Trail Magic

The adventures continue...

2008-09-11T19:52:00.001-07:00

For photos and trip reports from my latest travels and wilderness wanderings, check out www.bradlandproductions.blogspot.com

happy trails,
BRAD

Epilogue

2006-09-23T04:00:00.000-07:00

SEPTEMBER 22, 2006 - Vancouver

The sun has set on the last day of summer and oh, what an incredible summer it was! But I can feel the changing of the seasons... the trees are red and gold and autumn is in the air. Christy has been back at work for two weeks already while I have another week before I return to my "day job". I've been keeping busy, working on our GDT film - Trail Magic. I have 42 amazing hours of video footage to view and edit on my way to creating an hour-long film, recapping our epic adventure.

But as I sit here and type this on the computer, my heart aches to be back in the mountains... So with sunny skies forecast this weekend, that's where I'm going! Just an overnighter in Garibaldi but the call to head back into the mountains is strong and I know it will lift my spirits and allow me to reflect on our amazing summer on the Great Divide...

The Final Mile

2006-09-09T14:35:00.000-07:00

SEPTEMBER 6, 2006
After an incredible final week of hiking on the Great Divide Trail, we are finally finished our two-month adventure in the Rockies...

After just one more ice cream, we set out from Jasper one week ago for our last section of hiking on the GDT. We had six beautiful, sunny days to contrast the relatively difficult hiking on poor (and sometimes non-existent) trails up the Miette and Moose Rivers and finally down the excellent Berg Lake trail in Mount Robson Provincial Park.

DAY 54 - Ice cream in Jasper

DAY 55 - An elk watching Christy leaving Jasper

Even with the sunny and warm weather, the Miette River trail turned out to be quite boggy... I even completely lost my shoe in the mud on one careless step and had to dig around to retrieve it! Needless to say, our socks and shoes were never really clean on this section of the GDT.

Near Miette Pass we lost the trail completely and did several kilometres of cross-country route-finding before stumbling upon the trail again on its way up and over Grant Pass. The area between Miette, Grant and Colonel Pass had us criss-crossing the Continental Divide between Alberta and BC three times within 14 kilometres through some amazing alpine meadows and high ridges.

THANKS to John from Canmore who shared the Colonel Pass campground with us on DAY 57. I hope the rest of your trek was successful!

DAY 57 - Miette Pass

The route up the Moose River had been badly damaged by a forest fire a few years ago so the route-finding was particularly challenging as we navigated up, over and around deadfall (fallen, burnt trees) as well as having to ford the almost waist-deep Moose River no fewer than 8 times... no dry feet on this day either! But the vast meadows of Moose Pass rewarded our strenuous hike with incredible views of the surrounding glacier-capped peaks of the Divide.

DAY 59 - near Moose Pass

DAY 59 - The vast meadows of Moose Pass on the Divide

On DAY 59, as we crossed the Divide for the final time at Robson Pass, Christy and I were surprised to see a sign taped to the Alberta-BC border marker with our names on it. An inspirational note from Rich, Tim and Larry (who we had met on the Skyline trail a week earlier) had us smiling as we hiked into camp that night while the sun set on the snow-capped peak of Mount Robson... our last night on the trail. We shared the Robson Pass campsite, a roaring campfire and many hiking stories with several other hikers up enjoying the beautiful late summer days on Mount Robson.

Our final hiking day on the GDT was one of powerful emotions: excited to finally reach our goal of finishing the long journey; nostalgic for the many times we had hiked the Berg Lake trail in previous years; and actually a little sad to be leaving the trail after spending the past 60 days trekking a thousand kilometres through the Rocky Mountains. We spoke of what we would miss as well as what we were looking forward to with life after the trail... we would miss the vividness and simplicity of life on the trail... but looked forward to seeing friends and family and regular showers!

And with about four kilometres to go, who should come strolling down the trail towards us? My mom and dad! After an emotional greeting we set out down the trail, sharing many stories while we hiked the last hour together.

