Joey Payeur
Everywhere Angela Smith looked, she was surrounded by natural beauty.
The most beautiful part of her Alberta excursion, though, was how she helped underprivileged kids here in Rainy River District have a better chance at participating in sports.
The Fort Frances resident was one of 16 women and Canadian Tire associate dealer partners from Ontario, B.C., and Quebec who took part in the “Reach the Summits for Kids” eight-day fundraising hike through the Alberta Rockies, which wrapped Saturday.
The group walked more than 80 km in reaching seven different summits in the mountain communities of Banff, Jasper, and Lake Louise in an effort to raise money for Canadian Tire’s “Jumpstart” program.
Smith, who had set a $5,000 goal for herself, blew past that barrier and wound up raising $9,376.60 locally for the program, which provides funding for youth to take part in amateur sports who otherwise could not afford such a venture.
“It was absolutely amazing,” enthused Smith, who said the group “definitely” had surpassed its $100,000 goal, although she wasn’t certain of the total amount as money still is in the process of being collected.
“We’re already trying to figure out what we can do next year,” she added.
Smith stressed her fundraising accomplishment was hardly a one-woman show.
“From the support of the staff at Canadian Tire to the customers to friends and family, it took a team to make that happen,” she reasoned.
Smith put in lengthy hours of working out to get ready for facing the physical demands awaiting her on the high-altitude hike.
“I trained enough for the ability of the trails that we did,” she noted. “As a large group, we had to go at the pace of the entire group so we could stay together.
“But everyone completed every trail and I was not sure that was going to happen at the beginning,” she admitted.
The group got off to a soggy and stuttering start in Banff. A steady rain, combined with a triathlon being held in the community that blocked off the roads they had planned to travel, put the crew on an alternate course.
With their saturated gear and their spirits both heavy, Smith said some crucial motivation was received during a group meeting the first night.
“There was an envelope for each of us with our names on it,” she recalled. “Inside was pictures that had been drawn by schoolkids for us.
“It was a real inspiration and made us feel like, ‘OK, we can do this.’”
The good vibes seemed to permeate the atmosphere surrounding the group, as the weather gods proceeded to smile down on Day 2 with sunny, warm conditions that lasted the rest of the trip.
“Our guides said it was not normally like that at all at this time of year up there,” Smith noted.
“They told us we must have brought the good weather with us.”
Smith said overcoming the psychological test of the journey was more of a battle for the group than handling the impact the hike had on their bodies.
“I found we were able to handle each day OK,” she remarked. “We were worried we’d be more stiff and sore than we were.
“It helped that every day we had different scenery to look at,” Smith added.
“On our day in Lake Louise, we climbed to the top, then came down and had some free time,” she said. “So we went canoeing on Lake Louise.
“Now I can scratch that off my bucket list.”
The ardent hikers each ere outfitted in red jackets and white hats displaying the “Jumpstart” logo.
And the fashion statement proved to be an unexpected boost to the cause.
“The rules of hiking around there is if two groups are on the same trail, the ones going up have the right of way,” Smith explained.
“As we were going up, the hikers that were waiting for us to pass by commented on how big a group we had and asked what ‘Jumpstart’ was about,” she recounted.
“Suddenly, we started getting donations from some people along the way, including one for $100 U.S. and another $50 donation.
“We became ambassadors for ‘Jumpstart’ on the hills,” she noted.
When the group took their last steps of the journey, it was a cauldron of mixed emotions for everyone.
“We were glad it was over but we were also sad it was over,” said Smith.
“We didn’t know each other well when we first got together,” she explained.
“But we really got to know each other throughout the trip and now I’ve got lifelong friendships with these people.”
