LOST

JULY 24
Only a day away from our resupply at Highwood House and we lost our trail... completely.

We had only been walking for about an hour when we descended to a creek crossing north of the old, abandoned Galencia Mine to find that our trail disappeared on the other side the creek. Paolo searched the banks of the creek up and down while I back-tracked to the last blaze on the trail but could not find any trace of the trail continuing after the creek crossing. So we pulled out our maps and compass and decided to bushwack our way onwards. We agreed to head towards the northeast, assuming that we would literally run into the trail eventually if we headed in the right direction.

Our progress was hindered by thick forest undergrowth and many fallen trees, which also limited our range of vision so we relied heavily on our map and compass to point us in what we hoped was the right direction. We followed several animal trails which made for much easier walking but all inevitably faded away into the forest or headed off in the wrong direction.

After several hours of this slow-going, we had covered no more than one kilometre of actual distance and our hopes of finding the trail seemed slim. As we neared the top of the forested ridge crest, I headed west to ease our climb. And suddenly, there was the trail, climbing the ridge from the WEST (not the east). We all cheered, breathed a sigh of relief and headed down the trail only a few more minutes before we stopped to eat and laugh at the day's events. I made a note to advise the trail crews of this apparent lack of marking that gave us a little extra adventure on our trek...

JULY 25
We hiked out to Road 940 and quickly got a hitch with a local outfitter: him, his dog and the four of us with our packs in his small, compact car made for a cramped ride but we weren't complaining for in a few short minutes we were down the road at Highwood House eating ice cream and sipping cokes in the shade... sweet trail magic!

Hello to the COFFEE-TABLE BOOK family (sorry didn't get your names) we met at Highwood House.
And BIG THANKS to Ann and Kate at Highwood House for their hospitality and assistance!

Back on the Trail

JULY 20
After an amazing rest day in Coleman, Paolo, Bev, Christy and I headed back on the trail with rested legs and backpacks full of food. The weather continued to be hot and sunny as we headed back up into the mountains. With the unusually hot and humid weather we are drinking 5 or 6 litres of water per day and sweating just as much!

JULY 22
After two more days of walking on various ATV trails we finally crossed over Tornado Pass and shortly thereafter we saw the first orange blaze (blaze = a paint mark on a tree) that signified we were on the original Great Divide Trail built nearly 30 years ago! For the first time in 5 days, we were once again hiking on actual trail and a beautiful trail it was. Dave Higgins and his fellow members of the Great Divide Trail and Alberta Wilderness Associations have maintained this section of trail with pride over the many years even though the trail lies completely outside of the protection of national & provincial parks. This has resulted in a far greater challenge to keep the trail alive due to active logging, mining and oil industry in the area but thanks to the hardwork and dedication of the trail maintenance volunteers, this section of trail is flourishing and was easily the highlight of our past week of hiking!

We traversed high ridge crests, walked through alpine meadows filled with multi-coloured wildflowers; forded several crystal clear streams; and saw two more black bears (from a distance) but not a single other human for 5 days! Sorry no photos yet until I get a USB cable in Banff.

Due to the large distance to our next resupply at Highwood House, we pushed some big miles and long days. We were all very tired at the end of each day and we became more susceptible to little injuries: Bev's hip stiffened up painfully; Christy's plantar fasciatis flared up; Paolo had a severe sinus headache; and I rolled my right ankle twice forcing me to use Christy's mono-pod as a walking stick for balance. But we still managed to average over 25 kilometres per day.

JULY 23
We were woken up in the middle of the night by a spectacularly powerful thunderstorm. The lightning struck very close, the rain fell hard and heavy, and the wind felt like it was going to blow our tent away with us in it! But by morning the sun was back out and we crawled out of our tent to find that we were now camped in a puddle. We spent the next hour drying our gear in the sun before setting out on the trail only a little damp from the night's storm.

SPECIAL THANKS to:
Lannie from Coleman for the ride up to Allison Creek Road!

First Section Done!

JULY 18, 2006 - Crowsnest Pass

10 days down, 50 to go!
No lightning storms, bears, blood-thirsty mosquitos or pepper spray in the face could keep us from finishing our first leg of the Great Divide Trail...

We are in the little town of Coleman in the Crowsnest Pass on highway 3. Today is a rest and resupply day after finishing a mostly brilliant first section of the GDT. We "splurged" on the nicest motel in town and went out for cheeseburgers and ice cream!

Spending an entire day without having to put my heavy pack on feels like heaven... giving all of the little aches and pains a chance to heal before we head out on section 2. Speaking of section 2, due to some changes to the trails in this area resulting from industry/construction, we have to find an alternate route to get back up into the mountains. We are looking over maps and getting some local advice... but the first day or two out of Crowsnest Pass could be a little interesting. But first, one more ice cream before we hit the trail again!

SPECIAL THANKS to:

Ranger Jeff Smith, who gave us some much-needed directions in the maze of ATV trails north of Lynx Creek campground!

Shawn (from Crowsnest Lake), who gave us a ride from the trail into Coleman... much appreciated after a long, hot day of hiking!