Then we crossed the Robson River bridge into the trailhead parking lot and we were done. No more miles. No more aches and pains. No more heavy pack. No more trail.

No more ridge-top views of mountains that go on as far as the eye can see. No more alpine meadows full of wildflowers of every colour. No more sparkling glacial lakes reflecting surrounding snow-capped peaks. No more trail.

It was time to go home.

DAY 60 - Christy and Berg Glacier

DAY 60 - Mount Robson and Berg Lake

DAY 60 - Happy hikers on the final day

THE FINAL STATS:
60 days (including 9 rest days)
8 days of rain, 1 day of snow
1056 kilometres hiked
Most consecutive days without a shower: 6
Most consecutive days without seeing another person: 4
30,000 metres of combined elevation gain (equivalent of climbing Mt. Everest more than 3 times!)
Consumed: 15 pounds of oatmeal, 10 pounds of chocolate, 100 litres of gatorade.
Animal sightings/encounters: 3 Grizzly bear (and many more footprints!); 6 black bear; dozens of sheep, deer and elk.
Weight lost: Brad - 15 pounds; Christy - 10 pounds.

Trail Magic, Adventures on Canada's Great Divide - the film... coming soon!

Mount Robson, here we come

2006-08-31T13:28:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 31, 2006 - Jasper

Today we resupplied our packs with food for one last time before we head out on our last week of hiking to the end of the Great Divide Trail at Mount Robson.

The past week of hiking towards Jasper had me feeling many mixed emotions... the below-treeline, valley walking south of Maligne Lake gave me the trail blues and I felt uninspired and listless as we walked for three days under beautiful blue-sky. While the ever-approaching end of our trip had me feeling excited to finally accomplish our goal, I was also saddened that I would be leaving the mountains soon and no longer be hiking in the Rocky Mountain wilderness everyday...

But my spirits were lifted by our last two days of hiking on the Skyline Trail, one of Jasper National Park's most spectacular and popular backcountry routes.

HELLO to our fellow campers at Tekarra campground on the Skyline: David & Laura from North Carolina; Tim & Larry from Alaska; and thanks to Rich from Seattle for a delicious lunch in Jasper! We wish you all many more blue-sky hiking adventures...

DAY 50: near Maligne Pass

DAY 52: Trekking the Skyline

DAY 52: Mount Tekarra on the Skyline

DAY 52: The Notch (2480m, highest point on the Skyline)

Back on the trail tomorrow... off to Mount Robson and the end of our adventure!

Thank you!

2006-08-31T13:15:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to send out a BIG THANKS to everyone who has followed along and taken the time to send messages to us on our blog... your words of support have been much appreciated over the past two months during our adventure in the mountains!

I don't have personal email addresses for many people who I have met during our trek so send me an email if you'd like to keep in touch.

Harry... I did mention Bargen's Pass, but sadly your sign marking the highest point on the GDT was nowhere to be found... I guess you'll just have to climb up there again! ;)

THANKS to Amy and her cyclist friends from Idaho for the ride into Jasper from the Poboktan trailhead and Steve and Cheryl from Winnipeg for the ride back to the trailhead... you guys made a difficult resupply easy and fun!

Cheers,
BRAD
brad@bradlandproductions.com

NOTE: This sign is posted on the GDT just outside of Jasper but we actually have 6 more days of hiking to go!

Christy's Close-Ups Part 2

2006-08-31T13:03:00.000-07:00

Christy keeps looking a little closer at the world around us as we hike...

Top of the Great Divide

2006-08-25T15:38:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 25, 2006 - Jasper National Park

We just finished a long and amazing section of trail that had us climbing up narrow canyons, up glacial-swollen creeks and over high mountain passes and all with beautiful sunny weather... mostly.

