Walking a long distance is not such a novel thing. I learned a lot on resources from thru hikers who had walked the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), Continental Divide Trail (CDT) or Appalachian Trail (AT) in the US. There's a lot of good information out there on how to pack your bag, find good shoes and understand and train your body. But there's also a lot of differences.

On the aforementioned trails, you're able to walk until you're tired and then find a place to sleep for the night. ToMo (a name I'm stealing from a Redditor in Montreal) does not lend itself well to that kind of routing, especially on foot. Tree coverage is enough to discretely answer nature's call, but often not enough to pitch a tent.

Advice

Preparing your body

You should be physically prepared to walk 35km in one day with weight on your back. The longest stretches of walking will come in the first half, with one or two sprinkled in the second half, though the route planning is more flexible in the second half.

Additionally, this is not a cheap trip. Between gear, food and lodging, be prepared to spend at least $2,500. Most campsites I booked were around $65/night, hotels will run you ~$150/night on average. You can save a lot of money by bringing your own food but it will add a lot of weight. You will hit a major, well-stocked grocery store at least once every three days, you can also send yourself resupply boxes at different waypoints on the route.

Start by walking every single day, walking 10kms is not hard for the average person. Honestly, walking 35kms is not hard for the average person. The difficult thing is doing it with weight and back-to-back. I was aiming to walk 60kms/week most of the summer.

In the two weeks leading up to the trip, I started ramping up. I did this by actually starting to walk to Montreal.

My official starting point was the CN Tower on Day 1. But I had walked from Biidaasige Park to Bowmanville over a period of two weeks. So my route on Day 1 looked like CN Tower -> Biidaasige Park -> Transit to Bowmanville -> Continue walking to Newcastle.

So here's what my preconditioning looked like

As you can see, I was doing 10kms a day. However, where I failed at this is ramping up. I had one massive day but then everything else was 5-10kms. I paid for this dearly. Ideally before setting off I would have had a few days hitting 20kms. Days 1, 2 and 3 of my actual walk were 20k, 30k and 37k, respectively. My body was not prepared for that!

Here's a good training guide to follow, it's for the Camino de Santiago but applies well to the ToMo

Keep in mind, the ToMo involves a lot of hard surfaces to walk on, much more than the Camino. This is harder on your knees, you will get some relief with gravel shoulders, but still harder on you than a dirt path.

Summary:

• Start walking a lot

• Walk with weight

• Slowly ramp up before you set out

• Be physically prepared to walk 35kms in one day with weight

Preparing your bag

This is one where you can generally follow existing advice from thru hikers. If you're not already a thru hiker, here are a few things that really helped me out.

Get a cheap bag to start

This could be something you already have, it could be something cheap off of Marketplace. You will wind up replacing this (most likely) so don't overthink this one. Aim for something in the 40-50L range. Less will probably be too small, more will encourage you to overpack. You can start to gather gear and put it in your bag and walk around with that. You'll figure out what needs to be improved as you go.

Start figuring out what you need

You will probably hate that bag and jump to get a new bag. You'll see ultralight (UL) stuff on YouTube and Reddit. But don't rush to buy anything yet! My tent was light but not UL. My sleeping bag was UL and I added a liner to help improve the warmth. Both I got off of Marketplace. Personally I chose to spend my money on getting a great bag and great boots and then I cheaped out everywhere else. The cheapest thing you can do here is to just decide to not bring something. Lots of great "what not to bring" videos on YouTube for this.

Learn how to pack a bag

There's lots of guides online for this. Broadly, limit the things outside of the bag. Heavy things should be in the middle of the bag, close to your back. Light things should be on the bottom, ideally forming a nice base so it can stand on its own.

Go to a store to buy a bag

Get properly fitted for a bag and bring your gear that you're bringing with you. Go to an actual outdoors store like MEC in Canada, REI in the US or some equivalent local outfitter that knows what they're doing. Again, you don't necessarily need ultralight. My bag is a whopping 4.2lbs. It's so well designed to carry the weight I brought with me that I didn't really feel the 25lbs I was carrying on my back every day.

