Into the Wild Divide

Well here we go folks!

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The Great Divide has been calling for quite some time, and we have been preparing to answer her wild, rugged, and Canadian call.

The hours and hours of planning…my gosh the planning. Having done a thru-hike of the PCT in 2014 (I apologize for continuing to mention this…it was kind of a big deal!) you would think I would remember the amount of pre-trip planning a big hike like this demands. But, I forgot. I romanticized. I longed for my beloved trail home, filled with mundane walking, mile after mile after mile. Gosh I missed her.

Here we are, sitting in Banff, doing (literally) our last minute prep. We are finally answering the call of the GDT, and we leave tonight! Our ridiculous van, whom we have been calling Tic Tac (as a trial run) decided he needed some roadside repairs and a tire change. Oh sure, no big deal, Dan will just add that to his ever towering list of to-dos. Wonderful timing. I think the van is just jealous that we are leaving him behind at a trailhead for four months. We have spent a lot of time in Tic Tac lately – 2 months in Pemberton and Squamish, and a one week road trip to Montana. I can see why he’s upset. Sorry Tic Tac!

But alas, we must move from vanlife to trail life – dirtbags to hiker trash. It feels unreal really. We never completely recovered from trail life since the Pacific Crest Trail – 2660 miles can mess with a person. We ended up living in a Westfalia van for 15 months while in Victoria in an attempt to live more simply and to save money for our next thru-hike. I think we took minimalism to a whole we level, without really meaning to. More on that another time!

This evening we leave Banff and drive to Field BC where we will sleep in our microvan for one final night. Tomorrow morning we get up, pack our itsy bitsy possessions of trail life goodness into our back-packs, then start to dangle our thumbs for our first of MANY hitch-hikes. We hitch to Calgary, then catch a Greyhound as close to the trailhead as possible, then hitch the final amount to Waterton Lakes.

WATERTON LAKES – the trailhead; the gateway to the GDT; the start; day one. I’ve been waiting for this for so long, and yes, it was bound to actually ARRIVE at some point,but it’s still crazy that it’s here.

As I’ve mentioned previously, we will be attempting to yo-yo the Great Divide Trail – hike up, then turn around and come back, with a total of roughly 2500 kilometres. If we are successful, we will be the first to have done so, and we believe this will be the longest hike ever of the Canadian Rockies. Ambitious, sure, but our kind of fun.

Dan and I will have separate blogs this time, so please follow him as well at www.intocascadia.com – he’s an excellent writer! He has also scored as a “product tester” with a variety of companies, so lots of gear reviews to follow!

We will only see 12 town stops total in the four months we will be hiking, so our updates will be infrequent, so bear with us. My hope is that we will include videos from the trail as well, with a more intimate look at trail life. You will get to see the crazy roller coaster that is thru-hiking – your welcome! (I think…)

Well, gotta jet…or drive…or hitch…or bus…

or WALK for a while. Whatever it is hiker trash do ( I feel a bit rusty)

Walk on (again)

 

 



8 thoughts on “Into the Wild Divide”

  • I’m so looking forward to following through with your adventure again! I will be here in Ontario getting excited and inspired for you! Dave and I are taking our own hiking trips this summer, and I know that following your blog will keep me motivated and excited to do so! Safe and happy hiking to both of you! You are in my prayers.

    • Yay Meghan! Glad to have you on board again. I’m happy for you and Dave that you are doing some hiking as well. Where are you going? Are you taking your pup? I miss Sitka!

    • Thanks Poppa Lorax – even though we haven’t hiked yet, I look forward to the month we are planning to spend in Ontario after the hike. Good conversation and company and food (Moms cheesecake perhaps…?) Man, already thinking about food…

  • Tara, & Dan, so proud of you, & looking forward to your blogs. See you in Whitehorse July 1st, then again at the north trail head. Love ❤️ The Frey’s

    • Thanks dad! I am so looking forward to Whitehorse! We just got to Banff after section C and are POOPED! We finished every section early, so we have extra time to relax. See you in a few days!