My job has required a move to the East Coast, so my personal hiking ambitions have shifted. Unfortunately, Rocky Mountain hiking may have to wait for a few years now, and sectioning the rest of the Great Divide Trail, along with the #1 item on my Trail Bucket List, the Pacific Crest Trail (which I always knew would most likely have to wait until I retire, unless some special circumstances arise).
But being in a remote area of Canada (perhaps the most remote south of the Arctic Circle) has some advantages. There are hikes around that few think about or even realize exist. And we will take lots of pictures and provide a trail report for your benefit! (Most of the following pictures are borrowed from TheClym)
So, without further ado, my bucket list for the next 3 years:
Labrador Pioneer Footpath. The scattered fishing and whaling communities of the Labrador coast had no roads at all for hundreds of years. What they had was a footpath that linked them together for when the seas were too rough to navigate. That footpath is now maintained by the local communities for recreation. Currently about 60kms long (with development currently building a 35km extension from Pinware to Red Bay), we actually plan to do this hike 2 weeks from now as a 6-7 day yo-yo. Information is sparse because few hike it as a thru-hike – mostly dayhikers between towns. We will let you know how it goes!
Gros Morne. Featured in just about any video or photo collage of Newfoundland’s most scenic spots, Gros Morne features a long-range traverse that takes you into subarctic ecosystems at the higher elevations, and takes about 4 days to complete. But because it’s a little further away from us, it will wait until next year.
East Coast Trail. Similar to the Pioneer Footpath, this is a series of intercommunity trails along the east coast of the Avalon Peninsula, near St. John’s – the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador. It currently stretches over 336km, so we will have to work our schedules to do that one – maybe in two parts.
Appalachian Trail – Canadian side. Did you know the Appalachian Trail continues past Katahdin? It does! It winds its way into the province of New Brunswick, and reaches a terminus at the Atlantic Ocean in the Gaspé region of Quebec. Even further, the “International Appalachian Trail” continues, guided by geology, out all the way to Europe. I don’t know about going that far myself, but the Canadian side seems doable, if not maybe doing a special trip down to Maine for a section of the main trail.
To make it a five point list, I will also include Vermont’s Long Trail, clocking in at 439km, though I think that may get pushed off further. We may take another job in the East when this one completes, and if so Vermont will be more accessible after 2025 for us. But it looks sweet and a decent length to complete without taking huge amounts of leave.
Honourable Mention: the Fundy Footpath. There is a trail that winds around the edge of the Bay of Fundy, notorious for the highest tides in the world. It goes up and down ladders and cliffs for 49 km, much like the West Coast Trail out on Vancouver Island. Another trail that will be more accessible once we leave Labrador in 3 years.
If you’re tracking other middle distance thru hikes not too far away from us in the East, let us know!
Just about to the end folks! It has been a go hasn’t it? I had planned to take a friend of mine through two of the best trails in the Canadian Rockies, but instead I got to take my wife on her first multiday backpacking trip, which was even better! Our plan was this:
And if you want to read about how the first 9 days of the trip went, follow these links!
Day 10 dawned behind schedule. Our original itinerary had us bedding down 3 km and 300m above where we were. It doesn’t sound like much, but it was going to lead to the longest hiking day of our trip the next morning. The original plan:
Day 10 – Wolverine Pass to McArthur Creek Camp (Yoho National Park) – 21km, over Goodsir Pass.
Day 11 – McArthur Creek down to our car on the Trans-Canada Highway at Ottertail Trailhead – 15km.
It’s been a bit since I last worked on this report. Here we go again! If you aren’t up to speed, the Great Divide Trail is a stunning thru-hike in BC and Alberta, Canada starting where the Continental Divide Trail ends in Glacier National Park, MT and proceeding north for 600 miles of the wild Canadian Rockies. We didn’t do the whole trail: we only tackled 120 miles of the middle of the trail – Section C – the part that is perhaps hardest to book, though maybe easiest to hike, due to the popular National and Provincial Park trails that are well maintained. To catch you up on our trip so far, read days 5-6 here and follow the links back to our beginning.
When last we left off, we had hiked 6 days and heavily modified our itinerary, adding a camp on the fly using our Garmin Inreach to get family to book a site for us, then using an optional site I had foreseen we might need to get a night in the astonishing Mount Assiniboine basin. But we made it to Banff on schedule!
The plan was to get a hot meal and sleep the night in Banff in a hotel, then hit the trail bright and early the next day up Healy Pass. Like so:
Day 7 – Taxi up to Sunshine again, hike up Healy Pass, over Whistling Pass and camp at Ball Pass Camp (Banff) – probably 23km with two passes.
Day 8 – Ball Pass Camp to Floe Lake (Kootenay National Park) – 21km with a brutally steep ascent to start and end the day.