Get a sit pad

This seems like a dumb purchase, I wound up using it at least twice a day. It's great for having a clean surface to do first aid. I used it to dry my feet during rest periods and not have to worry about getting dirt on my sweaty feet. It was also good for, well, sitting. If you have an old foam pad you can also just cut that up, it doesn't need to be purpose built to be a sit pad.

Use trekking poles

These made a bigger difference than I would have expected. You don't necessarily feel the benefit as you use them. But if you walk for 5kms with them and then try to walk 5kms without, I personally noticed a difference in how my back felt (because of posture) and how much harder it was to do inclines.

Gaiters will save your feet

There is a ton of gravel on this trail. Your boots will have gravel in them within 30 minutes, likely immediately if you're using trailrunners.

Gear differences between ToMo and PCT/AT/CDT

• You don't need a complex water filtration system, you'll rarely use it and you probably will only need it to get an extra litre or two

• If you plan to eat at restaurants you don't need to bring a cooking system. I ate Clif bars to hold me over between big meals.

• Broadly, this route is closer to the Camino since it goes directly through small towns and cities. Most PCT/AT guides will assume you're not going to see civilization for a while and you need to deliberately go off course. So keep that in mind for your gear.

• You don't need to worry about bears, but there are other critters (see post here)

• You probably don't need a satellite system. I don't recall ever being out of service. Service was bad enough that I couldn't load Google Maps every now and then, but never bad enough that I couldn't make a call. Rogers also now offers a service for $15/mo with no contract, called Rogers Satellite. It works via e-sim, so if your phone supports it, then you're good to go. Other networks in Canada are launching similar services but that was the only thing that was available to me.

At the end of this, I've added a section that outlines everything I brought with me. Do what is right for you. You might find it necessary to bring something that I didn't, and vice-versa.

Preparing your route

I put together a spreadsheet (which I've attached in this post) that had my starting and ending point set every single day. Before I left Toronto, I knew exactly where I was staying every single night.

I'd highly recommend doing the same. Some places you'll stop you won't find another lodging location for 10kms in either direction. If you show up somewhere and they're fully booked you'll be in a world of hurt.

Use the Waterfront Trail and La Route Verte's interactive maps, use Google Maps and Google Street View to figure out where you're going to go. Be sure your route factors in where you can get water, food and rest in general. When you're simulating the trip, you may find a good starting and stopping point and then you realize you don't know where you'll get food. The detour to get food now adds 10k so you actually can't get as far as you wanted to.

It took me several iterations of my route before I landed on something that worked well for me. Even then, I wound up re-working my second half route once I hit Kingston. So strong recommendation to book a refundable reservation where possible, especially for the latter portions of the trip.

However much you plan to walk in a day you will certainly wind up walking more. Days where I expected to walk 15k wound up being 20k. 30k days wound up being nearly 40k. Factor that in when planning your route, don't push yourself too much, especially in the beginning.

As you've probably figured by now, this is not the spontaneous kind of trip that you can just do on a whim. Planning is very important.

Water

The long distance trails have lots of water access points, despite ToMo running along the Waterfront Trail, the water access points are few and far between. Streams that you do come across are often below a bridge that makes it hard to access or completely surrounded by fenced in private land. You do come across public beaches or parks along a creek but they're inconsistent enough that you'll want to bring a lot of water with you. Many public parks, libraries or town halls in towns will have water refill locations.

Between Toronto and Kingston I would suggest carrying four litres of water when you set out, especially once you pass Cobourg. Between Kingston and Montreal, you could drop to three litres of water, some days allow you to just carry two. I would suggest always having at least two litres on you. I'll go over this more in the "My Gear" section, but I brought a water filter and purifier tabs with me. I only used the filter once and the purifier tabs twice, they're lightweight enough that I don't regret bringing them.

For water bottles I used 1l Smartwater bottles. These are the go to for thru hikers because they're lightweight, durable and extremely easy to replace. I do not recommend getting one with the sport cap, they break incredibly easily and may cause you to lose water.

I would also recommend bringing a smaller water bottle, around 500ml, it's more important that it's short. This can come in handy if your only water refill is a small washroom or kitchen sink. You can use that to transfer water from the sink into your bigger bottles.

