Trail Knowledge

Planning for the GDT was more challenging than most other treks but thanks to the great work of the GDT association (website) and their members (Facebook and Blogs), that is where we acquired most of the information needed to create our work sheet(s).

The Parks’ websites added important information on the trails, closures, permit requirements, and reservation procedures.
From a few spreadsheets provided by the GDT Association website we compiled a list of all campsites along the GDT (# of pads at each camp), distances between each camp, type of reservations required (and cost), and popularity of each camp. ​

download the Excel Campsite List

From this complete list we created our own itinerary (we will post our itinerary in the fall 2022) for our thru-hike. We picked campsites that gave us reasonable distances each day - for us that's approximately 25 km/day. The cache locations (8 in total) were then identified at an average of 5 or so days interval. We had 'wild bearproof drops' which were primarily trailheads or intersections with quick access and 'business box drops' in each trail community (such as Field and Coleman).

The reservation process was complex as the GDT crosses 5 National and 7 Provincial Parks, as well as several Wilderness Areas. Each of these parks requires different permitting (for access) and reservation processes (for camping).

Here is what we learned for the 2022 season:

• Purchase the national parks’ pass for the year prior to the reservation date as the pass number is required for reservations. The pass is sent by mail (+/- 2weeks) or purchase it at your local outdoor store.
• Create an online accounts (for the National Parks), prior to the reservation date, to reduce time during the reservation process.
• In 2022, the reservations started Jan 28 for the National Parks of Yoho, Banff, and Kootenay. Feb 2, Jasper National Park was open for reservations. Waterton and the provincial parks have a rolling 90-day window for reservations.
• Go on all the national and provincial park sites before the reservation date(s) and familiarize yourself with each of their processes. Each park has a slightly different approach.
• Log in on the reservation date before the start time and wait. This year, at 8am mountain time, all hikers online at or before that time were given a random number in the queue. We were lucky on January 28th with number 501, and less lucky on February 2 with number 5102 (a one hour wait). With a few small small changes, we ended-up close to our initial itinerary. Good luck!

Simon in 1983 - weathering a 36hour thunderstorm in a crack at high elevation on Mont des Poilus (during the circumnavigation of Yoho National Park)

Removing Obstacles

Financial:

• Park passes and permits totaled over $500CDN for both of us.

• We planned to stay in the hotels in Field and Saskatchewan Crossing for rest days (not included in the $500).
• All our food was purchased and prepared at home. The main meals were cooked, dehydrated and packaged for our food caches. Grocery stores are available in Blairmore, Banf, and Jasper.
• Some businesses hold the caches for a fee (Saskatchewan Crossing). Post offices hold parcels for 2 weeks. There are services for caches at Boulton Creek, and Mount Robson area. These services can be costly depending on the number of hikers using the service.
• Trail angels can be engaged for shuttle services, and food cache deliveries. Consult with the GDT association.

Bars alone are close to $300

​Time Commitment:

• The GDT association has 3 itineraries suggesting a slow, moderate, or fast pace. The time commitment ranges from 35 to 60 days.
• The hiking season in the Rockies is mid/late-June to mid/late September. This depends on the year and a persons willingness to experience snow and cold :o))
• Our planned time for our trip is as follows; 3 days to drop the food caches, a little over 40 days for the trek, 3 days for picking up our cache containers (leave no trace!). We live outside of the area so we have to account for the road trip to the GDT, some after trip local visiting and the trip back home - a commitment of 10 or so weeks.

Health and Fitness:

• The GDT traverses the Rocky Mountains. Expect to climb and descend hundreds of meters daily on rough terrain. A good fitness base is required to minimise muscle soreness and injuries on the trail.
• We created a fitness program for the entire winter - increasing intensity slowly to be ready by the end of June.

Skills:

• This trail is a wilderness trail where orienteering is needed in some sections.
• Backcountry camping skills are a must, as is ‘leave no trace ‘camping practices and water/sanitation management. The wilderness is fragile and visited by many hikers. Do your part in keeping it pristine.
• This is grizzly country. It is important to know how to camp safely and how to deal with grizzly encounters. It is not just about keeping you safe but also to keep everyone around you, including the other campers in your area.

Equipment

On the GDT, we carried all our equipment in our backpacks. The Wheelie (our cart) stayed home. We planned our caches to carry no more than 6 days of food at a time. The caches contained daily food packets, fuel for our stove, and some toiletries, first aid and repair kit items.
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Two new pieces of gear this year were: 1) lighter backpacks, the Osprey Exos and Eja (48L), and the Jetboil stove and cook set. And 2) HOKA shoes, we've used them for years during training sessions and will now use them on the trail. We plan to have a second set of shoes if required in Field or Saskatchewan Crossing (in our resupply box). The Ten-Nine shoes and the Speedgoats were chosen for the season.

​There is additional information in our 'Equipment Section'.

click to download our list of equipment and weight calculator

Nutrition

Our menu plan for this trek included home dehydrated meals (incl. dhal and chili) and a few combination meals created by blending dry soup bases with dry cheese, vegetables, and a starch (mac & cheese, jambalaya, stroganoff, etc.). On long days, we accounted for a few more snacks. On shorter days, we had the luxury of eating a warm breakfast of sweet potato porridge (homemade). We plan to bring more snack bars than we have in the past. They are lightweight and provide a good amount of carbs and calories.

Our daily food portions were packaged individually with different calorie counts for Julie and Simon. Different bodies require different solutions - we learned this the hard way on earlier thru-hikes. There is a bit of detail on our menu and cache list work sheets.

As usual, we dehydrate most of our meals

download our GDT Food Cache Example PDF

Download our GDT Calories and Nutrient Table PDF

HealTH & Fitness

Let’s face it, we are not getting any younger (Simon is 62 and Julie is 59). This is a challenging trek. Our winter fitness program built a good base. But as the new year came about, we started increasing our workouts.
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For detailed information on our exercise routines check out our 'Exercise' page.
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GDT Pre-Trail Blog

GDT Blog by section
a thru e (with photo gallery)

GDT Pre Trail Blog

GDT Blog