some groceries, went to camp, set up, and then we pitched in and made a nice supper - Larry made the kabobs, and I made the rice. We all sat around the fire and enjoyed our meal before one by one, we all trailed off to bed.

Our plan is to rest here for 2 nights; we were supposed to rest in Banff, but with everything so booked, we just couldn't stay.