Category: Blog

By Joan Pendleton

The Great Divide Trail (GDT) is a backpackers’ trail.  Known as an epic thru-hike, it is over 1100 km long.  Divided into seven sections, with the shortest section about 100 km long, section hiking also entices backpackers.  But what if one wants to do a day hike on the GDT?  On a trail that can be easily driven to?

The Carthew Alderson Traverse is a one-way, 20 km day hike in Waterton Lakes National Park.  It runs from Cameron Lake along the Akamina Parkway, to Cameron Falls in Waterton Townsite.  This stretch of the GDT is arguably one of the most beautiful.  It samples some of the best of what the GDT is known for – fir forests, creeks, waterfalls, meadows, turquoise lakes, high, barren passes, snowy mountain views that go on forever, and snow into July.  Shuttle service to Cameron Lake is available from The Tamarack outdoor store in Waterton Townsite.

It was late July 2016 and during a solo trip, on my way home from Regina, I found myself in Waterton Lakes N. P. as it had been on my “list” forever to come here and hike.  Only prepared for day hiking, I car camped at the drive-in campground in Waterton Townsite, did some shorter day hikes, and explored the town – cute town.  Stopping in at Tamarack Outdoor Outfitters (now named The Tamarack), I learned about the Carthew Alderson Traverse and their convenient shuttle to its trailhead at Cameron Lake.  Yes! this had to be hiked.  I signed up for an early morning shuttle, and continued exploring the Townsite.

Carthew Alderson Traverse Day, woke up early, had a big breakfast, packed two lunches plus snacks into my day pack, and off I went, walking over to Tamarack Outdoor Outfitters to catch the early shuttle to the trailhead.  Hikers had already started gathering on the front porch at Tamarack Outdoor Outfitters, milling around, introducing themselves, striking up conversation while waiting, as hikers do.  Mostly small groups.  Seeing I was alone, some invited me to hike with them.  I am old and slow.  They were all half my age or less, and likely much faster, so explaining a bit, I politely declined.  The bus showed up and we all piled in.  And we were off, up Akamina Parkway to Cameron Lake.  The chatting continued and before we knew it we were there.  Everyone piled off and headed for the trail.  Quite a crowd.  I held back so the fast, young ones could start first, not wanting to be continually passed in the first 500m.  Eventually, most were off down the trail, and a couple looking about my age, were still there with me.  They invited me to hike with them – Shannon and Serge from somewhere in BC.  Very nice people, and off we went, our Merry Band of 3.

The trail started flat, in the fir forest.  It did not disappoint; almost immediately we passed Cameron Lake with Mount Custer looming over its far end.

Mount Custer reflected in Cameron Lake

Continuing on at a steady, leisurely pace we enjoyed the fir forest as the trail began its climb.  The climb, on long switchbacks in the cool forest, was not very steep, quite pleasant.  Gentle enough to carry on a conversation (which of course, we did).  We soon noticed the trees had thinned as we had gotten higher.

Thinning fir forest along the trail with glimpses of Chapman Peak through the trees

After a few kilometers we finished our last switchback (for now), and found ourselves in beautiful, green, grassy meadows.  We soon arrived at Summit Lake.  This is a very deceiving name; there is no “summit” here at all, and we still had a lot more uphill ahead.  But what a beautiful setting!  The tops of snowy Mount Custer and Chapman Peak poked up above the trees on the far side of Summit Lake.

Chapman Peak (left) and Mount Custer (right) rise behind Summit Lake

At Summit Lake, there was a trail junction.  One could continue straight and flat, and end up in the States, enticing, but not where we wanted to go.  Or one could turn left and start uphill again.  We turned left and started climbing again, gradually.  The scenery just got better and better.  The trail was on a hillside, with firs on the right.  On the left, a broad, very green valley of meadows and firs dropped off below.  And behind us in the distance was a wall of snowy mountains including Chapman Peak and Mount Custer.  The trail itself was lined with greenery and blooming bear-grass.  All just gorgeous!

Mount Custer (distant center) to the south along the trail

After another few kilometers, still on the hillside, the trail curved left, and now above tree line, we found ourselves on a loose rocky slope.  Looking up the slope there was a barren, rocky saddle between two mountains – Mount Carthew and Mount Alderson.  And that was where we had to get to.  But it was still a ways off and the slope was steep.  Fortunately, once again there were long, gentle switchbacks.  And the trail was good… for a rocky slope.  We slowly made our way up, taking many scenic rest breaks along the way.  And they sure were worth it!  We had a better view of the green valley below.  And the remote North Lakes – Lake Wurdeman (left) and Lake Nooney (right), could now be seen between Chapman Peak and Mount Custer.  These lakes and the wall of mountains behind them, are all across the border, in the northernmost part of Glacier National Park in Montana.  This side of these mountains and the lakes at their bases are not accessible by trail (or road).

Left to right – Chapman Peak, Lake Wurdeman, Lake Nooney, Mount Custer

We finally reached the saddle.  It was breezy, but not unpleasant, and the view was great!  Now at the saddle, the view on the other side to the north, opened up.  It was a very different view, but just as awesome.  The three turquoise Carthew Lakes were strung out in a line into the distance in the valley below.  The steep rocky sides of this valley were the slopes of Mount Carthew ahead on the left, and Mount Alderson ahead on the right.  In the very, very far distance in the haze, we could see the prairies.

Three Carthew Lakes in the valley between Mount Carthew (left) and Mount Alderson (right)

The trail went along the ridgeline of the saddle for a ways.  Behind, to the east, a shoulder of Mount Alderson rose up from the saddle.  And ahead was a shoulder of Mount Carthew to the northwest.  We reached the point where the trail turned right and started descending, and decided we didn’t want to leave these hard earned views yet.

Lunch time!  We sat down on the rocky slopes to eat.  We ate slowly, conversed, and just enjoyed the scenery on this beautiful bluebird day.  After quite a long break we packed up and our Merry Band of 3 was off again.

