Pathfinder Newsletter

Below is the current issue of Pathfinder Newsletter. Enjoy!

Pathfinder Winter 2024

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Past Editions

Pathfinder Winter 2024 Pathfinder Spring 2024 Pathfinder Newsletter – Winter 2023

The Vanishing Trail – Part 2: Mission Accomplished!

By David Higgins In “The Vanishing Trail – Part 1” in last fall’s edition of the Pathfinder, I shared some background on the historic route traversing the Blaeberry River valley in British Columbia and the Howse River valley in Alberta. Known today as the David Thompson Heritage Trail, the backcountry…

Section D Facelift

By Brad Vaillancourt and Dan Durston Every family has its black sheep and the GDT is no different. Section D – Field to the Crossing – has an infamous and long-standing reputation of being the worst section of the GDT, demanding blood, sweat and tears from thru-hikers while providing very little…

Pathfinder Newsletter – Summer/Autumn 2018

Summer of 2018 was very busy for the GDTA, with more trail building and maintenance trips than ever before! Despite another bad wildfire season, the GDT was as busy as ever with record numbers of thru-hikers on the trail. Read more about our recent events and activities in this edition…

2018 Trail Building & Maintenance Trips

2018 was a very busy year for the GDTA, with more Signature, Hybrid, Walking, Bridge-building, and Scouting trips than ever before! A huge amount was accomplished thanks to the large number of hard-working and dedicated volunteers. Key accomplishments in 2018: 90 km of the Original Great Divide Trail cleared and…

Volunteer Opportunities

The Great Divide Trail Association is a 100% volunteer run organization. As presented at our 2018 Annual General Meeting, we currently organize our activities around five committees or volunteer teams. Most meet regularly in Calgary but it is possible to Skype or call into the meetings. If you are interested in…

The Vanishing Trail

by Dave Higgins Amazing and improbable as it is, Howse Pass is one of the gentlest crossings of the Continental Divide in the southern Canadian Rockies, yet somehow it has managed to escape the fate of other passes in the region. No road or rail line disfigures it. This despite…

Volunteer Recognition Awards

As you may already know the GDTA is a volunteer based organization that relies on the work and passion of people like you. Every year we recognize the efforts of volunteers who go above and beyond to help us achieve our objectives. This year has been an exceptional year for…

Tales from the Trail: Hiking the Six Passes Alternate Route

by Barb Lauer Having volunteered with the GDTA for the past few years, it was definitely time to walk a section of the Great Divide Trail this summer. My hiking partner was the formidable Lynnie Wonfor who some of you may have met on a maintenance trip. So you get…

2018 AGM: President’s Report

by Dave Hockey Well, I thought last year was busy, but this year was the busiest so far. We got off to a good start in November researching membership software and implementing it. This took countless hours and although we found out that the program did not meet our needs,…

Pathfinder Newsletter – Spring 2018

Welcome spring, from the GDTA! It has been a slow and soggy start to spring, but the hiking season will soon be upon us. We’re excited about this summer season as we are offering more opportunities to connect with the wilderness of the Canadian Rocky Mountains and contribute to the…