Welcome to Hike Manitoba!

I’m so glad you’re here.

My name is Jaime Acuna (Manness) and I’m the Owner/Author of Hike Manitoba.

A bit about me: I am an ER/critical care nurse and currently work as a travel RN across Canada. I previously worked for LifeFlight; the provincial critical care aeromedical team and spent almost 15 years at HSC Adult Emergency/SICU. I was also a clinical instructor at Red River College in the Nursing program. I currently have an active scholarship available to an adventurous nursing student at RRC… this will be the fourth year it is offered!

The backstory of Hike Manitoba. Gosh. About 14 years ago I found myself in poor activity tolerance and just a generally unhealthy lifestyle of working, snacking, and sleeping. I also found that the things I had been experiencing and exposed to as a trauma ER/ICU nurse were causing me to feel quite anxious much of the time. This is around the time I learned about vicarious trauma.

Anyhow, I remembered loving adventures we shared as a family when I was young, and wanted to get back to it. I started to hike.

I started to hike in old sneakers and a leftover pack from uni days. I carried enough snacks for a week, not enough of anything related to safety to help myself out of a wet paper bag. I had no idea. I just knew that as the soles of my shoes wore out, I found myself feeling better. I'm still out there as often as possible, these days - the only change is that I'm significantly better prepared to be on the trail.

And now I've translated my love of hiking to Hike Manitoba; a resource to help folks across Manitoba out and exploring the province. What started as one hiking guide has become six. The latest - 79 Trails - covers topics on safety, adventure planning, and trails across the province. Find it in the Hike MB Goods shop!