We descended the loose rocky slopes to the first of the three Carthew Lakes.  Here on the north side of the saddle, there were still snow patches in late July.  The trail crossed a snow patch that went right down to the edge of the lake.  The snowy slope above the lake was steep enough that we wished we had spikes, but we didn’t.  Carefully making our way across, we all made it without falling in the lake.

First Carthew Lake, the trail crosses snow just above the lake

From here, the trail ran along the west shorelines of all three Carthew Lakes.  The lakes were connected by creeks, and the outlet creek of the third lake was Carthew Creek.  Leaving the third Carthew Lake behind, we descended down a short slope back into grassy meadows.  Veering right after this short descent, we met up with Carthew Creek cascading down as a waterfall.  The trail crossed Carthew Creek at a break in the waterfall and soon came to a short spur trail that led to Alderson Lake where there is a trail camp.

Traveling on and continuing to gradually descend, the trees, small at first, re-appeared.  Soon we were in a full-fledged fir forest.  In the forest, the trail ran in the Carthew Creek Valley for about the next 6 km.  Carthew Creek could be heard, but not seen, at the valley bottom.  The hike was getting long now.  The Merry Band of 3 was munching on trail mix as we hiked on down the forested valley.  It was a beautiful forest, but after the earlier dramatic views, we were all eager to get back to town.  After about an hour of this forest hiking, louder water sounds could be heard, and we reached the bend to the right in the trail where Carthew Creek emptied into Cameron Creek.  Now we followed Cameron Creek downstream on a steep hillside, with a view of Waterton Townsite below, in the not too far distance.

Before we knew it, our Merry Band of 3 popped out of the trees at Cameron Falls and paved road.  It was late afternoon, about 4pm, and we were all rather tired.  We wished each other well and said our good-byes.  What a glorious day!  What a beautiful 20 km of the GDT!

 

In May 2020, the Alberta government rescinded, without public consultation, its 1976 Coal Policy, banning open-pit mining on Category 2 lands since they were deemed vital to environmental protection.  This decision to rescind exposed these Eastern Slope headwaters to coal exploration and strip-mining, and resulted in more than 350 new coal agreements.

As a result of an outcry across the province, on January 19, 2021, Alberta’s Energy Minister, Sonya Savage, announced a temporary pause on future coal lease sales and the cancellation of 11 coal leases.   On February 8, Minister Savage further announced a change of course, and that the Alberta government is “keeping the 1976 Coal Policy in place and committing to consult on a modernized policy”, and applications for additional exploration in former Category 2 lands will be prohibited pending “widespread consultations on a new coal policy”.

The Great Divide Trail Association (GDTA) is pleased the government appears to be listening to Albertans who seek a voice in land-use decisions that affect these valuable headwaters, sensitive ecosystems, and critical wildlife habitats. However, the threat certainly remains with many coal leases remaining intact.  Among these intact leases are lands at the northern end of Willoughby Ridge, overlapping 4.5 km of the Great Divide Trail (GDT) – See maps below.

 

Coal exploration alone, including the installation of drill sites and exploratory roads, can negatively impact the environment and the GDT experience. However, the development of open-pit coal mining in or near the GDT’s corridor will most certainly negatively impact the world-class wilderness recreation experience the GDTA has worked hard to build over more than 40 years.  It will also reduce the environmental gains the GDTA has achieved while building and maintaining an environmentally sustainable trail along the Great Divide of the Canadian Rockies.

The GDTA joins the voices of those Albertans who advocate for rigorous and collaborative land-use planning, where attention to the long-term impacts on water, soil, wildlife, and Alberta’s unique wilderness legacy are fully factored into policy.

 

Did you know: The Great Divide Trail (GDT) is a 1,095 kilometre trail running along the continental divide watershed from Waterton Lakes National Park to Kakwa Provincial Park in Canada. Each year several hundred hikers attempt to traverse the entire trail. Many more hike a small section, or volunteer with the Great Divide Trail Association.

If you’ve found this article interesting or helpful, please consider learning more about the Great Divide Trail Association, and how you can help preserve this Canadian Treasure!

 

By Jenny L. Feick, PhD

 

Snow provides a blank canvas for the artistry of wildlife tracks

Figuring out which creatures are sharing their home turf with you while you are passing through an area can provide an interesting diversion from cold oatmeal, blisters and fixing broken gear.  Winter snow provides a wonderful medium to record evidence of which animals have travelled through an area. Identifying tracks in the snow can be a bit like detective work. Consider every scrap of evidence while it exists. Snow is ephemeral and constantly changing so impressions can easily get distorted as the snow melts or sublimates, or tracks fill in with drifting snow, or get covered by debris and other tracks.

Be sure to get a good guidebook to track identification such as Louise Forrest’s Field Guide to Tracking Animals in Snow or a wildlife tracking app like iTrack Wildlife.  You can also set up a profile within iNaturalist.ca so that others can assist you identify tracks after you upload your pictures to iNaturalist, which contains a specific project devoted to animal tracks and signs.

Hints from the Habitat
Know where you are and what could be there. A variety of animal species live in the Rocky Mountains in the vicinity of the GDT[1]. It helps to know what animal species frequent the part of the trail you are on. In winter, you are most likely to see the tracks of mammals and some birds.  Few reptiles and amphibians live in the Rockies and the ones that do will be hibernating in the mud or deep in their dens. Fish will be under the ice. While some arthropods such as springtails and crane-flies can flourish in mild winters (another riveting story for another issue), they don’t leave tracks that most of us notice.

Are you snow hiking amid the Engelmann spruce and sub-alpine fir deep in a coniferous sub-alpine forest, a recently burned forest with young lodgepole pine emerging, or cross-country skiing through an open sub-alpine larch forest with its needle-less trees? Are you standing on a windswept alpine ridge or trekking over a tundra meadow? Or are you snowshoeing along an icy mountain stream, beside a frozen alpine tarn, or atop a frozen wetland with willow thickets in the valley bottom? The habitat provides clues as to what the tracks might be.  Red squirrels live in coniferous forests. River otter and mink are more likely to be seen along streams. Wolverines and wolves require large remote areas while mule deer and wapiti or elk tolerate human presence.

