The Final Days, Waterton.
Up early, once again, we loaded up and hit the road to Waterton, stopping in Coleman to meet up with Eric at a little café for breakfast. He’d been such a key contact and valuable source of knowledge, advice and trail intel for me. It was great that he could meet Peter, Tina and Peter in person and be the first to hear tales from the trail.
We continued on to Waterton, and Alpine Stables, where we got the horses set up. Then we found a great little motel for us at Bear Mountain Motel and stayed up there for two nights while we waited out the rain, taking care of things like showers and laundry.
Saturday morning, we headed out to Alpine Stables, saddled the horses and tagged along on a 4-hour ride. Our guide, Savannah, took the group into an area not accessible to the public. Only Alpine was licensed to take people there. There were elk all across the far side of this huge meadow and the constant bugling of the bulls was impressive. We didn’t approach the herd, so didn't get close enough to take pictures.
From there we continued up the shoulder of this mountain, then tied the horses and climbed a little further for lunch. We’d thought this was only a two-hour ride, so we hadn’t brought a lunch. Instead, we just scouted around. Tina and I climbed up to the top of this rocky point to see what was over the other side. There was kind of a saddle and then the incline continued further up the mountain. On the far side of the saddle, a grizzly was feeding. While everyone else ate their lunch, we watched the grizzly eat his. It was a really great thrill!
Then, we went back down to the horses, mounted and rode back to Alpine Stables. It was great watching Savannah, a young girl in High School and a great guide, riding up and down the line, engaging everyone in conversation, telling great stories, pointing out features and points of interest. She’d either been trained really well by the folk at Alpine or just had a natural aptitude for the job. Maybe both. We can’t say enough great things about Alpine Stables. Top-notch, friendly, helpful, classy operation all the way; every person, every interaction, every time.
When we got back to our motel, we found Peter G sitting out front with all our gear. We’d been kicked out! We’d arrived mid-week and there had been all sorts of vacancies and booking was super-easy. We were planning to stay a couple more days, but had forgotten it was the weekend and a beautiful, sunny forecast. They were booked solid, so we got punted and poor Peter G was left scrambling packing up all our stuff and getting out. Oops!
We headed down to the local campground, got booked in there, set up our tarp shelter just like we would’ve done way out in the bush somewhere and voila, accommodations solved.
The next day, we went back out to Alpine; this time for a nice, relaxing, self-guided ride. No mountain passes to climb, bog to cross or old burn deadfall to navigate. When we got back to the campground, Peter G, social butterfly that he is, had met some interesting folk including a German now living in Coleman and a young German couple who’d shipped their van over from Germany and we’re now travelling the America’s and blogging about it. We all got together at our campsite for a beer and enjoyed the afternoon hearing everyone’s stories. Very interesting people!
Other than that, we did the usual touristy stuff over the weekend, checking out various stores, the spectacular Prince of Wales hotel, the buffalo paddock and ate at a different local restaurant each night. We could tell Waterton was shutting down for the season. Restaurant menus were limited as they were running out of various items as they wound down inventories. Never really thought about it, but makes sense, Waterton isn’t much of a winter destination.
Monday morning, we loaded up, said our goodbyes and headed home. This unbelievable opportunity and adventure that I’d spent months preparing for and eagerly anticipating, was now in the history books.
Peter & Tina, I consider myself the most ridiculously lucky person in all of Canada to have been able to join you on your GDT Adventure. Thank you!

Day 28, Banff to Coleman leg.
Once I finally got to sleep, I slept great, but restless legs combined with a swirling emotional cocktail of relief, worry and guilt over Charlie sure made it challenging. The constant scurrying of mice probably didn’t help either. Fortunately, I don’t have a mouse phobia; but if someone did, I wouldn’t recommend an overnighter at Connor Lakes cabin.
Morning was clear and cold. Peter and Tina had a great visit with our cabin mates last night, which I’d missed. We had a great visit this morning; two lady elk hunters who’d rode in from the Elk Valley side, the trail we’d be riding today. We talked of adventures past, horses and mountain trails. It was so great to see a couple of capable young women out there enjoying the wilderness.
