Section C - Day 6: Sun & Beauty
Day 6 of section C brought the most welcome thing I could imagine - the beginning of three days in a row of uninterrupted sun! I'd...
Gayly Forward
Thru-Hiking: Never Straightforward
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Section C - Day 5: Lessons of Tamarack.
I leave Banff after my unplanned snow-day as early as I can tear myself away from the cotton sheets and hot running water (read: way...
Section C - Day 4: And Then It Snowed.
Morning 4 of section C, brings some weak sunlight filtering through the rain, but not enough to dry off my gear. Everything is damp, and...
Section C - Day 3: And More Rain
On Wednesday, I wake early. I have made my coffee and taken down my tent before the others begin to stir and I set out again on this easy...
Section C - Day 2: Revisiting
The next day takes me through more beautiful scenery, and more rain. The day begins with a steep 450 metre climb up a brushed-over...
Section C - Day 1: Rain
I prepare a cardboard sign to hitch back to the trailhead and walk to the edge of town. Car after expensive rental car pass me without...
Rest Days in Banff between sections B and C
My first morning in Banff, I awake early on hiker time, and limp out onto the main street while the town still sleeps. The streets are...
Section B - Day 7: Out of the Wilderness
KM Hiked: 22. Territory: Blackfoot/NiitsItapi, Stoney, Tsuu T'ina, Ktunaxa. It rains all night, and when I wake it is clear and bright,...
Section B - Day 6: Presence & Deep Time
KM Hiked: 28. Territory: Blackfoot/NiitsItapi, Stoney, Tsuu T'ina, Ktunaxa. The next morning, I sleep well through my alarm and am...
Section B - Day 5: Isolation
KM Hiked: 25. Territory: Blackfoot/NiitsItapi, Stoney, Tsuu T'ina, Ktunaxa. The next day, the reality of having only seen humans for 5...
Section B - Day 4: Maybe it's going to be OK?
KM Hiked: 24. Territory: Blackfoot/NiitsItapi, Stoney, Tsuu T'ina, Ktunaxa. I wake up feeling miraculously better. It doesn't seem...
Section B - Day 3: Tornado Saddle.
KM Hiked: 22. Territory: Blackfoot/NiitsItapi, Stoney, Tsuu T'ina, Ktunaxa. I wake up after my two-day hellish road walk unreasonably...
Section B - Days 1 & 2: A Painful Blur
KM Hiked: 30. Territory: Blackfoot/NiitsItapi, Stoney, Tsuu T'ina, Ktunaxa. The first two days of Section B are a blur to me. I left...
Section A - Day 4: The Wind
0 Km hiked. Territory: Blackfoot/Niitsitapi, Ktunaxa I wake to the sound of flapping tent fabric, and struggle to get going in the...
Section A - Day 3: Up Yarrow Creek
15 Km Hiked. Territory: Blackfoot/Niitsitapi, Ktunaxa Day 3 takes me up and over a ridge on an arrow-straight cutline overgrown with...
Section A - Day 2: Thunder in the foothills
26.5 Km Hiked. Territory: Blackfoot/Niitsitapi, Ktunaxa I awake before my alarm to the sound of thunder in the distance. I'm warm and...
Section A - Day 1: A Short Walk to the Border
6 Km Hiked. Territory: Blackfoot/Niitsitapi, Ktunaxa My mom and I arrive in Waterton townsite in the evening. A mountaineer in the...
GDT Section A - The Real Deal.
When I did my first section of the Great Divide Trail 3 years ago, I met my first thru-hikers. They strode past me carrying impossibly...
GDT Prep (is killing me)
Holy crap I'm hitting the trail in a week and WOAH I really underestimated the sheer amount of work required to prepare for a hike like...