Elk bedded down in a park in downtown Canmore, AB in January 2020

 
Bird or mammal?
So, usually, your first question will be, “Am I looking at the tracks of a mammal or a bird?” The most conclusive features to confirm that the tracks are avian is if you see the imprints of feathers and/or the distinctive narrow three toes forward and one back that are characteristic of perching birds like chickadees or members of the jay family.

One of the birds most superbly adapted to mountain environments is the white-tailed ptarmigan. As it has feathered feet to protect it from the cold and a shuffling walk, the tracks can be confused with some small mammals. Like other so-called game birds such as grouse, their hind toe is small and thus not very visible. Although they can fly, ptarmigan generally prefer walking over flight to conserve energy in their unforgiving alpine habitat. In winter, this species occupies willow-dominated basins or riparian areas at or below treeline where they lead a very sedentary lifestyle, roosting in snow banks, and walking on top of the snow.

The characteristic tracks and snow roosting holes of the white-tailed ptarmigan adorn this snow slope.

 
What type of mammal?
If you have ascertained that the tracks you see do not belong to a bird, then you need to figure out what type of mammal made them. Is it a carnivore (meat-eater), an ungulate (hoofed animal), a rodent, or lagomorph (rabbit-like)? If it is a carnivore, you need to find out if it is a canid (dog-like), feline (cat-like), or mustelid (weasel-like)?  If you see claw marks, chances are the track if from one of the three wild canine species (in order of decreasing size, wolf, coyote, fox), or if associated with human tracks, a domestic dog.  You can also detect an X-shape between the paw pads as opposed to the arch- shape visible on wild feline tracks (cougar, lynx, bobcat).

 

Numerous members of the weasel family live in the Rockies. You are most likely to see the tracks of pine marten. Count yourself lucky if you find wolverine tracks, which can be tricky to distinguish from the similarly sized wolf tracks since they sometimes show claw and foot drag marks.

 

If the tracks belong to an artiodactyl (even-toed ungulate) is it a member of the deer family, a mountain goat, or a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep? Artiodactyls tend to drag their feet, especially in deep snow, so look for drag marks. Regard the shape and size of the two toes visible in the cloven-hoof print and, if the snow is deep, look for the imprint of dewclaws. Measure the straddle (width between prints) and the stride (distance between steps), and compare these against the dimensions you will find in a book on animal tracks. Artiodactyls typically place their hind feet neatly into their front hoof prints.

Rocky Mountain elk and mule deer leave the vicinity of the GDT to spend winter in the valleys where the snow is not so deep.

 

Track and Trail Tales
Refine your track identification by looking at an animal’s trail, the series of tracks in the snow. You can discern a lot just by noticing the track pattern in that trail, i.e., the distinctive arrangement of the paw or hoof prints that gives you clues about its gait.  To do that, you will need to follow the animal’s trail for at least several metres to get a sense for the animal’s most typical track pattern and to look for other clues to the animal’s identity, such as scat (animal feces), urine, blood, hair, depressions in the snow from where an animal has laid down, characteristic damage to vegetation from scent marking, thrashing, browsing, etc.

 

What Type of Track Pattern?
Another step in determining the type of animal whose tracks you are investigating is figuring out its track pattern. Three primary track patterns (with variations) exist: alternating, two-print, or four-print.  Alternating tracks show two parallel rows of tracks with the prints alternately spaced. This is the pattern humans make and is typically produced when an animal walks or trots.  The two-print track pattern has two tracks close together followed by a distinct space, with two more tracks after that, and so on. In the Rockies, the animals doing this were loping, bounding, or trotting. In the four-print track pattern, four footprints are grouped together followed by a space, and then four more prints. The most common example is created by rodents and lagomorphs as they jump or hop. Startled mule deer create a very unique clustered four-print pattern while “stotting”, i.e., when they jump off all four legs at once in Pogo-stick-like movements.

 

How can you tell the difference between the tracks of two of the most common mammals in the Rockies, the red squirrel and the snowshoe hare, both of which make four-print track patterns? Tree-dwellers like squirrels place their front feet side by side while ground dwellers like hares usually place their front feet on a diagonal.

 

What about the little critters? Of course, for most of the winter, mice and especially voles stay under the insulating blanket of snow as a means of conserving energy and avoiding avian and mammalian predators. When they do venture forth in search of seeds and other food, making their tiny tracks in the snow, what evidence is left behind? How do you know if you are looking at mice or vole tracks?  Mice tend to make a four-print hopping track pattern with a distinct tail drag in the snow whereas voles characteristically make a two-print pattern with no tail drag when they jump along through the snow.

 

What’s the Story?
On some occasions an atypical track pattern proves indecipherable and mysterious. Other times, one feels intrigued by the patterns and cannot help speculate about what may have transpired. Sometimes one can see tracks of more than one individual of the same species. “Could this be a playful lynx kitten intercepting the steady plodding tracks of its mom?” you wonder. Or, you realize that the tracks you see represent different species. “Hmmm, this looks like a wolf following a snowshoe hare trail.” Tracks tell a tale for those willing to use their imagination and to take the time to observe.

 

Mystery tracks clockwise from top left: What startled animal made these distinctively-shaped large bounding prints? Which creature made this alternating pattern with tail drag beside a snow covered log? Who emerged from its hole onto the frozen stream and then turned around and went back? These hopping and feather-like patterns suggest a bird, but which one?

 

While far fewer folks venture out onto parts of the Great Divide Trail in the winter, there can still be snow on much of the trail until June, with some patches lingering in summer, and snowfalls resuming again in earnest in the fall.  So, it is worthwhile investing some time and attention to develop and hone your snow tracking ID skills wherever and whenever you are out safely enjoying the great outdoors.

