User:Katieiv/Hiking Day

Hiking Day is a well known term created and used by the people of the Northside of the Sydney Harbor in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. "Hiking Day" refers to Victoria Day which falls on the Monday of the long weekend in May. Victoria Day is only celebrated in Canada to commemorate the Queen Victoria's birthday. Many other names have been established for this long weekend in May such as May Two-Four however, the term "Hiking Day" will only be found on the North-side, on Cape Breton Island to refer to this day. On this day people will be found along the roadsides and trails, walking and biking with their families or friends.

History
Hiking Day was originated by a Physical Education Teacher from the Northside area. It was originally created to get the children who attended the North Sydney school to become more active on their long weekend off. This idea created by a Phys. Ed teacher gained great popularity among students throughout North Sydney, Bras d'Or and Sydney Mines. Students, parents, young children and older adults all started participating in this invented tradition on the May long weekend. Many of the hikers would travel by foot or by bike to George's River and Boisdale. The Old Branch Road, The Quarry, and Haggett's Dairy were all popular places for the hikers to travel to. Many young students who lived in the country where the children from town would travel to, were unaware of this tradition for the Victorian Day holiday. It wasn't until the School System changed over in the 1970's that school age children from the country would be exposed to the popular "Hiking Day" tradition.