It seems to me there are fewer fellas venturing out into the backcountry on horseback. Lots of my buddies’ love getting out there, but some prefer to “glamp”; others prefer motorized transportation; the “horse thing” really seems to be the issue. On the other hand, I know a metric kilo-schwack of 30 to 40-year-old, badass women willing to throw a saddle on a horse and go adventuring; pack a lunch, try to keep up and don’t make plans for after. Come to think of it, all the people we met horseback on this trip were women: the packers (guides and clients) heading into Resplendant in Mount Robson; the Banff Park rangers, Jenika and the crew at Alpine Stables in Waterton, and now, these two at Connor Lakes.
Anyways, I digress. We saddled up, said our goodbyes and hit the trail, skirting the western edge of the bigger of the two lakes, then east, descending roughly 400m, on continually improving trail, past Forsyth Creek Recreation Area to the Elk Valley Forest Service Road. Here we met our driver, Peter G and the Mother Ship.
We unsaddled, loaded up the horses and headed down the road to Elkford, where we found a pizza joint for lunch and discussed our next steps. The Elk Valley had always been considered a key pullout point for us, if the need arose. It was Decision Time.
If we continued, our first day would involve crossing Fording Pass over to the Eastern Slope of the Rockies, an 840m climb from the valley floor to peak elevation at 2340m. From there we’d oscillate between 1850m and 2250m for roughly 60 km, lots of ups and downs. It would not be easy, even if the trail was good.
We’d been fortunate to have great weather for most of the trip, and especially the last several days. That was about to change, with two days of nothing but rain in the forecast. At altitude, in the latter part of September, there was a good chance that could turn to snow.
Finally, the horses. All were tired, including Rodeo. Charlie was running on fumes and Ahi was sore and running on meds.
By now, I’m sure you get where we’re going with this. We’d had a good run. We’d ridden for 28 days, over 720 km of some of the most spectacular trails in the Canadian Rockies. No one had been hurt or killed. It just didn’t make sense to risk it all, pushing for MORE and taking on a mountain pass with sore, tired horses and a crappy weather forecast. We unanimously agreed to call an end to our Great Divide Trail Adventure.
After pizza, we headed back up the Elk Valley FSR and set up camp in a clearing beside the Elk River. In the morning, we’d head back to Waterton and spend the final days of our time together there.

Day 27, Banff to Coleman leg.
Morning came with clear skies and a healthy layer of frost. At 1930m, this was the highest elevation we’d camped at in the entire trip. Suz-zero temperatures aside, we were especially thankful to not have any overnight grizzly adventures to add to the story.
As the morning dawned in spectacular fashion, we broke camp, saddled the horses and resumed our ever-so-slow grind through the old burn on these upper reaches of the middle fork of the White River. According to the GPS, we were never more than 50m off the trail, but never really seemed to actually be on it. Instead, we were continually solving a never-ending nightmare of deadfall navigational jigsaw puzzles.
For more than two hours we ground through this mess, then we spied a cut log… and another, and another! The trail! Cleared! I knew Eric and Guy had been through here in August, with pack horses and a chainsaw, spending considerable time and gas clearing trail. From here, the trail was much easier to follow. I don’t know if it was them that actually cut all those trees, but we gave them heartfelt credit for every single one of them. There may, or may not, have even been a reasonable working version of a campfire song about a nasty trail and a couple of guys with a chainsaw. Only the trail knows for sure…
Anyway, the trail got better, lots of cut logs, they got credit for every single one of them and we finally made it out of the old burn. We continued working our way down the middle fork of the White River until we hit the boundary for Height of the Rockies Provincial Park, and a forest service road. Ridiculously easy going now! We even did a couple trot sections.
At the Maiyuk Recreation Area, we made a hard turn east onto the Connor Lakes trail. Easy travel on road for the first 5km, or so, then it started to climb. My horse, Charlie, was showing signs of being tired, so I dismounted and walked. Peter and Tina kept stopping to wait for us, making sure everything was Ok. “Yeah, yeah, we’re fine. He’s just tired. I’m going to walk with him. You guys carry on. We’ll be fine.” So, they did.