Red squirrel and cross country ski tracks on Lookout Hill, Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, AB, March 2020

 

All photographs were taken by the author in the Canadian Rockies and Columbia Mountains.

[1] While there are over 50 species of mammals you could expect to find living year-round along the GDT, you are likely to only encounter the tracks of a small number of these during winter.  The most commonly observed tracks include mule deer, elk, moose, mountain sheep, wolf, coyote, cougar, lynx, pine marten, snowshoe hare and red squirrel, mice and voles.

Committee Corner is where one finds news about what various committees are working on.  Sharing news is voluntary and committees are busy, so may not always find time to share news.  We hope committee participation grows over time.  Thank you to the committees that sent news on such short notice.

 

Outreach Committee News

The GDTA Outreach Committee has some interesting things in development for members, hikers and the public in the coming few months leading into the 2021 hiking season.

After a quiet previous year, the GDTA’s Outreach Committee has been working on some new experiences for all of us to enjoy and learn from. From exploring new possible merchandise options, developing webinars for educational and insightful topics and looking into possible trips without the sweat equity component of the trail building trips.

The schedule for the webinars will be available mid-March, with the first presentation being offered late March. Stay tuned for details, coming soon. The Outreach Committee is looking forward to sharing these experiences with you all.

Ensuring Financial Capacity Committee News

We are pleased to welcome Meaghan Underhill and David Peets to the EFC Committee.  They join Mary Jane Kreisel, Co-Chair and Doug Whiteside, Interim Co-Chair of this committee.  Meaghan will be working on grants and researching funder prospects, whereas David will be developing our corporate sponsorship program.  M.J. will continue to handle the donations portfolio.  We are currently developing a work plan and revenue figures to go into the overall GDTA budget to be approved by the Board in March.

 

 

By Mary Jane Kreisel

Last June, I wrote an article in the Pathfinder about our newly registered charitable status and how donations could support the GDTA’s work.  I am writing now to update you on the progress of our donation program and its impact on the GDTA over the last year.

Throughout the summer and fall, we saw a steady stream of donors who generously donated on our website Donation Form.  Some even pledged monthly donations – truly, the gift that keeps on giving!

One of the photos used in our Trail Supporter Campaign

In November and December of 2020, we held our first ever Trail Supporter Campaign – coinciding with “Giving Tuesday” and the holiday season. This campaign sought support for the GDTA and our multiple trail projects in B.C. and Alberta coming up this summer. We created a donation form unique to the campaign that could be used on mobile devices as well as our website. It also gave us the ability to track progress through a fundraising thermometer.

We established a fundraising goal of $5,000 which some of us thought ambitious at the time. Much to our delight and surprise, we met this goal within six days – our fundraiser thermometer had almost burst! We decided to keep the campaign going to the scheduled end date of December 20.  In total, the campaign raised over $8,000 for the GDTA.

Individual donations ranged in all shapes and sizes but what was striking was the sense that our donors were giving straight from the heart. We received a number of comments on our donation forms that were very inspirational:

Thank you for all that you do and continue to do to make the trail so great.

I’m a section hiker who started the GDT two summers ago and plan on finishing next summer. Keep up the good work!

Congratulations on all you have accomplished in this challenging year.

Walked bits and pieces of the GDT in 2020 – thank you!”

GDTA does amazing work and I am happy to support your work.”

Thank you for all the fantastic work you do! I had a blast thru-hiking the GDT this summer and the experience wouldn’t have been the same without the work of your volunteers.”

It is difficult to express how much we appreciate receiving this kind of support from our donors. As we approach the end of our fiscal year on March 31, we are starting to see the impact of donors’ contributions on our financial position.  Since April 1, 2020, individual donors have brought in over $15,000 which represents about 50% of the GDTA’s total revenue this fiscal year.  Some donors have also contributed this year through Benevity (a corporate donor platform) adding another $900 to our revenue. We have gone from a projected deficit in our budget this year to a potential surplus. In a year in which we initially experienced a significant hit because of the pandemic and economic downturn, this is truly significant!

We are planning a very ambitious trail building and maintenance season this summer. This will involve multiple projects in Alberta and BC as well as supports for our emerging youth program. Similar to last year, we will continue with safety protocols as necessary to protect our volunteers as the COVID-19 pandemic wears on.

Our trail projects are becoming increasingly complex and multidimensional. For example, the Cairnes Creek Pedestrian Bridge project in BC will involve highly technical on-site construction and transportation to get bridge materials to this remote site.

Our communications team continues to produce a first-class newsletter and provide critical trip planning resources to hikers and equestrians who attempt the challenge of the GDT.  The Trail Protection and Advocacy Committee remains involved in collaborative land-use planning in designated areas throughout both provinces and is carefully monitoring the impact of coal exploration along the GDT in Alberta.  Our Outreach Committee is adjusting its work to reach members and the public through alternative types of media and outdoor activities.

The importance of donations in support of these programs cannot be overstated. The least we can say is a heartfelt “Thank you!” to all who contributed this year. This also includes our volunteers who work on the trail as well as behind the scenes to keep the organization running. The vision of a world class long-distance trail straddling the Great Divide of the Canadian Rockies – full of scenery, challenge, and adventure – is made possible by people like you.

By Charlene Deck

The Great Divide Trail offers an unparalleled wilderness experience thanks to the numerous national parks, provincial parks, and wilderness areas through which it passes, but it requires more challenging trip planning logistics than most other long-distance trails. So where should you begin?

 

1.    Start with a trail map

Choose the part of the trail you’d like to explore from the Great Divide Trail’s more than 1100 kilometres.

Tip: Read about the GDT’s seven sections to help you decide.

 

2.    Plan your access

Know your options to access the trail. Even though the GDT is remote and crosses few highways, public transportation and trailheads do exist to allow you to access the trail at various points.

Tip: Check for updates on the access roads, including the changeable conditions of Walker Creek Forest Service Road.

