Category: Great Divide Trail

(Scroll down to see the post for this day) Section C – 207km / 129mi, Alternates: Northover Ridge – This section goes through some of the most popular national parks in all of Canada: Banff, Kootenay and Yoho. As such, backcountry permits are required and most of the trails are well-maintained and signed. Leaving Peter Lougheed, the trail follows a beautiful lake, with the option of taking the incredible Northover Ridge Alt, which is a challenging knife edge route with exposure and loose scree. A day later, the trail enters Banff NP and becomes a lot more crowded. The trail then crosses the Divide at Wonder Pass and enters BC and Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, often called the Matterhorn of[…]

Wednesday, July 17th, 2024, 0600-0900Lower Elk Lake to Boulton Creek Campground, mm 211.56 miles plus 1.5 mile detour to campground, Gain: 945′, Loss: 920′, elevation 5720′ We were up early for our town day…but not really a town day. The commercial campground was a place that others went to get away, but for us it was our closest pass by civilization in a week. Ah, the paradox. A slice of nature, but mostly built society. It’s not camping by my book, but I guess it fills a need for some folks. For us, it was a place to take hot showers, charge electronics and get some ice cream… can’t find any of those things in the backcountry. We only had[…]

Tuesday, July 16th, 2024, 0610-1830Fording River Pass Lower Lake to Lower Elk Lake camp, mm 205.625 miles, Gain: 2134′, Loss: 3640′, elevation 5620′ There were rumblings in the night. First there were 2 separate rockfalls, or maybe only one that was ongoing, I was too out of it to grasp a timeline. I was woken from a deep sleep by the sound of the crashing dense masses. I felt safe in the woods by the lake but it was a reminder of the destructive power of nature. Later, a large animal must have gone crashing by…a moose, elk or bear. Nicole heard it but I slept right through. Pulverizing rocks were cause for alarm but giant ice age mammals that[…]

Monday, July 15th, 2024, 0700-1800Lost Creek camp to Fording River Pass Lower Lake, mm 180.317 miles, Gain: 4665′, Loss: 3520′, elevation 7220′ I slept really well at the great campsite and felt rejuvenated after my previous low energy day. The 3 of us set off together  and as usual, we had a big uphill to get done. At least it brought us to a beautiful ridge with great views ahead and behind us, with a line of sheer mountains stretching as far as I could see. There were also beautiful fields of wildflowers everywhere. I got a great picture of Michelle, who I hiked with much of the day. She was from Ontario, just outside of Toronto, and was a[…]

Sunday, July 14th, 2024, 0600-1530Beehive Creek to Lost Creek camp, mm 163.517 miles, Gain: 3240′, Loss: 4180′, elevation 6080′ Contrary to the title of this blog, I did not have a bear encounter. But it felt like I had a bear on my back all day…a saying often used to describe when a runner loses steam just before the finish line. This honestly felt like one of my slowest days ever on a trail, similar to the day I climbed through the Mahoosuc notch on the AT. My legs just felt so tired and I had low energy in general. But I guess I was doing pretty good because Alex said he felt great and I was able to keep[…]

Saturday, July 13th, 2024, 0610-1850Dutch Creek camp to Beehive Creek, mm 147.417 miles, Gain: 4970′, Loss: 4540′, elevation 7010′ My tent was still wet in the morning but not too bad. I was again the 3rd to leave camp but caught up to the early risers by Tornado Saddle. First I had to follow the rough ATV to Tornado pass, which confusingly wasn’t the pass because we still had to go up over 1k’ to the Saddle. It seemed the 2 names had been mistakenly switched. Then the trail backtracked almost a mile along the mountain shoulder. Back down in the valley, I could almost see our camp again. The trail traversed rather than gaining elevation more steadily, then abruptly[…]

Friday, July 12th, 2024, 0610-1730Window Mountain Lake Camp to Dutch Creek Camp, mm 130.724 miles, Gain: 5220′, Loss: 5170′, elevation 6585′ Alex set off at 5 am, just as he said he would. He was really averse to hiking in the heat and had vowed for very early starts going forward…it made sense. His early start at least got me moving, but it still took me an hour to do my routine. By then, the Strawbridges were long gone too. I marveled at how Georgie got moving so early each day…what 17 year old is so motivated? I never once heard her complaining about it either. She was an inspiration for us all. The trail had the profile of a[…]

Section B – 195km / 121mi, Alternates: Coral Pass – This section begins in Crowsnest Pass near the quaint towns of Coleman and Blairmore, proceeding north to Peter Lougheed Provincial Park in Kananaskis, Alberta. This is one of the longer stretches in between resupply points. Except for a small portion in the north, random camping is allowed throughout. 2022 marked the grand opening of the High Rock Trail, the new official route of the GDT. As such, this part of the trail is in excellent condition. The High Rock Trail follows the east side of the mountains, running parallel to a popular ATV road. Vehicles and active forestry operations may be encountered in some parts. The route goes over Tornado[…]

Tuesday, July 9th, 2024, 0700-0800York creek bridge to Coleman, mm 923 miles, Gain: 170′, Loss: 570′, elevation 4800′ It was hard to get up after a late night and 2 long days beforehand but the call of town breakfast lured us. The last 3 miles on the road flew by, especially with the mosquitos chasing us. We need not have rushed because about the only breakfast joint in town didn’t open until 9 am. We plopped down outside and I went in search of a toilet. Coleman reminded me of an old mining town in Colorado, with a classic western main street. Georgie and Vince joined us for breakfast. They made it all the way into town the night before[…]

Monday, July 8th, 2024, 0700-2200Barnaby Lake to York Creek Bridge, mm 88.328 miles, Gain: 3500′, Loss: 5000′, elevation 4800′ I could barely get up in the morning, having a pretty massive hiker hangover. Alex and I agreed to depart by 7 am since we had a lot of ground to cover. We dragged ourselves out of bed and got in auto mode down the hill. We dropped 1700′ in 2 miles and stumbled out onto the highway. We saw a few people near the river, the first non GDT hikers in days. We walked another mile on the road and came across Strider, eating breakfast. He was sitting next to a sign written in rocks with an arrow pointing towards[…]