Day 9 – Floe Lake to Wolverine Pass – 20km over Numa Pass, Tumbling Pass, and Rockwall Pass.
Section C of the Great Divide Trail according to most information is a hair over 200km of hiking trails running through mostly National Parks. I’ve been dreaming about this hike for 3 years, and I finally got to go, despite my hiking partner once again canceling on me, because my wife signed up to go with me! You can read about our first two days on trail here, and days 3 and 4 here.
The story so far: no plan survives contact with the enemy. So far we had made changes to our itinerary almost every day. But thankfully we had only fudged one campground (and that was only because Parks Canada said the campground was fully booked when it was empty!) Today (spoiler alert!) would return us to our schedule.
Our original plan was:
Day 5: Marvel Lake to Porcupine (Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park) – 26km
Day 6: Porcupine to Sunshine Village (Banff) – and sleep in a hotel! – 14km
But we weren’t starting in Marvel Lake. We made it up to Magog Lake in Mount Assiniboine. So things were going to be different.
We woke up in the Magog Lake Campground, or at least I did. I’m an early riser – once my body starts getting achy or my bladder gets full, I am getting up. Thankfully I only beat the sunrise by about a half hour so it was light enough to find my way to the outhouse over the frozen grass without my headlamp. I then proceeded over to the covered cooking area in the frosty morning air to make myself some tea, and was struck by this view:
So last year I did a comparison of ultralight campstoves by raw numbers: weight and cost being the most salient factors, though I touched on ease of use and risk of failure as deciding factors for myself in selecting my own system. The winners from that “debate” were the super cheap BRS from Amazon (with accessories selected as needed – fuel choice and cookpot size may give more advantages) for both weight and price, but my personal selection was the then brand new Jetboil Stash, because I was willing to take a price penalty and slight weight penalty for reliability and efficiency on long trips.
This year I have been put onto two further ultralight options: the alcohol stove system and the Firebox Nano. It seems to me that the idea of a cook system which runs on biofuel (ie. sticks), while it may not be the most heat-efficient approach would save on fuel weight and make less waste. The Biolite simply wasn’t light enough to make sense last year even with the potential to charge electronics. But the Firebox Nano intrigued me so I thought I would consider it here.
If you didn’t click on the link above, (fair warning: all prices in CAD and weights in grams) here’s what I found:
Jetboil Stash ($160): 399g (includes fuel weight and pot with integrated windscreen)
BRS UL Burner w/ Toaks pot and MSR fuel ($78.50): 362g
And now… let’s consider three other options: another stick-fired stove, a stick-fired supplemented with alcohol, and an alcohol based setup.
Section C of the Great Divide Trail according to most information is a hair over 200km of hiking trails running through mostly National Parks. I’ve been dreaming about this hike for 3 years, and I finally got to go, despite my hiking partner once again canceling on me, because my wife signed up to go with me! You can read about our first two days on trail here.
The original plan was to take days 3 and 4 very easy, so that if my wife, who is new to long-distance hiking, needed time to recover from her first two passes she would have it. However, I had the feeling that because day 3 would have been flat valley-bottom walking, we may have a shot at combining days 2 and 3. The original plan for days 3 and 4 were:
Day 3: Palliser Pass (HOTR) over Palliser Pass to Birdwood Camp (Banff National Park, AB) – 11km, 100m ascent, 150m descent
Day 4: Birdwood to Marvel Lake Camp (Banff) – 14km, 50m descent, 50m ascent
But since we finished Day 2 at Burstall Camp (3km south of Birdwood), we had almost accomplished the combining of the two days and were ahead of schedule!
This opened up a few options.
Option 1: extend our time in Banff (night 6) between legs and give ourselves a true zero day instead of a nearo (and pulling 20km to get to Banff isn’t exactly restful), or
Option 2: take an extra day in Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park. I had planned ahead and booked a spot at Magog Lake (I had been efforting Og Lake to skip Porcupine, but no sites at Og ever came open) just in case we did combine the two days.
In order to extend the Banff stay to a true zero, we would have had to camp at all subsequent campsites a day early, and risk the wrath of angry rangers, and fines for not having campsites booked. Granted, we had already done that once with Burstall, but the empty campground meant we didn’t feel guilty in the least. I had tried to book, they told us there was none, and that was a lie so…
Ok, here’s the first two days of our trip, broken down. Our original plan:
Day 1: Upper Kananaskis Lakes (Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, AB) over South Kananaskis Pass to Beatty Lake (Height of the Rockies Provincial Park, BC) – 16km, 780m ascent
Day 2: Beatty Lake to Palliser Pass Camp (Height of the Rockies Provincial Park, BC) – 10km, 780m descent, 480m ascent
It has been a month now since I returned from my planned hike through section C, if you have been watching this space for updates. The hike was awesome and only gets more awesome in the rear-view mirror. I think I needed a month to digest the experience before writing this post.