 

3.     Review the opening dates for campground reservations

Note the opening dates for backcountry reservations so you can have your itinerary ready. For 2021, online reservations for Banff, Kootenay, Yoho, and Jasper national parks open on April 16th. Opening dates for provincial parks are listed here.

Tip: Make your Waterton Lakes National Park backcountry reservations up to 90 days in advance and your townsite reservations starting on April 13th in 2021.

 

4.    Plan your itinerary 

Create your itinerary with a complete list of campgrounds to be used on your trip. For each campground, record the park in which you’ll be camping, the permit that’s required, and the opening date for reservations.

Tip: Build some flexibility into your itinerary in case your preferred campgrounds are not available and to allow for unexpected delays. Refer to the popularity ratings of campgrounds.

 

5.    Book your campgrounds

Click here for detailed instructions on reserving your national parks backcountry permits online and for information on reserving your national parks random camping permits. Instructions for reserving provincial park backcountry campgrounds are here.

Tip: Practice using the Parks Canada Reservation Service so you’re ready on opening day.

 

6.    Plan your resupply

Check out the resupply options. Each of these places will accept resupply packages and are access points for section hikes.

Tip: Note the locations that sell stove fuel as it cannot be mailed through Canada Post.

 

Before you go

 Learn about potential hazards, wildlife, food storage, and more.

Find potential hiking partners and the advice of experienced hikers on the GDT Hikers Facebook group.

Read trail journals of other GDT hikers.

Check out Dustin Lynx’s GDT guidebook.

Research current trail conditions and closures.

Check out our FAQ for answers to the most frequently asked questions.

 

Happy hiking!

 

This edition of the Pathfinder Newsletter includes articles showcasing adventures on the GDT, accomplishments this year, volunteer recognition, trees of the Great Divide, and the GDTA Board going into the future. Enjoy!  

1. 2020 President’s Report: It’s amazing what we’ve achieved this year!
2. Volunteer Appreciation: A big shout out to our 2020 Volunteer Recognition Award winners.
3. 2020 Trail Building and Maintenance Trips: A roundup of this year’s trips.
4. Horse Packers Clean Up Outfitters Camp on the GDT: Many thanks to ten horse packers for cleaning out 275 lbs of old “relics”!
5. High Rock Trail: Announcing the grand (soft) opening of this new trail.
6. Grannies and Youngsters – The GDT is for Everyone: Multi-generation fun and bonding on the GDT.
7. Tales from the Trail – Section G: It’s wild, it’s remote, it’s beautiful, it’s challenging!
8. The Lovely Larch – Coolest Tree on the GDT: This conifer turns gold and sheds its needles in autumn, like leaf trees – how and why?
9. Movement is My Medicine: An Olympian finds meanings and revelations on the GDT.
10. 2020 Changes to GDTA Board: We say thank you to the retiring Board members and introduce the newly elected members.

By Doug Whiteside 

GDTA By-Laws Changes 

Despite COVID-19, 2020 has been a busy and productive year. In addition to obtaining charitable status and opening the High Rock Trail, the Board has spent a significant amount of time reviewing the GDTA’s administrative challenges. Two key areas were examined:  

• The GDTA’s organizational structure 
• The Board’s workload 

The Board is a group of highly motivated and dedicated individuals who contribute a significant amount of time to the Association’s affairs. However, there is not enough person-power to tackle what needs to be done. To address this workload challenge, at this year’s Annual General Meeting the Board presented three motions to change our By-Laws and Articles of Continuance (a document that must be filed with the Government). These motions recommended that the Board be allowed to temporarily fill vacant Board positions between Annual General Meetings, increase the maximum number of Directors from eleven to thirteen, and if necessary, temporarily add additional Board members. All three motions were passed. 

One additional By-Laws motion was also presented. As mentioned, the Board had spent a significant amount of time examining and documenting the GDTA’s organizational structure. To provide greater clarity and improved governance, a new draft policy outlining the Board’s roles and responsibilities, and draft Terms of Reference for the GDTA’s core committees, have been developed. These Terms of Reference outline the duties for each committee. Several years ago, the existing By-Laws were created but now do not reflect how the Association conducts business. This approved motion changes the By-Laws to align them with our current structure. It also mandates that the Board must document and publish documents describing how the GDTA will function. The Board believes that this change will provide the general membership greater insight into the Association’s affairs and help potential volunteers identify opportunities for involvement in our great organization. Once finalized, these documents will be available online.   

GDTA Board Members 

At every AGM, we thank departing Board members for their contributions, re-elect members who desire to serve another three-year term, and elect and welcome new Board members. 

This year we welcome six new Board members. Four of these members were added to fill four vacant seats. Two were added to fill the newly created seats that resulted from changes to the GDTA’s Articles of Continuance, increasing the maximum Board size from eleven to thirteen. 

This year we also thank Kathy Plachta, the GDTA’s Co-Treasurer, for her service. Kathy, over many years, has contributed significantly in countless ways to the success of the GDTA. Most significant were her contributions to establishing the Association’s financial systems and managing its finances and memberships. Kathy is leaving to be more involved with her growing family. We will miss her wise counsel. 

Gina Van Haren, New Director  

When not at work, Gina can be found hiking on the trails in the nearby Rockies, visiting the family’s farm, out at a lake, getting out for a run, dreaming up new adventures, working on some craft, or trying new recipes. Together with her mom and sister, Gina has completed about 900 km of the GDT. Gina finished an undergraduate accounting degree in Ontario and is now working in an Airdrie public accounting office. She recently obtained her CPA designation and is keen to make good use of her education and work experience on the GDTA Board. 

Ben Millen, New Director 

Since learning of the GDT’s existence, Ben has spent time hiking sections of the trail culminating in a thru-hike of the GDT this summer (2020). Perhaps predictably, having spent so much time on the trail and experiencing it in its entirety, Ben developed an interest in its preservation, maintenance, and further development. Involvement with the GDTA seemed for Ben an almost necessary step. Ben teaches Mechanical Engineering at SAIT and is involved in the design of medical devices and consumer products. Ben has also been involved in several non-profit boards, including The New Gallery, John Snow House, The Calgary Rowing Club and Cross Country Alberta. 

