Lifelong wanderer finds kindness from Nanaimo strangers during latest marathon hike

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Talone’s accommodations on the central Island came entirely by chance and the result of goodwill and some social media exposure.

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He pulled into the Timberlands Liquor Store near Nanaimo Airport late Wednesday evening and asked people inside if a church or fire hall was nearby.

One woman, Bobbie Buckle, instead offered her backyard at her Cassidy home after Talone explained who he was and showed previous coverage he’d received from news and magazines.

It was a chance Buckle was prepared to take.

“I can judge a good person, I can tell that someone’s nice by the way I interact with them,” Buckle said. “Before I’d even got home, I’d already Googled the name and found the story so I knew he was legit in what he said, but he just seemed like a nice person and I try to see the best in people.”

Bobbie Buckle (left) gave up a patch of grass behind her TImberlands home on Wednesday, Sep. 7 to give Ed Talone a safe place to sleep. (submitted photo)

Buckle added Talone left Thursday morning without a trace left behind.

“He’s a very nice gentleman and sometimes you have to take a chance on people,” Buckle added.

She then arranged accommodations for Talone near Departure Bay ferry terminal the following night through the Nanaimo Reddit forum.

Again, Talone was gone the next morning and on the first ferry to Horseshoe Bay to continue his journey, but without a place to stay on the other side.

He called NanaimoNewsNOW late Friday afternoon, excitedly saying he secured a spot to sleep through a friend from 30 years ago who he’d hiked with, who had a friend living in Vancouver.

It means another day of his adventure.

The love of hiking
Talone’s affair with rail trails, camping and the great outdoors started at a very precise moment when he was eight years old.

On May 8, 1966, Talone visited an aqueduct on the C&O Canal near the Virginia-Maryland border with his father and brother, then current and future engineers.

“They’re down under the arch, he’s explaining about the keystone arch and I can see across the aquaduct but I’m not allowed to cross it because there’s no railing and the canal made a hard right turn and I wanted to see what was around the bend and it’s never stopped.”

Around 56 years later and Talone is still putting one foot in front of the other and continues to be inspired by his partner, who he met while hiking more than a decade ago.

Talone said he’s walked over 112,000 kilometres, through around 7,000 towns across North America.

His current mission has him checking off some of the world’s longest rail trails.

Following a quick stop on the Island for the Trans Canada Trail, Talone headed to the Lower Mainland on Friday, Sep. 9 bound for Hope.

From there he will travel by train to Edmonton to link up with the 300-kilometre Ironhorse Trail before stops in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

“I like geographic oddities and while I’m there if I have time, I’m going to do down and do the northwest angle of Minnesota, that little piece of Minnesota that accidentally got stuck in the middle of Canada.”

Ed Talone with Sue Lockwood, a blind hiker he profiled. (submitted photo)

Reason and reaction
On first glance when he’s walking along a road with his full pack, containing a tent, sleeping pad, food, clothes and medical supplies, Talone could easily be mistaken as someone who’s permanently unhoused.

His lifestyle sometimes garners negative reactions.

While speaking with NanaimoNewsNOW for this story Thursday night, a resident located near where Talone was staying for the night approached and aggressively demanded to know more, asserting Talone planned to steal, or start fires.

The situation eventually diffused, but it’s a reality Talone faces daily.

“I understand this is an unusual request (to camp in the backyard of strangers). The only reason I’m glad that stuff I’ve written and has been written about me is on the net, I can quickly tell people who I am and especially with the situation like you have here and in Seattle which is a mess.”

Misunderstandings and stereotypes don’t slow Talone down — he continues striving for what’s around that next corner.

“It’s seeing new places, meeting all the wonderful people I meet unexpectedly. Last night (Wednesday) at dusk I had no idea where I was going to camp and I met the woman who contacted these folks I’m camping with tonight (Thursday).

Talone is retired after spending his working life as an office manager for a non-profit in D.C., a financial investigator for the U.S. federal government and ran a book store at the Smithsonian.

He doesn’t have any kids and lives in Ohio with his girlfriend, who’s also an avid hiker.

Talone also wrote a piece called ‘A Hiker Like Anyone Else‘ which profiled Sue Lockwood, a blind hiker who navigated trails with the help of a seeing-eye dog.

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