We started the section from the Saskatchewan River Crossing by climbing up the incredible Owen Creek canyon; so deep and narrow at some points that you can straddle the canyon with one foot on either side as the water crashes many metres below in the darkness! The second day (DAY 43) we headed cross-country, up and over three high mountain passes including the highest point on the GDT at 2590 metres.. stunning views! We did some tricky route-finding as we realized (a little too late) that Paolo and Bev had the topographic map for the area so we relied heavily on Dustin's trail description from his guidebook which proved rock-solid (since we never really got lost)! ;)

DAY 32: Brad on Ball Pass

DAY 43: On the highest point of the GDT (aka Bargen's Pass)

DAY 43: Christy climbing high

DAY 43: Mountain reflections

On our way up the Cataract Creek valley towards Cataract Pass we came upon some old ochre pictographs that may be hundreds of years old.

DAY 44: Cataract Creek ochre pictographs

DAY 45: Making lunch below Cataract Pass

We crossed over into Jasper National Park at Cataract Pass and once again we were on good, established trail... no more bush-wacking! After 3 days of hiking without seeing anyone else, we gladly shared the campground and campfire that night at Four Points Creek with Paul & Laurie from Sault Ste. Marie, Paul (who made smores!) & Krista from Philadelphia, and Jun from Michigan. HI to all!

The next day the rain started early... and never stopped. We hiked 22 kilometres in only 5 hours, moving fast to stay warm in the cold, wet weather. On Jonas Pass we discovered that Christy's rainjacket was not waterproof, acting more like a sponge as it got wet and sucked her body heat away. She got so cold that she couldn't use her fingers to clip her pack! But thanks to the shelter of our tent, her warm sleeping bag, a dry change of clothes and some hot chocolate, she was feeling warm and cozy again... but a new jacket is in order soon!

DAY 46: Soggy Jonas Pass

Up next is the famous Skyline Trail in Jasper National Park. Only 2 weeks and 250 kilometres left to the end of the trail at Mount Robson...

And then there were two...

2006-08-18T14:36:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 18 - The Crossing

Sadly, five days ago in Lake Louise we said goodbye to Paolo and Bev as they decided to stop hiking the Great Divide Trail and bussed back to Vancouver. Bev's nagging hip injury had gotten worse and she had stopped enjoying the hike so after much soul-searching and discussion with Paolo, they decided to call it quits. So now it's just Christy and me trekking through the mountains on our way to Mount Robson. We miss both of them and really noticed it on the last section of trail which had us hiking through some very remote areas.

We left Field last week and hiked through the western area of Yoho National Park, up and over Amiskwi Pass and did not see anyone else on the trail for several days. Just before the pass, Christy said to me, "Brad keep your eye out for wildlife because I smell something funny."
I looked at her strange and mere seconds later, charging down the trail towards me, were two young grizzly bears. They hadn't seen me and appeared to be playing or racing or something so I shouted out and immediately they skidded to a stop about 30 feet away. Christy and I both pulled out our bear-mace, but after a quick sniff and look at us the bears ran off into the forest. We continued on, loudly and cautiously but never saw them again. But the area is ripe with berries and we saw bear scat often.

After that scare, we hiked further that day than expected but the beautiful blue-sky sunshine kept our spirits high. The next day we took on the role of explorers as we headed up on the David Thompson Heritage Trail, an original fur-trading route into BC 200 years ago! We enjoyed the first bit of the hike but as we climbed towards Howse Pass, where we would cross the continental divide again and re-enter Alberta, the trail became very overgrown and difficult to walk on. In fact, the next day of hiking as we descended from Howse Pass we walked for more than 6 hours, covering a mere 10 kilometres, struggling up and over hundreds of fallen trees while wading through the flooded glacial water of the Howse River. Quite the adventure!

Tomorrow we head off towards Jasper and only 3 weeks left on the Great Divide Trail. The weather forecast looks good and our legs and feet are feeling pretty good... just time for one more steak dinner tonight!