That trail seemed to be a never-ending series of uphill grinds. Every time we got to a new uphill section Charlie would balk; I’d convince him to continue and on we’d go. He’d never, ever done that before in his life. We’ve been on so many trails and adventures together and I often commented about how I’ve never seen the bottom of him. He had so much depth, try and heart.
And then he stopped. Not one more step. He was done. We’d found bottom.
It is said you can make a horse go until he drops dead, but not a mule. I guess Charlie has some of that mule self-preservation instinct in him. I wasn’t going to push him any further. If he said he’s done, then I believe him. He was done.
In my months of preparations, conditioning him for this trip, he had become a lean, mean, trail eating machine. He could climb anything, travel all day and barely break a sweat. He was in the best shape of his life. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much left in terms of fat reserves. Rodeo and Ahi had it, Charlie didn’t. That was my mistake, and today we were paying the price. In hindsight, a little less fit and a bit more of a fat reserve would’ve served him better. Learning can really suck sometimes.
What now? Charlie won’t go on, but if I stay out here, Peter and Tina will worry. I decide I will spend the night out on the trail with Charlie and we’ll continue in the morning. But first, I’ve got to let Peter and Tina know what’s up. I tie Charlie to a tree and continue up the trail to Connor Lakes.
Man, I cursed that trail! The climb just never seemed to end. When it finally did, the descent to the lake was just as bad. I know it wasn’t as bad as it seemed, but under the circumstances I guess I was a little frayed. It was just shy of 3 km from where I tied Charlie, to the Connor Lakes cabin. Felt longer, a lot longer.
Peter and Tina had horses unsaddled and everything set up. There were two lady elk hunters there too. I told them about Charlie and that I was going to stay out on the trail with him so he could rest and we’d travel the rest of the way in the morning. Peter and Tina gave me food for dinner and an extra water bottle; the lady elk hunters gave me a bag of grain that they’d brought for their own horses, for Charlie.
In fading light, and with my armful of goodies, I headed back to Charlie. I wasn’t too worried about spending the night out on the trail; I had my ground sheet, pad and sleeping bag in my saddle bags. I also had food, water and there was no concern about rain. What did concern me though, was the amount of grizzly poop on the trail. I’d definitely be keeping my bear spray handy.
I made it back to Charlie. He let out a friendly nicker when he saw me come up the trail. We stood there together for about half an hour while I hand fed him grain. Between the grain and the rest while I walked to Connor Lakes and back, he seemed to perk up. Hmmm… I wonder. Let’s give it another try. Maybe, just maybe, I don’t have to sleep out on the trail with the grizzlies tonight, after all.
I untied him and asked him to follow. He refused. Shit!
C’mon Buddy, Try! Let’s go. Please! And he did. One step. Then another. Suddenly, we were walking up the trail. After a bit, I stopped and gave him a handful of grain. Thanks Pal.
In fading light, and eventually, darkness, we walked the final 3 km, stopping after every tough section to show him appreciation with a handful of grain. Eventually, we made it to Connor Lakes cabin, where I unsaddled him, fed some more grain and tucked him into the electric fence enclosure to graze with Rodeo and Ahi.
The cabin was dark; everyone had gone to bed, but weren’t asleep yet. Needless to say, they were thrilled that we’d make it back and I wouldn’t be sleeping out on the trail. I laid out my sleeping pad, bag and crawled in. Emotionally and physically exhausted as I was, sleep did not come easily. My stupid legs just wouldn’t stop hiking.
34 km travelled today, plus an extra 6 km for me.

Day 24, Banff to Coleman leg.
Morning dawned like a somewhat twisted version of Disney’s Seven Dwarves. We were all Sleepy, Groggy, Chilly and Soggy; the weather was Sunny and Frosty, but we were all Happy because, as unpleasant and unfortunate as last night's events were, Peter had caught the horses.
Peter often says, “The Trail is Life” and it’s so true. Sometimes unexpected, lousy things happen. It may really suck and nobody’s asking you to like it, but you just have to deal with it as best you can, with the resources you have in that moment. The important thing is to get back in the saddle and carry on. So, that is what we did. By 9:00AM, we were saddled, and on the trail, ready to take on Allenby Pass.