Food

I would have 1-2 large meals per day at a restaurant. In my bag I kept trail mix (peanuts, raisins and M&Ms), dried pepperoni sticks (the ones that don't require refrigeration), freeze dried mangoes and Clif bars. This was enough variety for me that I didn't really get tired of it. I found myself really craving salads and fruit at the end. So much so, that for the first time in a decade, I took a trip to Montreal without eating any poutine. The last few days of the trip, I ate some watermelon chunks from a grocery store nearly every night.

Doing your business

First, #1, you'll be peeing in the trees a lot. The tree coverage comes and goes. So if you see a private-ish spot and you feel like you have to go, just go. You might not have another chance for an hour. There are a decent amount of port-a-potties and public washrooms along the way but they're not spread out evenly, so don't count on them. Depending on your anatomy, something like a Shewee might be a good idea, you can pick one up at MEC.

Second, #2, I did bring a trowel with me for going in the woods. However, I never wound up using it. The tree coverage is usually good enough that you can discretely pee, but it'd be much harder to squat. I'd recommend understanding your body on this one. Personally I have to go every morning after I eat and have coffee. So every single morning, before I left, I would go to Tim's, eat a hearty breakfast and not leave until I went to the washroom. If I had another big meal in the middle of the day, I similarly would not hit the trail again until I used the washroom. That worked for me, do what works for you.

La Route Verte has a lot more public washrooms along the route. During work hours (Mon-Fri, 9-5) you can also check the map for municipal/town/city halls and libraries. Libraries usually have better hours. Many will also be good for refilling a water bottle.

Importantly, bring toilet paper and hand sanitizer. I frequently encountered port-a-potties that did not have either.

On The Trail

The Waterfront Trail covers most of the Great Lakes in Ontario. The eastern end of the trail is right at the Quebec border where the trail becomes La Route Verte (route 5). Both organizations have interactive maps that are helpful for figuring out your route. They're both just okay at finding services along the way.

Navigation

Both trails are well marked. The Waterfront Trail will have signs indicating when to turn and sporadically puts signs in rural areas. Urban areas have more frequent signage. Studying your route before you leave each day is crucial. The Waterfront Trail is sometimes mere metres away from Lake Ontario or the St. Lawrence. At other times you can't see water at all. Understanding what to expect for the day will help you with navigation.

You'll likely wind up using your mapping software of choice along the way. I was using Google Maps. The walking directions on Google Maps are pretty garbage, especially over longer distances. It will never tell you to do something illegal (like walk on the 401) but it may give you weird detour instructions. There's one bit before you go into Brockville where, instead of just continuing on the highway, it sends you about 5km north, then east for a bit, then back south. So use your intuition, don't blindly follow Google Maps. Sometimes switching to driving instructions with "Avoid Highways" enabled will help you test whether something is a real detour.

Depending on how you planned your route, you may have to go off of the Waterfront Trail. I skipped past Prince Edward County and the Long Sault Parkway because they were too big of detours. I instead just continued walking along Highway 2 which is not officially part of the trail. I also found some neighbourhoods I could walk through that paralleled Highway 2 without adding too much of a detour but making the walking experience better.

What it's like

Walking along a highway sounds like it would be dangerous. In my experience, I felt safer walking along Highway 2 (on the shoulder, opposite traffic) than I do crossing some intersections in Toronto, Kingston or really any of the outskirts of the medium sized cities I visited.

The shoulders are pretty wide, people are already used to seeing cyclists and in my experience 99% of people attempt to give you extra space if there's no oncoming traffic. You will have people staring at you but at least they see you!

I listened to podcasts or music for about 80% of the day. It does get monotonous and the scenery isn't always nice.

Don't expect a lot of shade while walking, if it's a hot and sunny day, it'll be amplified by the road.

My Gear

With this and the next section, use this as reference for what I did and what worked for me. I am a 5'8", 180lb man in decent shape. How you go about this will be different from mine, this is just what worked for me.

This is an incomplete list, just listing the main things/what I remember off the top of my head.

Gear

• Gregory Zulu 55 Backpack

• Keen Targhee Apex trail runners

  • Originally used Salomon X Ultra 360 GTX boots but the toe box was too small and causing me blisters. Bought the Keens in Kingston.