The Rainy Rockwall

2006-08-12T11:39:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 12, 2006

After our relaxing and restful days in Banff we headed back up into the mountains. The Egypt Lake area north of Sunshine Meadows was spectacular hiking as the Great Divide Trail stayed very close to the actual continental divide for many miles, climbing up and over several passes each with impressive views of the area. The smoke from a large forest fire in Washington state had been blowing north and the sky was filled with an eerie orange haze and the distinct smell of smoke for several days. After spending two beautiful days hiking north from Sunshine Meadows, we climbed steeply up to Floe Lake and the start of the famous Rockwall Trail in Kootenay National Park. This is when the rain started... and didn't stop for the next two days.

As we finished dinner at Floe Lake the rain began to fall so we hurried to the shelter of our tent. The rain continued most of the night and for the first time on our hike we had to pack up in the rain in the morning resulting in most of our gear being damp (and heavy) as we set off for Numa Pass, the highest point on the Rockwall. The clouds fell low and heavy, obscuring any views and as we were literally blown off of the pass by the wind. The rain stopped briefly during our lunch break only to return with a fury as we crested Tumbling Pass. Large hailstones and some very close lightning strikes had us taking cover in a small grove of trees. When the hail turned to hard rain we hurried off of the pass and down to our campground for the night. Unpacking our wet gear in the rain resulted in a very wet camp. Sleeping in a slightly damp sleeping bag never makes for a very good nights sleep... ahh the joys of hiking in the rain!

Oddly enough the Rockwall Trail was very busy and we shared our wet campground with several other hikers who also braved the nasty weather to hike what I'm sure is a beautiful trail in better weather! After some debate we decided to hike out to highway 93 a day early rather than venture up and over another pass to Field. The trail to the road had a bridge out which made for a precarious creek ford with rushing flood water nearly up to our waist! But by the end of the day we were safe and dry at the Castle Mountain Chalets with our wet gear hanging everywhere, drying out and Christy baked a chocolate cake! Not the typical trail magic, but magic nonetheless!

THANKS TO:
Paul Pelegrin from Sunshine Meadows Shuttle for some special trail magic shuttling us to and from Banff!
Vladmir & Donna from Calgary for the ride out of the rain!
Bob, June & Joan from Manchester for the ride to Lake Louise!

Trail filmmaking

2006-08-07T14:51:00.000-07:00

The reality of trying to capture our two-month/1000 km GDT hike on video means stopping and setting up the camera to film our journey as often as possible while still hiking 20 kilometres per day.

With almost 500 km hiked so far, we've recorded over 20 hours of video!

Christy's Close-ups

2006-08-07T14:14:00.000-07:00

Christy looks a little closer at the world around us as we hike...

Banff: Half way!

2006-08-05T15:19:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 5, 2006 - Banff

After hiking for 10 consecutive days from Highwood House, our rest days in Banff feel much deserved (and much needed). We have walked almost 500 km from Waterton to Sunshine Village so we decided to celebrate the halfway point of our GDT hike in style by treating ourselves to a nice hotel in Banff... hot shower, clean clothes and steak dinner too!

Over the past week we were hiking in Provincial and National Parks (Elk Lakes Provincial Park, Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Banff National Park & Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park), so the walking has been on good trail through some spectacular areas. The warm temperatures and sunny skies that we had gotten used to in the south vanished our first day out of Boulton Creek campground when we awoke to frost on our tents and fresh snow on the surrounding mountains. It felt like summer was over and it was only the first week of August. But the stunning beauty of the areas we hiked through easily kept us inspired to venture out of our cozy sleeping bags every morning into the cold.

BIG THANKS to the cyclists from Calgary who shared their campsite at Boulton Creek campground with us!

