Hiking on the GDT this summer? Following adventurous souls on Instagram? This summer, keep your eyes peeled for the GDTA Trail Ambassadors: Charlene, Keiko, Sara, Mo, and Claire. The five of them will be out there tackling Canada’s wild and inspiring Great Divide Trail, and they’ve been kind enough to take us along for their journey!
Trail Ambassadors for 2025
Charlene
She’s completed the GDT three times, the Continental Divide Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Arizona Trail, and loads of backpacks in the Canadian Rockies. She’s thrilled to be back on home turf this summer to reconnect with the GDT and explore the GDR.
Keiko
10 years ago, Keiko’s very first backpacking trip on July Long Weekend 2015 was in Waterton on the Snowshoe Loop near Twin Lakes and a final night at Bertha Bay. She did not know it at the time, but she was on the Great Divide Trail! She has since spent the last decade hiking and backpacking along the GDT. She joined the GDTA in 2022 to learn more about the trail with the hopes of thru-hiking it someday. “Someday” is now – Keiko is celebrating her 10-year backpackerversary (and her 20th year in Canada) by thru-hiking the GDT as her first major thru hike this season!
Sara
Sara Laing aka “ Sunshine Sara” is a certified Professional IGA/ACMG Hiking Guide based in Canmore, Alberta, with a passion for Canada’s wildest places. This summer, she’s re-hiking the Great Divide Trail (GDT), including the Great Divide Route (GDR), as a GDTA Ambassador. She’s committed to promoting responsible trail use, sharing her journey to inspire others, and raising funds in honour of her stepfather for cancer research. Sara sets off southbound on August 1 from the Monkman Memorial Trail and looks forward to connecting with fellow hikers along the way.
Mo and Claire
We are Claire and Mo aka @unsupervisedhikers and this summer we are thru-hiking the Great Divide Trail from Waterton to Kakwa with a cast of whacky characters. We are outdoor professionals from Golden, BC taking the summer off work to explore the Rockies for ourselves! If you see us on the trail, don’t worry… We’re not lost. We’re just unsupervised.