First, I am thrilled I got to experience this with my wife, and astonished that this was her first overnight hike since I dragged her up Mount Golden Ears while we were dating. Yes, it took her 23 years to forgive me for that travesty. All I can say in justification was, I was a stupid 22 year old. I hope I am a better man today than I was then. Thankfully this trip went so much better than that one. It was a challenge for her to complete – thankfully, the preparation I had done meant that had anything gone wrong I would have had tons of reserve to get us out of the situation. But nothing did, and though there were occasional tears, they were only tears of fighting through her own limitations, not frustration with me.
We set a fairly easy pace, which turned out to still be faster than many we met in the backcountry. I also adjusted the itinerary on the fly, both to ensure we didn’t burn out, and to deal with terrain challenges I could not have foreseen in the planning stage. I think I will post this trip report in two-day pairs, to break down everything for posterity, in case others who want to tackle this section want more detail. Certainly, we scoured the internet before we left so we could prepare. Hope this helps.
Wow! It’s hard to believe the trip is coming up in just a few days now. A lot has changed since I wrote this in May. For one thing, my hiking partner cancelled on me, and I put the call out to the world to find a replacement. I got my wish, but then my new partner came out early to hike Section B, but the westerlies across the mountains pushed a truckload of smoke from the BC wildfires onto her, and she tapped out.
But even more surprisingly, my wife expressed interest in coming! So I have spent the last month working with her to get her used to carrying weight and walking on trails, culminating in a 24 hour shakedown hike in Meadow Lake Provincial Park. We hiked into a campsite on Friday night 10km, then hiked out 30km on Saturday through 32 degree heat! She delivered like a trooper, so we are go, for sure.
Aside from physically preparing her, we have had to kit her out with good backpacking gear. I didn’t want her to experience the Cheryl Strayed pack from Reese Witherspoon’s “Wild” pack, and have her tap out from exhaustion. I lined her up with the Durstongear 40l pack like mine, only slightly smaller. I’m now carrying a 2p instead of 1p X-Mid, in my effort to save her some weight, as well as the stove, a Jetboil Stash. She is packing a litle heavier nonetheless, as she is managing chronic cold fingers. It wasn’t a problem on our Meadow Lake go – the temperature topped out at 32 degrees! But we all know the Canadian Rockies at elevation are much cooler.
I decided to stick to a longer itinerary for her sake, so the first three days are all under 16km. Hopefully that sets us up for success and lightens our pack before climbing Wonder Pass and crossing to Porcupine campground for 24km in one day!
Then, a short 15km out to Sunshine where if all goes as planned a wonderful trail angel will be waiting for us with our resupplies and a lift into Banff townsite. We will enjoy a town dinner and a warm bed, before an early taxi back up to Sunshine and the longest hike of the trip, 28km to Ball Pass. From there, the days get shorter as we descend and then work across the famous “Rockwall” hike of Kootenay and Yoho National Park. This is her motivation now – she saw this picture of Floe Lake and wants to see it for herself.
The fires burning in BC may still play a factor for us. Right now the winds have shifted from the north, so they aren’t a problem but if they return to the west it may get smoky. Additionally, the hot weather streak appears to have finally been broken, but now the forecast for the high elevations are hovering in the low double digits, and intermittent showers are forecasted for the first 3-4 days of the trip. That may well challenge her ability to stay warm on trail. So we are not without opposition. But excitement remains. Stay tuned for our post-trip report!
Where to begin? I have been dreaming about section hiking the Great Divide Trail for 4 years now. For various reasons my efforts had been, well, fruitless. But last summer, it all came together. A good friend of mine joined me for the hike, and we aimed at Section B, because it would not require any reservations to hike. 200km of wilderness, and a week before we set out the GDT Association released the GPX track for the new High Rock Trail section from Coleman to Dutch Creek! We would be some of the first hikers on this new footpath, which bypasses on the east slopes the road walk and the complicated skirting of an active coalmine.
My cousin from Calgary graciously delivered us from Kananaskis to Coleman, after dropping off our car near Boulton Creek. Because we weren’t thru-hiking, I saw no need to be fastidious about the start point, so we had him drop us off at the Atlas ATV staging area, and we headed up the path to Deadman’s Pass, admiring the ridiculous vies of the Seven Sisters and Crowsnest Mountain.
