http://www.walkcapebreton.com/
 

The Cape Breton Island Hoppers is a registered non-profit organization composed of people from all parts of Cape Breton Island who enjoy the outdoors. We recognize that walking is a simple but effective form of exercise that enables us to discover the beauties of our island while increasing our personal health.
 

Volkssports and volksmarching [people walking] is what we call our activity. It is one of four 'volkssports' [sports for all people] supported and sanctioned by the Internationaler Volkssport Verband (IVV), or International Federation of Popular Sports, based in Germany, where members of the Canadian Armed Forces first encountered volksmarching. The other sports are swimming, cross-country skiing, and cycling. Our club is affiliated with the Canadian Volkssport Federation (CVF), which is the national body. There are other clubs such as ours right across the country. The CVF is in turn affiliated with the IVV and joins other national clubs in countries like the USA, Australia, and Finland, to name but a few.
 

The CB Island Hoppers is the only island wide walking club. We walk in all four counties of the Island, in such places as Middle Head Ingonish, Uisge Ban Falls near Baddeck, Port Hawkesbury, Gull Cove near Gabarus and we have hiked in Cape North on the Money Point Trail, the most northerly part of the island.The CB

We have also attended walk events in other Atlantic provinces; one of the first walking events we attended as a club was the Confederation Bridge walk in May 1997, from PEI to New Brunswick. 
Most of our walk events are usually of about 2 to 2.5 hours' duration and the distance covered is a minimum of 10 kilometres or about 6.25 miles; optional five kilometre or one hour events are now available for those who don't feel up to the full 10km walk.

Our scheduled  Guided Walks (GW's) and Year Round/Seasonal Events (YRE's) programs take place regularly at about two week intervals, usually on Sunday afternoons with some exceptions for holiday and special walking weekends.

 

Start Points for **Year Round Events from 02 Jan to 31 Dec 2009:

Sydney, Cambridge Suites Hotel, 380 Esplanade, B1P 1B1 (A CVF Cenotaph Walk)

North Sydney, Clansman Motel, 9 Baird Street, B2A 3M2 (A CVF Cenotaph Walk)

Start Points for Mid-Seasonal Walk Events from 05 May to 28 October 2009

Baddeck, Telegraph House Hotel, 479 Chebucto Street B0E 1B0 (A CVF Cenotaph & Lighthouse Walk)

Louisbourg, Pecks Store, 2 Wolfe Street B1C 2J2 (A CVF Cenotaph & Lighthouse Walk)

Glace Bay, CO-OP Gas Bar, 99 Reserve Street, B1A 4W3 (A CVF Cenotaph Walk)

 

** The year-round and mid-seasonal events are also available as self - guided walks to be done whenever you have the time and/or the inclination. These YREs, as they are known, are also found in every Canadian province, all 50 states, and many countries around the world; so you could, if you wish, incorporate them into your vacation plans.  Indeed, many volksmarchers plan their vacations around walking events in areas they have not yet visited.

 
 

Volkssporting is a safe and healthy walk program for everyone.
One of the mottoes of the CVF is " Fun, Fitness and Friendship." That just about says it all. We walk to improve our fitness; we do it because it's fun and we meet new friends along the way. Most importantly, volksmarching is non-competitive. We recognize milestones such as the number of walks completed and distances walked, but these accomplishments are achieved at your own pace-if you don't feel like walking today, that's your choice; no one will try to coerce you. Across Canada, throughout the United States, and in more than 25 countries around the world, unique opportunities are available for safe, healthy exercise, without the stresses of speed and the strain of endurance. A distinctive hallmark of volkssports is that all participants who successfully complete the event of their choice at their own pace (with special provisions allowing the physically challenged to participate) are recognized as "winners"!