Bizarre yoga pose at Elk Lakes (DAY 20)

Upper Kananaskis Lake (DAY 22)

At Banff's Birdwood campground, due to a coincidence of timing, we camped with 5 other long-distance GDT hikers: Duane & Angela from Calgary; Harry (Angela's dad) from Penticton; and Dave and Pat from Smithers. Duane, Angela & Harry are section-hiking from Boulton Creek to Field, while Dave & Pat left Waterton on July 15 and are also hiking as far as Field. We sat around the campfire late into the evening, sharing many trail stories and laughs. After hiking most of the southern sections of the GDT without seeing any other hikers it was a pleasure to share our camp with some fellow long-distance hikers. Harry empathized with my bear-mace incident as he had a mace accident of his own too... we both can laugh at it now.

We wish them all the best on the rest of their hikes and hope to hear from them after they're done.
THANKS to friendly Park Ranger Julie for her help with our National Park Permit!

The highlight of the entire section was Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park. While this park is extremely popular (i.e. busy), the beauty of the glacier-capped mountains, blue-green lakes and seemingly endless alpine meadows makes you wish that you could hike through areas like this forever...

Mount Assiniboine and Magog Lake (DAY 27)

Sunset at Og Lake (DAY 27)

SPECIAL THANKS to Dustin and Roche for coming out to visit from Canmore!

Footprints at camp

2006-08-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

JULY 27, 2006
After an amazing rest day in Longview, we shared beers and an incredible sunset with Ann (from the Highwood House store) and her husband Phil on the back deck of their house. The next day Ann drove us to the Baril Creek trailhead and we headed back up into the mountains... up and over the Great Divide at Fording River Pass, where we crossed back into BC.

SPECIAL THANKS to Ann & Phil!

Christy, Paolo, Brad and Bev on Fording River Pass (DAY 19)

Our camp that night was at a little lake on the BC side of the pass. While we didn't see any animal visitors during the night, the footprints near our camp indicated that we weren't the only ones who used the lake as a water source!

The trail (if you can call it that) that led down to the Elk River valley from Fording River Pass was an ATV track so overgrown that we couldn't see our own feet as we tripped over rocks and branches sending us tumbling down the mountainside. At the Elk River we joined a gravel road that led to Elk Lakes Provincial Park. As we sat in the shade near a small stream on the side of the deserted road, contemplating the 20 kilometres of hot and dusty road-walking that lay ahead, suddenly a truck came driving up the road like a mirage. The truck skidded to a stop and Dave from Elkford asked if we needed a lift. We jumped at the chance and hopped in the back of his pick-up truck as Dave sped off down the road, racing the rapidly-deflating air in his punctured rear tire! We reached Dave's campsite in a few minutes and his wife Laura kindly drove us the remaining distance down the road in her car (with all tires intact) to Elk Lakes. We passed the southern boundary of Elk Lakes Provincial Park which signified that once again we were in protected land and would be following the well-established trails of the parks for most of the next month of hiking.

BIG THANKS to Dave & Laura from Elkford!

Photo Gallery

2006-08-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

Carthew Lakes, Waterton Lakes National Park (DAY 3 - we saw a grizzly bear at the lower lake in the photo)

Paolo & Bev on Tamarack Summit, Waterton Lakes National Park (DAY 4)

Brad on the Great Divide north of Sage Pass (DAY 5)

Christy sliding down Font Mountain ridge canyon (DAY 5)

Christy and Mount Matkin (DAY 5)

All tuckered out on LaCoulotte Ridge (DAY 6)

Christy contemplating the weather on LaCoulotte Ridge (DAY 6)

Christy and Brad (showing off his beard) on Tornado Mountain (DAY 14)

Wildflower zen (DAY 15)

Brad and Christy on the Original Great Divide Trail section (DAY 16)

LOST

2006-07-26T17:02:00.000-07:00

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

2006-07-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-07-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

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

2006-07-18T15:08:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-07-18T14:49:00.000-07:00

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

2006-07-07T02:17:00.000-07:00

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

2006-07-06T00:59:00.000-07:00

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...