Josh Edwards, New Director 

Josh is a father, husband, teammate, and businessperson who has been an active outdoorsman with many successful multiday backcountry trips, including a 7-day volunteer vacation with the Pacific Crest Trail, a summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, a 6–day trek of the West Coast Trail and countless weekend adventures between Waterton Lakes National Park and Jasper. Josh brings over 20 years of construction experience and business leadership to the GDTA. Josh has also been the United Way of Central Alberta’s past chair, the clubhouse manager for the Red Deer Titans Rugby Club and a participant in the provincial Construction Association. 

Donna Rutherford, Ex-officio Member, Now New Director 

During the past 11 months, Donna has been the Board Secretary and an incredibly good one. Donna works for Alberta Health Services doing program evaluation and quality improvement in their addiction and mental health services. She is passionate about backpacking and happy that she tripled her usual number of backpacking days this summer. Donna was a founding member of Alberta’s first cohousing community, loves gardening and has hopes of volunteering upon retirement, in urban farming initiatives around Calgary. As GDTA Secretary, Donna has been actively examining ways of improving the GDTA’s document management system. In the future, she wants to use her performance measurement skills in the Board’s development and tracking of the GDTA’s strategic plan performance metrics. 

Peter Claghorn, Ex-officio Member, Now New Director  

Peter first heard of the GDTA at a Banff Film Festival and has not yet hiked a single kilometre of the trail. Peter has, over this past year, been chairing Board meetings as Vice-Chair of the Board and a member of the Organizational Excellence Committee and the Trail Building & Maintenance Committee, bringing to the GDTA his education, a Masters in Organization Development and his business expertise in management consulting. Despite not having hiked the GDT, Peter is well acquainted with the outdoors, working with Outward Bound, and eventually, leading Enviros Wilderness School as Executive Director for 15 years. 

Doug Whiteside, Ex-officio Member, Now New Director 

After hiking the GDT from Banff to Jasper in 2016, Doug has volunteered as a trail builder and provided administrative and organizational development expertise. Over the past year, Doug has chaired the Organizational Excellence Committee and acted as Vice-President. Now retired, Doug, as an executive with a local resource company, was responsible for program and project management, business development and research. He has participated on industry boards and committees, including a founding participant of the Canadian Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA). Recently, Doug hiked the GDT with his daughter, Kate, from the US border to Banff, and they were one of the first backpackers to walk the GDTA’s newly opened High Rock Trail. 

By Clara Hughes

I’ve spent recent years walking thousands of miles on trails in America, always leaving the magnificent setting of our home in the Bow Valley. Routes like the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, Continental Divide, Arizona Trails, as well as more obscure and less linear walks like the Grand Enchantment, Inyo-White traverse and Lowest to Highest routes have been the best form of vacation. However, it’s been far more than harvesting miles (although I do enjoy crushing big days). In a more profound sense, this has been a path of healing. These walks have allowed for the processing of trauma, a connection with nature and thus, with self, and an arrival at the mindset of awareness that there is only one thing we have on and off trail: the moment we are in. The present moment. The beautiful moment. Hiking has allowed me to feel alive in the most meaningful ways. Hiking has taught me all these things and more.

When Covid hit, back in early March, I was down in Tucson, Arizona, ready to set out on another of Brett ‘Blisterfree’ Tucker’s obscure desert hiking routes: the 700+ mile long ‘Sky Island Traverse’. Enter the global health pandemic. I came home to Canada with the thought of staying home, an unusual concept for me.

Things shifted late spring. The idea that seemed preposterous, and irresponsible, months before, like attempting a thru-hike, now seemed reasonable. A friend I met on the CDT a few years before who worked locally messaged and asked if I’d be interested in hiking the Great Divide Trail. He was planning on setting out in less than two weeks, was I interested? I’d just finished telling my husband Peter that I looked forward to spending the whole summer at home. I’d signed up for the community garden, had planted a crop of carrots, leeks and radish to add to the collective we would harvest from, and committed to watering each Sunday.

Yet…

The idea of walking many miles through this backcountry backyard was too much to resist. I normally hike alone or with my husband, Peter ‘Windwalker’ Guzman (by the way, I’m ‘Redfeather’ on trail). He’s pretty legendary in my eyes, having walked the PCT back in 1993 and the CDT in ’94. He was a thru hiker before it was cool to be one. When I asked him about hiking the GDT he said ‘Do it. Why hang around here? I can bring you resupplies. You can do this safely. If my knee wasn’t injured, I’d be there with you. Do it!’.

I said yes.

Most people in this space have an idea of what the GDT is. I had an image of a rugged, mountainous walk, a struggle to get permits mixed with a disdain for having to be somewhere on a specific date, camp reservations, grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, moose, large and small creatures in abundance along the way, epic water crossings and navigational challenges. Yes, all of these things were there in abundance, but what I did not anticipate is JUST HOW BEAUTIFUL THIS ROUTE IS.

Of all the hikes I’ve done, the thing that I come out with is no matter the views (or lack thereof), the terrain, the toil, is this:  I simply like to walk. I love to camp. I like the independence of moving through nature, being self-contained, of listening to the forest speak not just for hours but for weeks and months at a time. I like having just what I need in my pack. I take satisfaction from honing a system that I make better and adapt to the elements of each different route along the way. The athlete in me enjoys repeating a template that works so that I can get into a mental space of the movement happening through me. I enjoy simply walking all day, every day, listening, smelling, tasting and feeling my surroundings and my Self (okay maybe not smelling myself) along the way. Finding the interconnectedness of all living things during the many hours of movement. Connecting to the rhythm of breathing, of step, of wind and water. Yes, I enjoy all of this so much that I can be walking through a garbage dump and be completely content.