• Salomon Gaiters

  • These were fine, the only thing the outfitters (Trailhead) in Kingston sold, would recommend buying something better online though. Trailhead is a magical place otherwise!

• Woods Trekking Poles

  • The cheapest ones at Canadian Tire

• Quechua (Decathlon) Down Sleeping Bag

  • Rated for 10°C, I'm not sure about the specific model, bought used on Marketplace

• MEC Vector Inflatable sleeping pad

  • Originally using a really cheap Ozark Trail egg shell pad and inflatable sleeping mat. They were horrible. Ordered new gear and my wife brought it to me when she came to visit me in Kingston.

• Sea to Summit inflatable pillow

• Sea to Summit sleeping bag liner

• Patagonia rain jacket

• Rain cover from Decathlon

• Large quick-dry towel

• Small quick-dry towel (for sweat)

• Tilley Hat

• 2x Long Sleeve hooded sunshirt

• 1x regular athletic shirt to change into when in town

• 1x MEC GORP shorts

• 2x pairs of Saxx Quick Dry underwear

  • Washed clothes every night and hung to dry on the back of my bag

• Goodr Sunglasses

• Black Diamond USB-C Rechargeable headlamp

• AirPods Pro

• iPhone

• Garmin Vivoactive 5

• This battery bank and an extra USB-C cable

  • https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0D4YH5RR4?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

• Dry bags from Decathlon

• Dopp Kit

  • Deodorant

    • Don't listen to PCT people, bring this

  • Dr. Bronner's All-in-One soap bar

  • Toothpaste

  • Toothbrush

  • Nail clippers

• First Aid Kit

  • Assembled myself including:

    • Neosporin

    • Moleskin tape

    • Band-aids

    • Blister bandages

    • Rubbing alcohol

    • Safety pins (for popping blisters)

    • Gauze

    • KT Tape

      • Put this on every single morning to help with blister protection and muscle soreness

    • Scissors

    • Hand sanitizer

Consumables

• Nuun and Krono electrolyte tablets

• Freeze Dried Mangoes

• Pepperoni Sticks

• Clif Bars

• Trail Mix

• Bug Spray (I went through a whole bottle of this!)

• Sunscreen

My Route

Generally following The Waterfront Trail in Ontario, La Route Verte in Quebec. I modified it to walk along Highway 2 instead of dipping down into Prince Edward County or taking the Long Sault Parkway.

See the "Final Route" tab here in the spreadsheet (See "Pre-Conditioning Walk" tab for GTA section I walked, non-sequentially but still with my bag).

The Elephant Bus in The Room

There are a few times I wound up taking a bus:

• Port Hope to Cobourg

• Within Trenton

• Within Belleville

• Napanee to Kingston

• Brockville to Cardinal

There were a few reasons I wound up taking buses:

1. Transit is my first love (after my wife and my dog) and I wanted to check out some of these rural routes

2. Napanee to Kingston was the result of me being too injured to walk, I wrote a whole other post about this

3. Scheduling & Safety

As I mentioned before, I found walking in the medium sized towns to be more dangerous than the highway. Some of these towns have busy urban traffic, no sidewalks and lots of turning. People aren't expecting pedestrians there. Taking a bus from the edge of town into downtown helped me feel a bit safer. This also provided some rest as I had a pretty tight schedule.

For the schedule aspect, I had to be back in Toronto on a specific date. I also wanted to be able to rest in Montreal before heading home for at least two days. Brockville to Cardinal was the longest bus I took for scheduling reasons. This was a result of me re-working my plan in Kingston after needing to take a bus from Napanee. I didn't want a repeat of that so taking that bus allowed me to have slightly shorter days of walking in the back half.

Despite all of the buses, I still managed to walk nearly 600k. If you look up Google Maps walking directions from the CN Tower to the Mount Royal Cross, it will say 554km.

Conclusion

Please comment on this post if you feel like I missed something or you're planning to embark on your own journey! Would love to see more people do this walk. It was an experience of a lifetime for me :) I'm working on one final reflection post that I'll post in the coming days.