Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
Subscription Form

Get notified of the best News

Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
22K Followers
25K Likes
5K Followers
1K Followers
Mountain Life
Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
  • On The Trail

Trail Treatment: How One Hiker Uses The Bruce Trail To Treat Chronic Disease

  • April 25, 2017
  • Mountain Life Media
Total
46
Shares
45
0
1
0
0
0
Total
46
Shares
Share 45
Tweet 0
Pin it 1
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0

words :: Ned Morgan //  illustration :: Dave Barnes.

What comes to mind when you think of the Bruce Trail? A conservation corridor that protects greenspace throughout the country’s most populous region? A place where the biodiversity of the Niagara Escarpment is accessible to everyone? Many of us understand the incalculable value of Canada’s longest public footpath, which celebrates its 50th birthday this year. But what if we added “chronic disease treatment” to the list of the Trail’s benefits—would you believe it?

BRUCEPD

If you think you feel good after exercising outside, you may not know the half of it. Research keeps piling up citing frequent exposure to nature as a proven catalyst for better physical and mental health. But what if hiking the Bruce Trail could accomplish something even more encouraging—what if it could provide therapy for those suffering from chronic disease? According to Karen Kowalchuk, the Trail does exactly that.

Kowalchuk suffers from Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and hiking is more than just a pastime she refused to give up after her diagnosis. It is integral to her ongoing resilience. “The Bruce Trail helped me discover more about PD and how it works with me—what I can do and what I can’t do,” she says. “With PD it’s critical to stay safe. You don’t want to fall. But contrary to what you might think, hiking on uneven and unpredictable surfaces is actually easier for me than walking in a straight line or on a street.”

Parkinson’s Disease impairs the body’s ability to tackle automatic activities such as walking—something we do without thinking twice. So why exactly is hiking over roots and rocks easier than walking on pavement? Kowalchuk explains: “I asked my doctor, ‘Why do I have trouble walking on the road, but not as much trouble walking in the bush?’ It turns out that walking on uneven surfaces requires a kind of constant vigilance and a conscious analysis of sensory input, like surface texture, colour, gradient, etc. When your body processes all this input in this conscious way, it utilizes a different neural pathway—one that isn’t as compromised by PD.”

“Hiking utilizes a different neural pathway—one that isn’t as compromised by Parkinson’s.”

The upshot? The simple act of navigating the Bruce Trail can spur the body to outwit chronic disease. “Hiking increases my body’s ability to cope and compensate,” Kowalchuk adds. “You’ve probably heard the term neuroplasticity; a lot of PD research is around how the body can find another way to do the same thing when the normal route isn’t working. Hiking on the Bruce Trail with its varied and changing landscapes provides a different physical challenge every time, depending on the part of the trail you’re hiking. Although my motor ability is impaired by PD, perhaps I am utilizing some new kind of strategy that allows me to remain surprisingly able to navigate any terrain.”

Kowalchuk is aware that others may not agree that someone with PD should hike the Trail. In fact, she doesn’t know anyone else with PD who hikes. (For extra safety she always hikes with trekking poles and sturdy boots, and as part of a group.)

“I participate in a lot of clinical studies. For many people with PD that I know, their exercise is walking or on a machine at home or in the gym—safe activities. Most people don’t want to put themselves out there. But I feel that they’d be surprised at how good it would make them feel to be outside combining exercise and challenge with the beauty and delight that the Trail offers.”

This final sentence could apply to all of us.

Total
46
Shares
Share 45
Tweet 0
Pin it 1
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • Bruce Trail
  • Health
  • Hiking
  • trails
  • Wellness
Mountain Life Media

Previous Article
  • Mountain Biking

Skye Rider: From Blue Mountain To New Zealand, Skye Follas Chases Her Mountain Bike Dreams

  • April 21, 2017
  • Ben Osborne
View Post
Next Article
  • CLIMBING

The Grandwall Bouldering Cooperative: The Scoop on the Coop

  • April 27, 2017
  • Ben Osborne
View Post
You May Also Like
Mountain-Life-20th-showreel
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • On The Trail
  • Photography
  • Videos

20 Years of ML

  • Editor
  • March 24, 2023
The-High-Route-Kaytlyn-Gerbin-Jenny-Abegg-North-Cascades-High-Route-glacier-hiking
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • Trips & Expeditions
  • Videos

Friday Flick: Alpine Ultra-Run Sufferfest

  • Ned Morgan
  • March 10, 2023
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • On The Trail
  • Photography
  • Stay & Play