The Bear Mace Incident

JULY 14, 2006 - Castle Mountain Ski Resort

After a long 28-kilometre day of hiking we made it to Castle Mountain Ski Resort at 9:00 PM just in time to order pizza and a cold beer at the pub before it closed... awesome!

But after dinner I didn't notice that the safety of my bear mace had somehow slipped off and when I sat my pack down that evening before bed it accidentally went off and sprayed me in the face. For a split second I remained calm and turned to Christy and said "I just sprayed myself in the face with bear mace" and then the searing pain, blindness and choking set in and I was in full panic mode. Christy ran me to the washroom of the Resort hostel and immediately started to flush my eyes and face with cold water. The pain was excruciating, my face felt like it was on fire and I struggled to breathe. But all I could think of was that my GDT trek was over and I was disappointed to the point of tears.

After about an hour of cold water on my face, the burning began to subside and I could breathe and see again so I went into the shower to wash off any residual pepper spray. Meanwhile, Christy, Paolo, Bev and Pearl Murphy (owner of the Resort) cleaned up the rest of the bear mace spill and aired out the area. Everyone was coughing but they were all troopers and I have to say BIG THANKS to all of them, especially Christy who stayed by my side the entire time encouraging me and helping me wash and cool my eyes and face. After a couple of ibuprofen I was able to sleep most of the night and woke the next morning feeling only minor side effects of the incident (blurred vision and blisters on my face). Needless to say I will be much more careful with my bear mace from now on.

The next morning, Pearl (the Trail Angel) and her husband Darryl, invited us to their house for a full breakfast (bacon, eggs, fruit, muffins, coffee) and we shared many stories of adventure and a little bit of trail magic!

The Adventure begins!

JULY 9, 2006 - Waterton Lakes National Park

After a vacation-like 2 day drive from Penticton with my parents, dropping off our resupply packages en route; Christy and I made it to Waterton Lakes - the starting point of the Great Divide Trail. BIG THANKS to mom and dad for the drive... couldn't have done it without them!!

JULY 10 - After some confusion with the campground attendant, we finally met up with Paolo and Bev around noon just before a thunderous lightning storm lit up the sky and knocked out the power in all of Waterton Lakes townsite (thus delaying this update of my blog until now). We waited the storm out until 3pm and then set out on our first day of the GDT... only a 7 kilometres day, but with a full pack of food it was enough!

JULY 11, 11:30 AM - Our first Grizzly Bear encounter!
With Bev (who is most afraid of bears) in the lead, we ran into a young, non-agressive Grizzly near Carthew Lakes this morning. But after we made some loud noise he ran off up the mountain side and we were able to continue on the trail without much delay (just enough to capture him on video!)... and then a few hours later I nearly walked into a mother black bear and her 2 cubs as I climbed uphill with my head down! But once again the bears hurried away and we continued hiking onwards.

The section of the GDT in Waterton Lakes National Park was outstanding. Great trail, spectacular views and other than the first-day storm we've had warm and sunny weather most of the way. The mosquitos and flies have been less forgiving, appearing in squadron-force in some of the river valleys and we've all had a few strains and pains, blisters and backaches but all in all a great start to our adventure!

Post offices along the way

If anyone wants to send actual letters or 'care packages' while we are on our hike, there are 2 post offices where you could mail stuff to us (c/o general delivery):

BANFF (we'll be in Banff around August 5)
Banff Post Office - 204 Buffalo St., Banff AB T1L 1A0

JASPER (we'll be in Jasper around August 24)
Jasper Post Office - 502 Patricia St., Jasper AB T0E 1E0

The missing box disaster

JULY 5, 2006: DISASTER

Yesterday we packed all of our hiking gear and food resupply packages into the car and drove to my parent's house in Penticton where we would store our car and extra clothing for the summer. The plan was to relax for a couple of days in Penticton before leaving on Friday for Waterton Lakes National Park and the start of our trek but when we unpacked the boxes from our car last night I discovered that one box was missing. One very important box containing our wilderness permits, hiking itinerary, guidebook, topographical maps and all of our blank DV tapes... the one box of items that without could mean the end of our trip.

After a quick phone call to Jeff in Vancouver, he searched the apartment, lobby and parking area for the missing box but no luck. If it was accidentally left behind it had been swiped by someone before we had even noticed that it was missing. So there we were, only days from the planned start date of our big hike and we had no maps, no guidebook, no permits and not even a single video tape to record all of the drama that unfolded yesterday. No wonder I felt sick to my stomach all day today.

After several phone calls today, I managed to get our National Park hiking permits and itinerary faxed to Wateron Lakes Visitor Centre where we could pick them up on the weekend. Thanks to a call to Dustin Lynx in Canmore, he tracked down a copy of his guidebook at a Canmore bookstore which we can pick up on our way to Waterton. We may find topo maps of the Rockies there also. And Costco in Kelowna carries mini-DV tapes.

I can only shake my head at the almost-disastrous situation and hope that I haven't forgotten anything else that may have been in the missing box...