The GDT? My reflection is this: if you take the thousands of kilometres from these other trails, take their most beautiful sections, you have the GDT. It’s like the GDT cherry-picked the best sections and said here you go, enjoy. Yes, it is that majestic. That extraordinarily beautiful. It is wild, unpredictable, and comes full of challenges. The fear of bears is real, the river crossings are intense, navigating the permit/camp bookings is confusing and yes I made some serious errors even with doing everything I could to understand the matrix of these boundaries, where and when I needed a permit etc. Hiking this route with a partner is in many ways less stressful, yet hiking it alone is something very special (I did both, my hiking partner ended his walk at Saskatchewan River Crossing), my feet were wet all but two of the 33 days it took me to walk from Waterton to Mount Robson. I took the shorter option to end the walk because quite frankly I had my fill – the GDT kicked my ass in the best of ways. Yes, I do hope to come back and finish the Robson to Kakwa section one day. One day!

There is no one way to walk the GDT. I would hike the entire route again in a heartbeat. Section, NOBO, SOBO, Yo-Yo or day hike, whatever a person’s intention or constraints that allows for or limits the time they have on this route, I salute you. It’s worth it, every step of the way.

Special thanks to the GDTA and all the volunteers who make the trail what it is. I have made a donation to support the continued building and maintenance of this route and encourage others, whether hike it or not, to offer what you have: time, funds, awareness.

Clara Hughes
‘Redfeather’ on trail
6x Olympian, winter and summer
6x Olympic medalist, speed skating and cycling

By Jenny L. Feick, PhD 

Every September, thousands of people make the pilgrimage up into the high subalpine reaches of the Rocky Mountains to take delight in the bright yellow hues of a curious conifer, the subalpine larch (Larix lyallii). Unlike other cone-bearing trees, which are evergreens, larches are deciduous like poplars, aspens, and cottonwoods. So, instead of the majority of their needles staying green and remaining on the trees all year, in the autumn larches shed their leaves, which just happen to be needles, and regrow new needles each spring. 

Why Would a Conifer Become Deciduous? 

Why would larch invest so much energy growing hundreds of thousands of new needles every spring? It turns out there are many good reasons and that they enable subalpine larch to grow in the coolest places and thus be the coolest tree on the GDT.  

Adopting a deciduous habit enables subalpine larch to grow further up the mountain sides where the cool, harsh weather conditions prevail for much of the year. Larches begin to shed their needles in the fall when wind and snow squalls begin to take place regularly in the lead-up to full-on winter storms. By doing this, they eliminate a huge weight from their branches and reduce the surface area that the tree presents to oncoming winds. Snow can fall through the branches and land on the ground rather than getting stuck on the tree. Wind can sail past the naked branches, dissipating its force. These factors reduce the likelihood of branches breaking from the weight of snow or the force of the wind. 

You will notice that larch has a straight trunk with a sparse and somewhat conical crown. The boughs are horizontal to the trunk, irregularly spaced and twisted. This maximizes the amount of sunlight a larch can access during the long days of summer, enabling its needles to photosynthesize effectively so that it generates lots of carbohydrates to store in its roots over the long high elevation winter.  However, this also presents a massive amount of surface area. Other conifers that grow in the upper subalpine near treeline such as subalpine fir and Engelmann spruce adopt a different growth form, with short branches that point down from the trunk so that they can easily shed any snow that falls on them and present little surface area to the wind. In addition, as larch needles do not get exposed to the desiccating winds and extreme cold of high mountain winters, like evergreen conifer needles, the moisture in larch needles does not have to be replaced by water in the soil, which remains frozen and inaccessible into late spring for many other conifers.  

Also, the ability to recycle nutrients, especially nitrogen, through needle drop, is an important advantage in nutrient-poor environments like the thin soils and talus slopes in the mountains. Larches reabsorb a high proportion of nitrogen from their needles before these are shed, as much as 20 percent more than other species of trees. This provides the larch tree with a significant savings on an essential nutrient for the following year’s growth. 

Shedding needles can also benefit the overall health of the tree. Larches use this seasonal shedding of needles to eliminate waste products, sending toxins taken in through their roots or from the air into the yellowing needles. By not having needles in the winter in Chinook-prone areas, larches also eliminate the risk of respiring when their roots remain frozen during periods of warmer than normal weather. Evergreens that begin to respire in warm conditions cannot replace the water they lose, killing the needles and sometimes the tree. This phenomenon, known as red-belt, appears as a band of trees with dead branches on a mountainside. The period of dormancy also appears to benefit this tree species’ health as much as good sleep helps promote human health. Experiments that provide larch with summer-like growing conditions all year long result in trees that sicken and die. 

What Happens to Make the Larch Turn Different Colours? 

What we see when the larch needles turn yellow is the result of the tree initiating that period of dormancy in response to shortening day length and lower temperatures. During the spring and summer larch needles house numerous food-manufacturing cells containing chlorophyll. This miraculous pigment absorbs specific wavelengths of energy from sunlight and uses that to transform carbon dioxide and water to carbohydrates, such as sugars and starch, which it stores in the roots. Chlorophyll cannot absorb and use green light energy (wavelength of ~560–520 nm). The cells that contain chlorophyll reflect that wavelength, making plants appear green. The needles also contain carotenes and xanthophyll pigments. For most of the year, these yellow and gold pigments get masked by the large quantity of green colouring from chlorophyll. However, once the needles stop their food-making process, the chlorophyll breaks down into its constituent parts that are stored safely in the roots for the winter. The green colour then disappears, and the yellow to gold-orange colours emerge, giving the larches their three weeks of autumn glory.  

Meanwhile, at the spot where the stem of the needle is attached to the node on a twig or branch, a special layer of cells develops and gradually severs the tissues that support the needle. At the same time, the larch tree seals the cut, so that when the needle is finally blown off by the wind or falls from its own weight, a leaf scar remains. 

