We thru hiked the Great Divide Trail (GDT) NOBO in the summer of 2018.
The GDT is an 1130 km trail along the great divide in Canada, going between Waterton Lakes National Park (at the US/ Canada border) to Kakwa Provincial Park and Protected Area.
Our start date was July 5, 2018, and we finished the trail on August 23, 2018.
We spent a total of 49 days on the trail including four (4) zero days.
After finishing the trail we hiked out of the remote area around Kakwa Provincial Park down the 70km access road for another 45 km or so until we were able to hitch a ride with a Wildfire Management worker who was managing a fire along the road.
GDT 2018
the “wildest thru hike”
Resources:
Blog Posts
Post-GDT:
GDT:
Jasper – Kakwa:
- Wildlife Summary: GDT Section F/G
- Days 49 and 50 – The road out
- Day 48 – Holy shit, we did it!
- Day 47 – Back on good trail!
- Day 46 – Finally off the river
- Day 45 – Down to the river
- Day 44 – Coldest feet ever and beautiful alpine
- Day 43 – What are dry feet? Part 2
- Day 42 – What are dry feet?
- Day 41 – Easy walking in and out of meadows
- Day 40 – We survived the highway
Crossing – Jasper:
- Wildlife Summary: GDT Section E
- Day 39 – Delightful zero in Jasper
- Day 38 – Does 19km count as a nero?
- Day 37 – Skyline? More like smoke and rain line
- Day 36 – Through the brush and into the smoke
- Day 35 – Jasper has great trails and weird toilets
- Day 34 – Back on track
- Day 33 – It should have been a good day
- Day 32 – Back into the woods
Field – Crossing:
- Trip Report: GDT Redux Day 4 – Random camping on Howse Floodplain to Mistaya Canyon
- Trip Report: GDT Redux Day 3 – Lambe Creek to random camping on Howse Floodplain
- Trip Report: GDT Redux Day 2 – Howse River Horse Camp to Lambe Creek
- Trip Report: GDT Redux Day 1 – Mistaya Canyon to Howse River Horse Camp
- GDT Reflection: Mid Point
- Wildlife Summary: GDT Section D
- Day 31 – Out of the woods
- Day 30 – How bad could a few downed trees be?
- Day 29 – It’s not a hike until you go through the carwash
- Day 28 – Halfway there
Peter Lougheed – Field:
- Wildlife Summary: GDT Section C
- Day 27 – In and out of Field
- Day 26 – A beautiful section to hit 500km
- Day 25 – Into the Rockwall
- Day 24 – Back into the wilderness (sorta)
- Day 22 and 23 – Highly unrecommended double zero in Banff
- Day 21 – Back into civilization
- Day 20 – Easiest Day Yet?
- Day 19 – We briefly visited BC
- Day 18 – We saw more people today than cumulatively prior
Coleman – Peter Lougheed:
- Wildlife Summary: GDT Section B
- Day 17 – Our outdoor spaces are way too car-centric
- Longest we have hiked ever
- A little bit about camp sites
- Day 16 – Felt like a nero
- Day 15 – Chill passes and the return of the road
- Day 14 – Toe socks last 276 kms
- Day 13 – More horse camps and our first thunderstorm
- Day 12 – We’ve walked one degree of latitude!
- Day 11 – Bunnytown and getting on a trail again
- Day 10 – Too short or too long?
- Day 9 – A test of our commitment
- Day 8 – Zero in Coleman
Waterton – Coleman:
- GDT Reflection: Day 7
- Day 7 – Nero in Coleman (aka Alannah and Dan are wonderful)
- Day 6 – Nothing to see here
- Day 5 – Roadwalking our feet to death
- Day 4 – We’re going to die
- Day 3 – Holy exposure Batman
- Day 2 – Scariest day of our lives?
- Day 1 – Bushwhacking uphill
- Day 0 – The longest hitch
- Day 00/0 On our way to the GDT!
Backpacks & Bike Racks 