Linda Murphy, a 57-year-old real estate agent with Toronto’s Royal LePage, has spent the last seven months hiking across the Pacific Crest Trail, which is over 4,000 km long and equivalent in length and combined elevation to climbing Mt. Everest 16 times.
The trail starts in California near the Mexican border and stretches to the Canadian border in British Columbia. The conditions range from snow-filled, slippery mountains to scorching desert heat, complete with bears, rattle snakes and other animals who see humans as a quick snack.
Linda started her journey in March and expects to finish this month. Averaging 11km per day, she continues her mission for one purpose: she is raising funds to eliminate domestic violence against women and children across Canada.
“I put clients in happy, safe homes,” says Linda, “and I learned through our Royal LePage Shelter that there are thousands of women in unsafe homes.”
Twenty-five per cent of the funds raised are going to her local shelter in Collingwood called, My Friend’s House, while the remaining 75 per cent will be distributed by Royal LePage to shelters across the country.
Linda describes the physical and emotional journey she’s endured to this point.
“The first week was a thrill of my lifetime. By the third week, and for several weeks thereafter, I cried buckets,” she says. “I talked to God more than ever, but the heat, dehydration, extreme climbs to altitudes I’d never reached, limited food supply, natural threats such as rattle snakes, mountain lions, bears, rock slides, snow cliff crossings and the lack of companionship all drew me further into psychological isolation.”
“It wasn’t until the sixth week when I bonded with two awesome women peers that I realized how far down the loneliness rabbit hole I had fallen,” she says. “Within days of hiking, camping and laughing with these women, I bounced back to my old jovial self and soon the ascents didn’t seem so steep, the burning sun not so hot and the hours in the day not so long.”
With an unlimited number of charities that depend on donations, Linda’s reason for picking women’s shelters across Canada seemed like a natural fit.
“I am a realtor, so it’s my job to place people in the safest and happiest of homes I can find for them,” she says. “It seemed like a perfect parallel to my career, to do the same for those who suffer in fear in their own homes.”
Still, a question lingers. What compelled Linda to even attempt the Pacific Coast Trail, when she could easily spend her time comfortably binge-watching Netflix?
“The timing was perfect… our three girls have all now graduated from university, moved out of the house and launched their careers,” she says. “My husband is retired and could handle things at home. My business is well established after 17 years, and I was sure I could ‘afford’ to step out for six months. As for my age, I think I was too busy and active to notice it!”
“But,” she pauses, “to tell you the truth… I think I may have been a bit naïve. Even though I had read all the books, played an active role in a broad social media PCT community and watched every video about trail life that I could find, I think ignorance was a bit blissful. For the year prior to my departure, I was filled to the brim with so much excitement about the fundraising and the wilderness adventure, that I may have underestimated the great degree of discomfort I was about to experience.”
Now, Linda is in the home stretch.
“The trail has tried to beat me up several times, but I just keep coming back at it from a different angle and I will succeed! First, I developed a tooth infection. Next, I acquired a horrible stomach infection.”
For days Linda felt like the walking dead. She suffered from diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea and severe dehydration. Luckily, she was able to get a lift into a small town where a doctor diagnosed her with Giardiasis, popularly known as beaver fever, which is a parasitic disease spread by contaminated food or water.
“Once I recovered from the Giardiasis, I tore tendons in my lower back. Then I was off trail for over a week with a stress fracture in my foot. Any one of these hardships could have sent me home and, indeed, have sent others home. I refuse to throw in the towel until there is no other option.”
Linda resolved along the way “to expect the unexpected and to roll with the punches.” When she first started the hike, she was an absolute purest. She was obsessed with not missing one step of the trail. She now believes that mileage is not the important thing. Her goal is to raise funds and awareness for those who have escaped violence in their own homes.
Whatever obstacles are still to come, Linda is determined she won’t go home until she’s finished. “What I’m doing is nothing compared to what those women have experienced.”
To support Linda’s 4,279 km hiking effort to eliminate domestic violence against women and children across Canada:
www.gofundme.com/hikinghomeforshelter
Follow Linda’s Hiking Home for Shelter Vlog: www.youtube.com/c/lindamurphy
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