Let It Roar

  • Sarah Bulford
  • February 9, 2023
Life-Time-Grand-Prix-gravel-bike
View Post
  • Mountain Biking
  • On The Trail

New Docuseries Profiles the World’s Elite Off-Road Cyclists

  • Editor
  • January 30, 2023
Mountain-Life-Blue-Mountains-stack-winter-2023
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • Ontario
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Trips & Expeditions

ML Blue Mountains Winter-Spring ’23 Issue Out Now

  • Ned Morgan
  • January 6, 2023
Golden-BC-mountain-biking
View Post
  • Mountain Biking
  • On The Trail

Shifting Gears

  • Mountain Life Media
  • December 18, 2022
Nicholas-Spooner-moose-skier-touring-Quebec
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • Photography
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Trips & Expeditions

Vie en montagne Winter-Spring ’22-’23 Out Now

  • Mountain Life Media
  • December 12, 2022
View Post
  • Food & Drink
  • On The Trail
  • Travel

Under the Influence: Oregon (part 2)

  • Editor
  • December 7, 2022
Featured Posts
  • 1
    End of an Era: Another Double Chair Bites the Dust
    • March 28, 2023
  • Skiing at Hudson Bay Mountain in Smithers 2
    Where Eagles Dare
    • March 27, 2023
  • Mountain-Life-20th-showreel 3
    20 Years of ML
    • March 24, 2023
  • Mustang-Survival-WOMENS-HELIX-CCS 4
    Gear Shed: Our End-of-Winter Picks
    • March 23, 2023
  • natural-selection-Redbull 5
    Friday Flick: Natural Selection Tour Highlights
    • March 17, 2023
RECENT POSTS
  • Powder-Highway-BC-ski
    Powder Highway Revisited
    • March 21, 2023
  • AleTrailsSouthernInterior_Vernon_MikeGamble_LookoutTrail_BenHaggarPhoto
    Ale Trails: Southern Interior Part 1, Vernon + Shuswap
    • March 20, 2023
  • Elements-Outfitters-Filson-cabin
    Elements Outfitters Partners with SALTS to Protect Alberta’s Incredible Landscapes
    • March 16, 2023
Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
INSTAGRAM
mountainlifemedia
22K Followers
No one called me Feet Banks back in 1987. In those days, most people called me by my given name—except for my ski buddies, to whom I was known by the most badass moniker to ever schuss the slopes: Twinkle Toes.
We’re celebrating 20 Years of Mountain Life!
From The Gear Shed: Last Monday was the official start of spring, but we know there’s still some winter to be shredded. So ML staff and partners have picked the latest jackets, lanterns, bindings, mugs and drysuits for winter-spring.
Exploring the sights around beautiful Sutton, Quebec with ML creator @adv_bird ❄️🫶
Back on the road with three generations, dancing lifties, best-on-planet pizza and elusive-but-exquisite pow days.
Live It Up EP 24 is out now!
The Southern Interior region of BC holds an ecological cross-section of the province with alpine meadows, arid Douglas fir grasslands, damp cedar and hemlock forests of the Columbia Mountains and the warm expanse of Shuswap Lake.
Do Not Disturb mode activated ✅ #mountainlifer
Conceived by superhuman snowboarder @travisrice, the @naturalselection Tour highlights earth’s premier riders, from big-mountain mavens to Olympians, all competing on the most stoketastic—and unpredictable—terrain known to humankind.
Built upon a shared desire to enjoy, respect, and advocate for Alberta’s incredible landscapes, it was a natural fit for @elementsoutfitters to work with a local conservation organization @saltslandtrust to highlight the province’s rugged beauty and outdoor apparel to match.
Follow

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

No one called me Feet Banks back in 1987. In those days, most people called me by my given name—except for my ski buddies, to whom I was known by the most badass moniker to ever schuss the slopes: Twinkle Toes.
We’re celebrating 20 Years of Mountain Life!
From The Gear Shed: Last Monday was the official start of spring, but we know there’s still some winter to be shredded. So ML staff and partners have picked the latest jackets, lanterns, bindings, mugs and drysuits for winter-spring.
Exploring the sights around beautiful Sutton, Quebec with ML creator @adv_bird ❄️🫶
Back on the road with three generations, dancing lifties, best-on-planet pizza and elusive-but-exquisite pow days.
Live It Up EP 24 is out now!
Mountain Life
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising

Input your search keywords and press Enter.