MEC's response

2006-06-30T23:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I received a response from MEC to my email and it looks like we're on our own...

"Hi Brad,
We do support conservation projects and we are definitely interested in conservation initiatives within the Y2Y corridor. We fund these kind of project through different programs, such as our Research, Capacity Building and Advocacy and Education Grants. We evaluate these project proposals based on specific criteria for each grant category. Your project sounds fantastic, but unfortunately we don't have unlimited resources and we can't support all of the great projects that come our way. I wish you all the best with this expedition and with the film."

Community Involvement Coordinator
Mountain Equipment Co-op

:(

The BIG shopping trip

2006-06-24T01:38:00.000-07:00

JUNE 23, 2006
This week we went grocery shopping for two months of food for our resupply packages.

Four exhausting hours later, after visiting both Costco and Superstore, our apartment floor is now covered with boxes and bags of pasta, rice, potato flakes, gravy, sauces, dehydrated veggies, dried fruit, chocolate bars, clif bars, granola, oatmeal, cans of tuna, powdered milk, hot chocolate, pudding, more chocolate bars, peanut butter, gatorade and more trail mix than I know what to do with.

The first thing I think is, "will I actually be able to eat all of this food?"
And then I think, "will I actually WANT to eat all of this food??"

It is hard to plan what you are going to eat two months in advance, especially trying to keep it nutritional and appetizing with mainly dried and dehydrated food. But there are some small stores at our resupply points where we can supplement our food supply with some fresh items and of course a few restaurant stops in towns along the way!

We are creating 7 resupply packages, mailing some and dropping off the others on our drive to Waterton Lakes National Park and the start of our trek.

Do they make a delicious dehydrated steak dinner yet??

My letter to MEC

2006-06-21T00:53:00.000-07:00

JUNE 20, 2006

Last month I submitted a proposal requesting the support of the Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC) Expedition Fund and the response that I received last week was less than positive. I responded with the following and I am awaiting a reply...

"By creating my film "Trail Magic", one of my major goals is to raise awareness of the Great Divide Trail (GDT) and the wilderness corridor that it passes through. The GDT is a long-distance trail of no equal. It is truly a wilderness route, allowing hikers to explore, up-close, some of the most wild and spectacular terrain in the world. And yet few people have heard of the GDT while even fewer have hiked it's entire length in a single continuous journey. Unlike the Trans-Canada Trail or the long-distance trails in the U.S. (e.g. Appalachian, Pacific Crest), the GDT has never been designated as an official long-distance route. This is largely due to the fact that Parks Canada and the BC and Alberta Provincial Governments are reluctant to spend the time to study the feasibility of such a route and recognize the positive impacts it could bring.

In 1970, Jim Thorsell prepared the original GDT proposal to the federal government, suggesting that the GDT would act as a backbone trail for the Canadian Rocky Mountains, connecting the myriad of other smaller trail systems into one continuous wilderness corridor. With the involvement of both Federal and Provincial Governments, the GDT would promote an unparalleled cooperation of land management groups and allow for significant progress to be made in the establishment of a continuous, preserved wilderness corridor in the Rocky Mountains. But sadly, the bureaucratic attitude of the Federal Government and the lack of cooperation from the multitude of land management interests led to the concept of the GDT fading away.

But today there is new hope that the GDT may yet live. By working with the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (exploring their continuous wildlife corridor concept), I hope that the film is able to raise the profile of the Great Divide Wilderness and bring more awareness to some of the mismanaged and/or over-resourced land that the route passes through. At the same time my film will highlight what IS working along the GDT and hopefully lessons that can be learned in order to allow the dream of an official long-distance Great Divide Trail to come true.

I am a non-profit filmmaker and I am passionate about this project, but it will be very difficult without support from resources such as MEC. I would very much appreciate MEC's support in this project in any way."

