A young man from Sachigo Lake First Nation, Ont. has been inspired to walk 2,080 kilometres across Canada on his way to Fort McMurray, Alta.
Stanley Barkman began his journey on May 9 in Sioux Lookout, Ont., and has now made his way to the Battlefords.
His walk has been to raise awareness and funds for those affected by the devastating wildfires in Fort McMurray.
For much of his journey he has also been accompanied by his cousin David, from Muskrat Dam, Ont., who met up with Stanley on May 11 in Dryden, Ont.
Stanley's father Robert has also been on the journey driving the vehicle that has accompanied them along the highway.
The group has braved the elements and some steep walks along the Trans-Canada Highway to make it into Saskatchewan, leaving the Trans-Canada to go up Highway 11 to Saskatoon, and then moving on to the Yellowhead Highway 16 towards North Battleford.
The group was in North Battleford Saturday evening for a meet and greet at Territorial Drive Alliance Church.
It was much-needed rest for the group who had spent Saturday walking on Highway 16 from Radisson. But according to their Facebook page they were still actually 20 kilometres short of actually making it into North Battleford by foot as of Saturday.
They decided to go ahead with the meet and greet, get some rest and resumed the walk from where they had left off Sunday.
At the North Battleford event Saturday, Barkman told reporters he was inspired to do the journey after seeing coverage of the wildfires that ravaged the northern Alberta community.
"I just went to my dad's office one day to try to see what we could do to help," he said.
The decision was made to do the walk to Fort Mac.
"Just wanting to help out, I guess, any little way I can."
They admit it has been a tough journey at times. "You have your good and bad days," Stanley says.
He admits there were days he felt he could not go on, particularly once he was in Saskatchewan.
The journey has been punishing. While Stanley's feet have held up well from all of the walking, David hasn't been so fortunate.
He's been getting "blisters and sore feet from a lot of walking." The eight-hour days of walking forced him to stop a lot of the time, he says.
Still, he and Stanley are undaunted. David says they "encourage each other to keep on moving forward. Gotta try our best to reach our goal to Fort McMurray."
Stanley is motivated to keep going with the ultimate destination now within reach.
"I already came this far. Too many people are expecting me to reach destinations here and there," he said.
Along the way, they got some further encouragement as another individual, Nathan Walmsley, joined them on the walk.
For Walmsley the journey is one that has personal meaning. His home is Fort McMurray.
"I was downtown, and I watched the fire when it hit downtown," said Walmsley.
He was among the 88,000 people evacuated from the city May 3.
Despite that, Walmsley refused to let the fire get the better of him personally.
He decided to compete in a tae kwon do competition in Winnipeg "for Fort Mac." After that event was over, and after finding out about the Barkmans' journey, he tracked them down and met up with them in Regina to join the walk.
While the Barkmans say they are inspired to help their fellow Canadians, Walmsley's inspiration is to show the resilience of the people of Fort McMurray.
"It's like a 'lose the battle but win the war' thing," Walmsley said.
"For me, it's like the fire may have knocked me down and won the battle, but I'm going to walk back and win the war."
The immediate plan for the group was to head off to Lloydminster along Highway 16. After that, Stanley Barkman said they aren't exactly sure which roads they will be taking but plan to find the best route that will get them to Fort McMurray.
As for how he will get home after he reaches Fort McMurray, Stanley assured reporters it won't be by foot.
"I'm going to fly back," he said.
There are a number of ways to donate to their cause. A GoFundMe page is set up at https://www.gofundme.com/Walk4FortMcMurray. You can send CIBC bank deposits to transit No. 00387, account No. 5459435, name of account holder: L. Barkman, and emoney transfers to [email protected] - password: walking. Direct donations can also be made to Stanley along the journey.
For more information check out his Facebook page at facebook.com/groups/WalkingforFortMcMurray.