In the spring, nitrogen and the other parts of chlorophyll are brought out of winter storage and reassembled in new soft wispy needles that appear a light bright green. These deciduous needles have no need for waxy cuticles to protect them in winter, or for that matter, big doses of phenolic compounds to ward off winter herbivores, so they don’t require as much carbon as evergreen needles. Larch needles appear delicate but their design is effective in another way. Small and sparsely arranged along the branch stems, a high percentage of these needles get well illuminated since they shade one another to a lesser degree than do needles on evergreen conifers or even the broadleaves on many deciduous trees. This even distribution of light ensures full engagement in photosynthesis, the chemical process enabling green plants to make their own food. Larch needles are thus especially efficient and effective in making food to fuel the larch tree’s growth. 

Pruning and Blazing Larches Along the GDT 

From the larches’ perspective, the best time to prune them along the GDT is after they turn yellow, or better yet, during the dormant period after they shed their needles and before new ones emerge in the spring. According to GDTA blaze master, Dave Higgins, “In the hierarchy of blazing trees, they’re not quite at the top. That spot is earned by the subalpine fir. Next might be whitebark pine, if it weren’t for its protected status. Both these trees have bark that needs no scraping and one application of paint adheres very well for a long time. Larch has to be scraped and usually needs two paint applications with drying time in between. The bark of spruce is similar. Both are less than ideal because the bark continues to grow and flake off over time.”  

What Larch Species Can I See Along the GDT? 

As the coolest tree along the GDT, subalpine larch lives at high altitudes near the treeline from 1,800 to 2,400 m (5,900 to 7,900 ft) in the Rocky Mountains as well as in the Purcell and Selkirk ranges of the Columbia Mountains. In the Rockies, the northern limit of their range is just a bit north of Lake Louise. A disjunct population flourishes in part of the Cascade Mountains. One can find it in the high cool places of southern Alberta and British Columbia, as well as north and east-central Idaho, and western Montana, and Washington State. 

Besides subalpine larch, two other larch species grow along parts of the GDT: Western larch (Larix occidentalis) in the south and tamarack (Larix laricina) in the north. Like subalpine larch, they are deciduous conifers.

Western larch occurs from southeastern BC and extreme western Alberta southward into eastern Washington, western Montana, northern Oregon, and northern and west-central Idaho. Western larch occupies relatively cool, moist climatic zones. Its upper elevational range is limited by low temperatures, while the lower extreme is limited by low precipitation. Its deciduous nature makes this species especially resistant to fire and resilient to injury. Larch trees can lose much of their canopy and still regrow their needles the following year. Its bark is also thick and protects the stem from fire. All these reasons give western larch a competitive advantage over other conifers where it grows. 

The northern relative, the tamarack, tolerates extreme cold well and grows in the boreal forest zone of North America, extending down into the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies near Jasper. They can survive temperatures down to at least −65 °C (−85 °F), and commonly occur at the Arctic treeline at the edge of the tundra. Trees in these severe climatic conditions are smaller than the ones farther south, often only 5 m (15 ft.) tall. Their lack of winter needles means that they’re less susceptible to leaching of nutrients by winter precipitation than other conifers. They can also withstand extreme cold temperatures through a process called super–cooling whereby the tamarack tree cells dehydrate, pushing water into spaces outside their walls where crystallization won’t damage living tissue. 

Just to confuse matters, plant breeders have managed to hybridize subalpine larch with Western larch and even with tamarack. In a few places where their ranges overlap in the USA, subalpine larch naturally hybridizes with Western larch.  

Some Good Places to See Larch Along the GDT 

Seeing subalpine larch, especially during the fall when the needles display their spectacular golden hue, continues to be a source of joy and inspiration for mountain hikers. Growing numbers of people plan their fall hiking trips to areas specifically to view and photograph these “golden” trees. However, the increasing numbers in certain areas can disturb the peace and quiet and sense of solitude that many seek, compact and erode the soil, leave behind garbage and human waste, and disturb wildlife. So, GDT-ers, please be respectful of the larch, its fragile, high-altitude habitat, and other larch-lovers while appreciating this cool tree.  

In my opinion, some of the best places along the GDT to see subalpine larch forests include: 

• The Tamarack Trail in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta 
• Cataract Plateau, Original GDT Section, Alberta 
• Mt Assiniboine Provincial Park, BC 
• Sunshine Meadows and Healy Pass, Banff National Park, Alberta 
• The Rockwall Trail, Kootenay National Park, BC 

Yo–yo hikers Dan Durston and his wife Tara Frey-Durston from Golden, BC thru-hiked the GDT from Waterton to Kakwa (northbound or NOBO) and back again (southbound or SOBO) in one season in 2017, so I asked them for their recollections about the larch they saw along the GDT.  Here is what Dan had to say: “We missed the prime larch season on our yo-yo because we had to stop the hike just as the larches were starting (early September) due to fire closures, and then didn’t resume until the end of October when they were largely over. However, I did notice some nice subalpine larch in a few areas and Tara also mentioned some nice areas from her SOBO hike last September.  

In Section B (Coleman to Lougheed), the main larches that stood out to me were along the divide near the High Rock camp. Just north of the High Rock camp in the basin before the GDT veers away from the divide (down to Lost Creek) there are some huge larches. The biggest I’ve seen on the GDT (photo attached). I think these were subalpine larch since they were at 2100m in Section B. The basins south of here along the divide are probably quite good too, but this one just north of High Rock camp had the most and largest as I recall.   

Then Section C (Lougheed to Field) has a lot of really good spots. The north side of Wonder Pass is loaded with great larch, as are most of the passes for the rest of the section. Particularly the passes just north of Sunshine, but also good spots along the passes on the Rockwall. I also note that the BC Big Tree Registry lists a subalpine larch at Wolverine Pass on the Rockwall that is the largest in BC (1.23m diameter). I haven’t stopped there to check it out, but hope to.” 

Jenny Feick took all of the pictures in this article unless otherwise noted.