The Great Divide Trail Map

2006-06-15T02:14:00.000-07:00

For more detailed maps and trail information go to: www.bradlandproductions.com/gdtmaps.html

Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative

2006-06-15T02:06:00.000-07:00

JUNE 12th, VANCOUVER, BC

I spoke with Lorraine Laplante (Director of Marketing and Member Services) and Nicky Blackshaw (Communications) of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (www.Y2Y.net) today about their involvement with Trail Magic.

Y2Y has two main initiatives: 1) Science & Action; and 2) Communication & Awareness. The latter of which we would be getting involved with in a project called 'Lay of the Landscape'. Lay of the Landscape is a database being prepared by Sean Britt of Y2Y that includes all of the different land management areas in the proposed Y2Y Wilderness Corridor (which the GDT closely follows throughout the Rockies) and details the points of conflict, 'hot spots', and challenges that exist. Our involvement would be to document (by means of our film) the real-life challenges for a backpacker while traveling through these hot spots and our personal opinions based on our experience along the Y2Y Corridor - good and bad; positive and negative; what is working and what is not.

I am preparing a Media Release for Y2Y distribution and will gather more information in further discussions with them...

Meeting the Great Divide Trail Association crew

2006-06-15T01:24:00.000-07:00

MAY 25th - CALGARY, ALBERTA

This afternoon, I went to the Alberta Wilderness Association office located in an old, two-storey schoolhouse in a quiet, residential neighbourhood near downtown Calgary, where I had arranged to meet with three of the original members of the Great Divide Trail Association (GDTA); Dave Higgins, Jeff Gruttz, and James Prescott.

Dave Higgins

Dave is one of the founding members of the GDTA, established in 1974 by a mainly volunteer staff dedicated to bringing the concept of the Great Divide Trail alive outside of the Park system. Dave was part of the original GDT recon mission called "Project: Great Divide Trails." In the summer of 1974, he and five other enthusiastic individuals scouted some 4800 kilometres of trail on foot throughout the Canadian Rockies south of Banff. Dave and the GDTA designed and built miles of Great Divide Trail outside of the National Parks between 1976 to 1987.

Dave is passionate about the GDT and still leads trail maintenance trips into the Rockies every summer. He was excited about our hike and film project, hoping that it may breathe some life into the support of the GDT. He offered to help us out with on-route resupply and may even join us on the trail.

Jeff Gruttz

Jeff came to Calgary in 1973 from New Jersey to complete his Masters thesis on hiking trail impact. Shortly thereafter he joined the GDTA and moved permanently to Calgary. In-depth trail feasibility studies like Jeff's thesis rarely happen today as current wilderness management is so focussed on how to manage existing trail systems that there just aren't the resources available to invest in new trail concepts or long-distance trail systems.

Jeff is a trail-designer/builder extraordinaire and shares his skills and experience as a volunteer with several trail maintenance organizations. He has an incredible wealth of knowledge on the history of trail systems in Canada and the U.S., noting that concepts like the Recreational Trails Act in the U.S. (providing funding support for the U.S. long-distance trail systems) do not exist in Canada making it difficult for trails such as the GDT to survive.

Jeff's hope is that a new dialogue with Alberta's Sustainable Resource Development will boost the profile of the GDT, get the GDT officially recognized and put it on the map... literally!

James Prescott

James joined the GDTA in the late 70s and has been passionately building and maintaining the trails of the Divide ever since. James described the methods of trail-building to me in great detail and the love he had for the art of trail-building was obvious. He described his experience on the Great Divide as a magical place where he finds much peace and solitude.

James believes that the answer to 'should the federal government officially recognize the GDT?' is not an easy one -- it would inevitably lead to a significant increase in backcountry users and would require improved trail infrastructure and several individuals dedicated to regular maintenance and management of the Great Divide trail network. He invisions the next generation of the GDTA playing a large role in the future of the trail. James smiles and says, the original spirit of the GDT is still alive.

