This year (2022) we decided to challenge ourselves by selecting the Great Divide Trail (GDT) as our thru-hike. It has been on our bucket list. Waiting another few years to tackle it seemed unwise, after all we are not getting any younger. Our Trans Canada Trail project is postponed (not cancelled), the Prairies and BC will have to wait one more season.
The Great Divide Trail traverses the continental divide between Alberta and British Columbia, wandering through the Canadian Rocky Mountains for more than 1100 kilometers. The trail passes through five national parks, seven provincial parks and four wilderness areas. With no official designation, the GDT is not always an actual trail; some orienteering is required.
Sounds fun, right?!
BTW - We originally planned to hike from Waterton to Mount Robson. However, due to trail closures in the area caused by avalanches and floods in 2021, Mount Robson will be closed all season. Given that it was our exit point, we decided to stop our trek in Jasper.
The Great Divide Trail traverses the continental divide between Alberta and British Columbia, wandering through the Canadian Rocky Mountains for more than 1100 kilometers. The trail passes through five national parks, seven provincial parks and four wilderness areas. With no official designation, the GDT is not always an actual trail; some orienteering is required.
Sounds fun, right?!
BTW - We originally planned to hike from Waterton to Mount Robson. However, due to trail closures in the area caused by avalanches and floods in 2021, Mount Robson will be closed all season. Given that it was our exit point, we decided to stop our trek in Jasper.
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After the completion of the Rideau Trail in late September 2021, we jumped right into a new training program. Tackling the GDT officially started during the winter. We went through the incredibly stressful process of building our itinerary and gathering permits and reservations. We read about the difficulties previous hikers had and were a bit worried. As mentioned, the GDT crosses many federal and provincial parks. Each park has its own reservation process and within their own boundaries they require each hiker to book every night of camping. Banff, Waterton, and Jasper are extremely busy with short distance and/or weekend trekkers - there would be no special privileges or exceptions for thru-hikers. We planned to be on the trail for 45 days and required approximately 23 days of reservations. The other 22 nights are in wilderness areas or crown land – outside of park boundaries. Yikes!
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A few spreadsheets are a good thing!
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The information available through the GDT association and their members was invaluable. We gathered all the relevant data and built a flexible plan. Simon created an Excel spreadsheet worth its weight in gold. If a date needed to be changed, all dates would be adjusted automatically. He had all the campsites identified in the worksheet, the distances between each camp, and their popularity. We built a plan that minimised using popular campsites during the weekends (as best we could). We calculated an average of 23 km per day, with rest days at the end of each section. We had all the information needed for the booking process; we were ready.
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On January 28th, the reservation system opened for Kootenay, Yoho, and Banff National Parks. We both got online early and waited with all the other hikers wanting to book an adventure in the Rockies. At 8am sharp (mountain time), we were given a random number on the queue for the reservation process. Julie’s number was 5,210 which meant a wait time of over an hour. Lucky Simon got queue number 532! We had about 4 ½ minutes to wait. We had been on the park’s website before and knew how to book the campsites. It went smoothly and soon we were paying (and guaranteeing our campsites) and checking out. Phew! Sections B, C and D done, about two thirds of our reservation!
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Didn't wait much for Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay
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Waiting again... a little anxiety for Jasper National Park!
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On February 2nd, the second reservation system opened, this one for Jasper National Park. This time, we were not as lucky with our random queue numbers. We both got numbers above 5000. When we did get on the reservation site many of our desired campsites were being snatched up quickly. We had to adjust our itinerary on the spot. But in the end, we were successful in acquiring all the necessary reservations. YEAH, Section E booked!!
The 3rd reservation system was for one campsite in Waterton National Park. Just to be different this park required reservations to be done no earlier then 90 days prior to the first day of your trek in this park. On the required day, the campsite we needed was already booked. We booked an earlier day and an additional day at a second nearby site forcing us to leave one day earlier. The flexible plan came through for us again – Section A done! |
Simon continued with trip planning. He was in heaven surrounded with maps and dreaming of the road trip to the Rockies. He also investigated to best shoes and new equipment that was to be purchased this season.
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This year we are trying Hoka Ten-Nines. Julie, hiked in Hoka Kahas for the 2021 summer and loved them. They offered good support and traction, they were lightweight, and were like walking on clouds. The Hoka Ten-Nine have a space age look to them with their extended heals, they will require some getting use to. More importantly, the recommendation promises to aid in soft heal striking and smooth distance walking. We have both put about 50 or 60kms on them as a trial and love them.
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We replaced our old packs, as they were getting pretty worn. The replacement choices were numerous, but we finally chose Osprey Exos (Simon) and Eja (Julie) 48L Ultra light packs. They held a reasonable amount of carry weight and had a decent waist belt. This belt allowed the carry weight to be transferred to our legs. For Julie’s bad back, this was a must. We also purchased a JetBoil stove and cook set. This type of stove screws onto a pressurised canister and has a great reputation for quickly boiling water. It was half of the weight of our Whisper light stove and cook pot.
