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Check out the GDT presentations on the “Best of Alberta Adventure Theatre” at 3:30pm on March 21 and 11:30am on March 22, 2015 at the Outdoor Adventure & Travel Show at the Stampede Park, BMO Centre in Calgary.

Trail Conditions Update – AUGUST 12, 2014

The GDT is mostly dry and snowfree, and wildflowers are in bloom! As a result of last summer’s flood damage to the trail and bridges, some trails remain closed in 2014 (see below). It is recommended that anyone planning to hike the GDT this year research the status of any trails you wish to use and exercise additional caution and allow adequate time to route-find and safely navigate unforeseen obstacles.

Trail Closures and Notices:

• TRAILS RE-OPENED – With the Spreading Creek Wildfire now under control, the Owen Creek Trail, the Howse River/Pass Trail and the GDT southeast of Hwy 11 have all re-opened.
• TRAIL CLOSURE – Elk Lakes Provincial Park: Lower Elk Lakes trail beyond the campground (between Lower and Upper Lakes) and the trail from Upper Elk Lakes to West Elk Pass are closed due to washed out bridges and sections of trail. DETOUR: Use Elkan Creek trail from the parking lot to Elk Pass (4km).
• ACCESS TRAIL CLOSURES – Kootenay National Park: Tumbling Creek Trail remains closed for the summer.
• TRAIL RE-OPENED – Numa Creek Trail reopened on July 24.
• Cairnes Creek: The bridge is washed out making this a potentially dangerous ford. It is recommended to cross early in the morning when glacial melt is lowest.
• The Lambe Creek bridge is badly damaged so it is recommended to ford the creek further downstream and avoid using the broken bridge.

Access Roads Update

Alberta:

• Highway 11 and Highway 93 are open.
• Highway 40 is open from Highway 1 to Highway 541 but traffic is detoured or limited to one-lane in some areas due to construction work, in particular near Lineham Creek and Cat Creek where new bridges are being constructed. For more information, check out Alberta 511.
• Construction continues on Forestry Trunk Road 940 south of Cataract Creek to the Hwy 532 junction. The road will be open every Friday through Monday for recreational users but closed for construction activities from Tuesday to Thursday each week until further notice.
• Highway 532 eastbound and westbound from junction of Forestry Trunk Road 940 to Highway 22 remains open during road repairs.
• The Oldman River Road is washed out approximately 10 kilometres from the junction with Forestry Trunk Road 940 with no timetable for repair/re-opening.

BC:

• The Elk River Road accessing Elk Lakes Provincial Park is open.

Plans are coming together for our trail maintenance trip taking place in the Hidden Creek area on the Great Divide and our list of participants for this year’s trip is full. Thanks to everyone who has volunteered to participate in this year’s GDT Trail Maintenance Trip!

Trail Maintenance Trip – General Information:

• Dates: Thursday to Sunday, July 24 – 27, 2014
• This year our plan is to repair damage to the trail caused by last year’s floods and re-establish the trail from Tornado Pass to Hidden Creek. We’ll be repairing and building trail tread, removing brush and fallen trees, blazing and marking the trail, assessing damage to bridges and performing riparian restoration as required.
• For those of you new to trail building and maintenance, this year’s trip will include a tool use and safety orientation.
• The GDTA will provide all trail maintenance tools and safety gear as well as all shared camp equipment and food.
• Trail Crew participants are expected to bring their own personal clothing and camping gear (e.g. tent, sleeping bag). For those joining us on the trip, I have sent you a Trail Crew Volunteer Guide including a detailed list of what you should bring.
• As there is no cell phone reception in the area, we will have a satellite phone with us for emergency situations.

Itinerary:

DAY 1 (Thursday, July 24): Meet in Calgary at 6:00am on July 24 where we pack up all of gear into the GDTA trucks and carpool to the Hidden Creek trailhead, about 3 hours away. Bring your own bag lunch for the road trip. From the trailhead we load up all of our gear onto the ATV trailer to transport it to our base camp. The trail crew will walk to our base camp approximately 7km away. Once at base camp we will set up camp and talk about our plans for the next 4 days. We will do tool use and safety orientation and possibly a late afternoon hike on the GDT. Then it will be time for dinner and relaxation around the campfire.

DAY 2 (Friday): Breakfast in the morning followed by a full day of trail maintenance on the Great Divide. Bag lunches will be packed in the morning and eaten on the trail. We will break into groups and do trail maintenance in several locations on the trail. Trail crews return to camp for dinner, evening debrief and relaxation around the campfire.

DAY 3 (Saturday): Another full day of trail maintenance on the Great Divide. Hopefully we will finish the work we need to do on the trail and have some time to ‘play’ on Saturday afternoon: hike to Tornado Saddle (one of the highest points on the GDT), working with the GPS, map and compass use, plant identification, etc.

DAY 4 (Sunday): Morning hike or additional trail maintenance followed by lunch and packing up, take-down and clean up of our camp – ‘leave no trace’. And then drive back, returning to Calgary by about 8:00pm.

We are looking forward to a fun and productive trip this year.

Happy trails!

Brad Vaillancourt
President, Great Divide Trail Association

Check out Great Divide Trail Association chairman, Dave Hockey and Christyann Olson, Executive Director of the Alberta Wilderness Association on Alberta Primetime: http://www.albertaprimetime.com/Stories.aspx?pd=6361