Pre-hike trip to Banff and Canmore

2006-06-06T23:01:00.000-07:00

MAY 22nd - CANMORE, ALBERTA

I arrived in Canmore today after a long day of driving in slow holiday-Monday traffic, but the weather was good so the drive was enjoyable. I stopped for lunch on Rogers Pass (where there is still a foot of snow) but the main chain of the Rockies is already relatively snow-free... more like late June than May so that bodes well for trail conditions on our hike.

I met with Dustin Lynx, author of the definitive Great Divide Trail Guidebook, at his home in Canmore. Dustin and his wife Julia made me feel right at home. After dinner with Dustin, Julia and their son and daughter, Dustin took me for a hike to one of his favourite spots near Canmore and we chatted about the GDT, hiking, climbing, travel and just life in general. He is a great guy and it was very easy to chat and get along. He was able to provide an incredible amount of advice on planning for my trek.

Julia is passionate about the conservation aspect of the GDT and she works with the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) establishing a continuous protected wildlife corridor along the Rocky Mountains. She encouraged me to spend some time in my film discussing the subject of conservation and I think that whether I plan to or not the subject will inevitably come up, especially in areas where the scar of industry impedes our progress (like in the south). I plan to explore the subject more and speak with Y2Y before my hike begins.

I didn't get much video footage of Dustin.. it didn't feel right. It actually felt invasive to put the camera in his face and ask him to talk. Obviously, as a filmmaker, this is something I have to learn to overcome. But our chats were personal and much of what he and Julia spoke about was emotional and it felt like I would be betraying their openness and trust to record what they shared with me. But I found my visit with them very inspiring and the process of doing interviews and putting a documentary film together is much less daunting.

MAY 23rd - BANFF, ALBERTA

I met with Jim Thorsell this morning and had another inspirational conversation. In 1969 Jim prepared the Mountain Park Trail Study for Planning and Considerations of the Great Divide Trail and then in 1970, he wrote the original "Trail Guide and Map for the Proposed Great Divide Trail." Jim defined a long distance trail such as the GDT as "a major objective which is challenging and monumental in its rewards, providing an alternative challenge to alpinism." He proposed that "the Great Divide Trail has a rationale in preserving a continuous stretch of wilderness through the mountain parks and in fostering cooperative planning among them."

Jim had many stories and insight into the lengthy history of the GDT and how things came to be the way they are with respect to the trail and lack of government interest. He still thinks that there is a chance for the trail to be officially recognized but realistically new feasibility studies would have to take place since those done at the time when he originally proposed the trail are now outdated. He hopes that my film might re-energize interest in the GDT.

In the afternoon, I delved into the archives of the Whyte Museum in Banff and discovered some amazing information and articles on the GDT from the late 60s and early 70s, reinforcing Jim's point that most (if not all) of the studies completed on the GDT are seriously outdated.

I will be meeting the Great Divide Trail Association and Alberta Wilderness Association folks tomorrow in Calgary...

Trail Magic: Pre-production

2006-06-06T22:58:00.000-07:00

In July 2006, four people will abandon their cushy West Coast lives and set out to survive for 60 consecutive days in the remote wilderness of the Rocky Mountains while trekking more than one thousand kilometres on the Great Divide Trail. They will tackle icy river crossings and precipitous mountain navigation while confronting hungry bears and blood-sucking insects on their journey from the Alberta-U.S. border to Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies.

They will film every day and document their entire adventure, inviting the audience to follow their physical and emotional journey; discover how (or if) they are able to overcome all of the obstacles to successfully complete their trek; and experience the magic of life on the trail.

The adventurers are: me (Brad Vaillancourt), Christy Stesky, Paolo Bordignon, and Bev Jones. I plan to chronicle our journey in this blog as often as I can, updating our progress on the trail and telling stories of our adventures.

The journey and film are currently in the pre-production and planning stages. For more detailed information check out www.bradlandproductions.com/gdtfilm.html