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The Osprey Eja and Exos |
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You might think that we chase gadgets! It is true that we see significant wear and tear of our gear. However, the evolution of thru-hiking gear is significant, and we must stay informed. As we age, reducing weight and volume is important – so yes, we do chase the evolution of thru-hiking gear.
Julie’s focus was on the menu and cache preparation. We approached the GDT as we did the Arizona National Scenic Trail (AZT). We decided to prepare all our food at home. Our menu for the GDT included our favorite breakfasts: granola for regular days, and hot sweet potato porridge for short days. We had 5 different evening meals: taco mac & cheese, Spanish rice, dahl, stroganoff, and chili. Julie got busy cooking and dehydrating meals.
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We are trying a different approach to mid-day snacks for this trip. Trail bars are the bulk of our snacks. With our nutrition research, as it relates to endurance sports, we found that eating mostly carbohydrates during the ‘event’ minimises indigestion. The body doesn’t have the energy to digest heavy fats and proteins during strenuous activity. The bars will provide quick release energy. At the end of the day, we would eat nuts and cheese to tide us over until the evening meal.
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Our research also backed what we had learned from experience. Simon’s BMI (body mass index) requires him to eat almost 2,000 Calories more than Julie. Separating our meal portions is critical. In this way, we guarantee that we both have the required calories to sustain us through the rigors of this trek.
The GDT is divided into sections A thru G. At the end of each section there is a community (albeit some very small). These transition points are obvious choices for cache locations. But the distances between some of these is too far. |
One bag, one person, one day!
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It would force us to carry more than 6 days of food at once. That would be too heavy. We added a few wilderness caches to accommodate a better carry weight. These caches are located at or near trail heads. In all, we have 9 caches. We plan to drop off our cache containers prior to leaving on the trek. Once our adventure is completed, we will return and pick up our containers. It adds a few days of work before and after the trek, but this technique worked well in Arizona. It helps us maintain a ‘leave no trace’ approach while minimising our carry weight.
Through the winter and spring, we trained. Julie had some worries about her ability to accomplish this difficult, mountainous trek. Her body initially resisted the training process. Her back complained, her knees creaked, and her mind questioned if she could do this.
Through the winter and spring, we trained. Julie had some worries about her ability to accomplish this difficult, mountainous trek. Her body initially resisted the training process. Her back complained, her knees creaked, and her mind questioned if she could do this.
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In early March something clicked, and training became smoother. We watched a lot of videos specifically focused on the training for mature athlete. There were several key pieces of information that helped us (Julie in particular) change our mind-set.
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Putting 90km a week using the local trails. |
- The definition of a mature athlete can be any person, over 40, who is consistently challenging their training to improve their performance. That’s us!
- An athlete understands that training can be painful. If the pain doesn’t indicate an injury, it is a normal part of pushing the body and can be dealt with through recovery techniques.
- Recovery techniques include stretching, massage and body foam-rolling, proper sleep routines, proper nutrition, and rest days. A glass of wine occasionally wouldn’t hurt, right?
With this new knowledge, we became more focused and diligent with training properly, and caring for ourselves. What a difference it made. Logging improvements weekly, we noticed that we were climbing stairs more easily, and that our weighted walks became longer without requiring more effort.
Motivational videos became our go-to entertainment. Watching others face extreme challenges helped us reinforce the fact that humans have amazing capacities. These awesome people hiked, ran, skied, or biked to the point of exhaustion and still found enough will to complete their adventures. Maybe we could do it to!
Simon was restless and went in the southern US for a beautiful motorcycle adventure. Julie continued to train focusing on her cardio.
Motivational videos became our go-to entertainment. Watching others face extreme challenges helped us reinforce the fact that humans have amazing capacities. These awesome people hiked, ran, skied, or biked to the point of exhaustion and still found enough will to complete their adventures. Maybe we could do it to!
Simon was restless and went in the southern US for a beautiful motorcycle adventure. Julie continued to train focusing on her cardio.
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June was a critical month. Simon came back from his trip, and we focused on the final details of our GDT trip. We finalised our daily vacuum sealed bags and filled all of our (9) food cache containers. We also finalized our equipment testing and packing. There are always surprises, and once all of the food was packed and equipment selected, we worried whether all of this stuff would fit into our little car! We think it will… we will know for sure by the end of June! Training continues, but now we focus on kilometers. We hike 80km to 100km a week in hilly terrain with every other outing weighted. That should do the trick.
We will depart in early July for this adventure. We look forward to setting off on a road trip. We invite you to join us. We will post when we can on Facebook and will publish a trail blog once we complete the adventure. |
In addition to our packs, will this fit in the car??
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