Bruce Trail Completed – FINAL PRESS RELEASE
October 2009
After 8 weeks of thru-hiking, and several week-end hikes, barefoot adventurer Wolf Starchild aka Wolfmaan has completed the entire Bruce Trail barefoot.
Starchild, from Niagara-on-the-lake, Ontario is the first person to complete the entire Bruce Trail from Queenston to Tobermory barefoot.
“I pushed and pushed” Starchild said “Most of the upper sections of the trail were just a big blur.” Starchild stating some days he hiked 20 to 30km to get the trail done and slept in his Jeep at the side of the road. 2009 was the wettest summer in over a decade. Starchilds progress was hampered by poor weather conditions most of the summer which forced him to take return home weekends to dry out equipment. Starchild's biggest regret is not taking many photos on the last part of his trip "I was too focused on finishing than taking photographs."
“Arriving at the observation stairs in Tobermory, and passing the Bruce Trail visitor Center was like a homecoming” Starchild remarks. “I walked through the streets of Tobermory dirty, sore, and half asleep. I touched the North Carin and had tears running down my face” An emotional end to a long summers journey.
Less than 2,000 people have completed the Bruce Trail end-to-end since its inception in the 1960's. Starchild is the first person to have completed it barefoot with a media fanfare including articles published in newspapers and magazines as well as various adventure news sites on the internet.
What's next for Starchild? “After completing a book about my trip, Most likely the Appalachian Trail in 2011” he states.
The Bruce Trail Conservancy, the governing body for the Bruce Trail was not available for comment.
