The GDT Awaits!

Note: I am excited to be blogging for The Trek this season. Please note that the GDT posts published here will appear on the Trek website a few days earlier 👍🏻

Find the original post here …

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As I am digging myself out of an Internet rabbit hole of freeze dried dog food, tent materials and features as well as recommended alternates on my hiking route, I realize the exciting, intense and sometimes stressful period of hike preparation has started. I am lucky enough to have done long hikes before, encountering many landscapes, climbs and weather situations, so I am not too worried about getting through some challenges. Still, it’s a new trail and one that is considered “tough” compared to others.

This summer, I will be hiking half of the Great Divide Trail in the Canadian Rockies, with my dog Ksanka. She is a 3 year old Border Collie mix that I adopted 1.5 years ago from a shelter in Idaho. She is keen, agile and a relentless runner so I’m curious to find out if we can get to the end of her energy on any of our hiking days!

The only time I’ve seen her tired and ready to be in the tent was after a day of relentless rain hiking in Montana (she is pretty slim which means there isn’t much fat to keep her warm; she was bundled up in space blankets and extra clothing at the end of that day).

The Great Divide Trail runs for 1100km from the US border in Waterton Lakes National Park to Kakwa Provincial Park north of Jasper, at exactly 54 degrees latitude. Our chosen section is from the southern terminus at the US border to Field, BC, totalling about 550km. Our current plan is to complete this section in 23 days, including two “zeros” (hiker lingo for rest days with 0km hiked). 

Hikers who have looked into a GDT hike will know that getting the required camp reservations is the biggest hurdle in planning for the GDT. As a hopeful hiker, one has to be online on the day the Canada Parks reservations open in February, and quickly book multiple campsites that fill up quickly. We had a stressful morning in February, refreshing the waitlist and having all notes handy to reserve those required spots for our hike. That also means that unlike other hikes like the PCT, you need to know in advance where you will be each night of the GDT hike. It’s almost impossible to plan for all things that could delay (or advance) a hiker on a long trail but until the GDTA can work this out with Canada Parks, it is what needs to get done. I think it would really booster the popularity of the trail when an overarching permit can be worked out between those agencies!

As for logistics, we have secured a ride with a friend to Alberta and hope to hitchhike the last section to Waterton on our first day. The inaugural section is the short 6km hike from Waterton townsite to the border and back (12 km total), camping in Waterton. A pretty comfortable start with many amenities accessible … after that the more serious wanderings start!

For more information on this hike, check out the GDTA website. 

Thoughts and plans for my gear will be discussed in my next post! Also, I will share my preparations for food for the dog and myself separately as well. For now I am going through all my gear, hiking clothes and memories of things that work or didn’t work on previous hikes! 😁

Happy Trails!

The GDT Awaits!