It was a little tricky getting going – the area around Atlas is littered with ATV trails and I wasn’t sure exactly where to go to find the new junction, but some bushwhacking and a small stream crossing later, we got on the track. A nice easy climb took us up to a long meadow that we enjoyed for quite a ways. Our goal, starting fairly late, was going to be Window Mountain, a campsite that has been well established for years, though typically accessed differently than we were going to. Of course, Window Mountain is extraordinary and the hanging valley that was the camp truly set us up for the experience we were in for.
First attempt to hang my Ursack went well – no animals bothered it that we could tell. Bathing our feet in the lake was a great way to end the day and the sunrise in the bowl was stunning. Little did we realize that we would be challenged as soon as we left the camp with a steep push UP out of the bowl!
Day 2 was a mixed bag – we got to see a lot of the trailwork that has been laboured over the last few years, and it was appreciated! Lots of ups and downs, including one very memorable push that seemed to go on forever after lunch. Every time we thought we had crested it, another hill rose in front of it – and no switchbacks! We were puffing. Once finally crested, we were treated to a challenging little descent through some scree – probably the closest I came to twisting an ankle the whole time. There was a stretch in here that we got low on water, but just when we were within spitting distance of a creek, a couple old men on quads turned up and gave us a couple of chilled bottles of water! Trail magic!
Finally made it to Racehorse Creek where we found an old fire ring and some lush green grass to pitch tents on. The creek felt terrific once again on tired toes. We woke up to frost on our tents – that was a reminder that we were well over 2000m and as hot as the days were, the air was thin and cold at night.
Day 3 took us to the end of the High Rock Trail, where we crossed a brand new bridge over Dutch Creek and joined the GDT proper again as it came over the pass from BC. It was an old logging road north from there, until we reached a rockfield created by what must have been a staggeringly big slide off the range to our west, some time ago. It reminded me of the Frank Slide in the Crowsnest Pass, only there was no town to wipe out here, only wilderness. Once passing the slide, we found the Dutch Creek Camp, nestled in the trees above a grassy, wet field of streams connecting with the main creek. A lippy ground squirrel was frustrated by our tents on his land, but he calmed down as night fell.
Day 4 was intimidating. We were heading for Tornado Pass, and then worse: Tornado Saddle! We got up bright and early for the push through what I understand to be the most extreme go on the GDT. No frost, but dew was on the grass, and my Lone Peaks soaked through and left me with wet feet for the climb up the saddle. It was BRUTAL. But I beat my hiking partner to the top and hid behind a cairn from the wind for about a half hour while he laboured up. The climb down was easier with many switchbacks – so many we had to pick our way carefully or hit dead ends regularly. But once we were down, the question was after such a push, how far could we go? We had our sights set on Hidden Creek, but did not make it that far. I failed to change my socks after the dewy morning, and the bottoms of my feet hurt – but worse, they were stinging! Like a hundred little needles with each step. We ended up camping at the horse camp at South Hidden Creek. Which we can’t complain about – the flat ground, the cobbled together chair, the table for situating our stoves were all appreciated!
Unfortunately, my strange footpain that led to us shortening this day forced us to reckon with our pace. We weren’t doing longer days – we were doing shorter. I had planned the route around 8 days max, and we were behind. My friend had a flight to catch on a certain day, and at our current pace we were going to be late. At first I was saying we should consider bailing out if my feet worsened but on the morning of day 5, they felt 80% better. It is amazing what happens when you let your feet dry out! So, physically we could have kept going but he would have missed his flight. So we made the decision to bail early. Fortunately, Hidden Creek was the perfect opportunity. On the south edge of the Beehive Natural Area, we could follow an “access trail” out to the Oldman, and from there hitch a ride with a camper in the popular crown land camping area.
So, day 5 we headed up and out. The trail was fantastic, and we did well, pulling into Hidden before noon. We were lucky enough to meet a “famous” GDT hiker, none other than “T”, the Yo-Yoer and wife of the guy who designed my tent! I picked her brain for a few minutes while we all caught our breath at the creek. Should have gotten her to help me with my pitch – I know I’m doing something wrong! But we said goodbye and she carried on south while we looked for our exit trail. Never did find it, but I enjoyed sleuthing out a very ancient horse trail along the north bank of Hidden Creek which finally took us to the Oldman above the falls.
Then the next problem confronted us. How were we going to get to K-Country? I used my Inreach to message my wife, who jumped onto the GDT Trail Angels Facebook Group and put a call out. Turns out there was an amazing former thru-hiker who was running some trail magic out of Boulton Creek, who had the time to scoot down and pick us up! We waited for a while, then decided to hike north along the road to meet her, as she came a little later than expected.
So, the trip ended with only 100 of the 200km goal hiked, but it was a fantastic experience with sun and warmth the whole time! We learned a ton about long distance hiking, and saw some gorgeous sights. I showed my friend around Banff for a couple of days then he grabbed his flight home. Now, this year, Section C!