For the next 6.6 km we steadily climbed nearly 500m to peak elevation of 2422m and over spectacular Allenby Pass. Like Pipestone, it’s another spot I’d flagged for a high grizzly population; we saw plenty of sign, but no bears.
More amazing views as we ride down the south side of Allenby Pass and into the valley. Over the range to the west of us the province of British Columbia and the fabulous Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park. We’re hopeful to see Mount Assiniboine, also called The Matterhorn of the Canadian Rockies. I’ve been there, but never seen it from this side. Sean said if the day is reasonably clear we should have a good view of it from Bryant Creek. We see it, but it’s Matterhorn-esque peak is shrouded in cloud.
Peter’s leather boots and socks are still wet and cold from last night’s adventure. He’s wearing my spare pair of pants, plus whatever spare dry clothes we can cobble together that reasonably fit. He’s got spare boots and clothes in the trailer, so we scour the GPS looking for the best spot to meet up with Peter G and the Mother Ship. Mount Shark trailhead looks to be the best option. It’s a 6 km detour off our route for us, but a long drive from Canmore, up the rough Smith-Dorrien Spray Lakes trail, for Peter G. and the Adventure Rig. We contact Peter G via Garmin InReach messaging and arrange to meet up. Having a flexible, reliable and highly capable support vehicle driver is worth its weight in gold. Huge shout-out for Peter G; couldn’t imagine having done this trip without him.
We arrive at the Mount Shark trailhead shortly after 4:00 and wait for Peter G. We turn the horses out on a good patch of grass to graze. They’re tired and hungry, so it probably wasn’t necessary, but we hobble them anyway. After last night, we’re not taking any more chances. 32 km travelled today.
Peter G arrives a couple hours later, and like the Rock Star support vehicle driver he is, he’s got steaks and beer for us, to go along with Peter’s change of clothes and grain for the horses.
Camping at trailheads is not permitted, so we set up on an offshoot down the trail a bit. Tina cooks the steaks to absolute perfection over a small campfire and we feast. A Park Ranger, coming in off the trail, passes by our camp. We exchange pleasantries and she doesn’t say one word chastising us for being there. With full bellies, and horses fenced on a great patch of grass, we crawl into our sleeping bags for a much-needed sleep.

Day 20, Saskatchewan Crossing to Banff leg.
Decision time. Our original plan was to continue down Pipestone, then head south-east at the Lake Louise trail junction and ride all the way to Banff. It would be 110km from where we were camped and require crossing three mountain passes after Pipestone. Three long, tough days.
The other option was pull out early and stay south, continuing down the Pipestone valley, to Lake Louise. It would be all mostly downhill from our camp, and we’d be out in a day-and-a half. We could give the horses an extra day of rest in Banff and then back on track for Leg 4: Banff to Coleman.
Geez, I sure wanted to ride that section through to Banff! Pulsatilla Pass is in that stretch and is the cover photo for Tania Millen’s book "Pack Em Up, Ride Em Out". However, the common agreement, commitment and bond between the three of us was the horse’s welfare would always be our top priority in our decision making. First, they’d done an unplanned, extra day of travel to the trailhead and back, thanks to Dixon. Second, the planned route to Banff required crossing three mountain passes versus none if we pulled out early to Lake Louise. Finally, Leg 4: Banff to Coleman was the longest stretch of the bunch, included several mountain passes, and some of the most challenging terrain yet. Two friends, Guy and Eric, both seasoned backcountry packers, had ridden it earlier in August and on one particular section that had always been a concern of mine, Eric’s comment was, “… Be prepared to get your asses handed to you.” If they say it's tough, it's gonna be TOUGH!
Ultimately, the decision was a no-brainer and unanimous. We would pull out early and give the horses an extra rest day in Banff. We’d just have to come back and ride that stretch another time on a future trip. We messaged Peter G, Captain of the Mother Ship, via Garmin InReach to advise him of the change in plans and updated meeting place.
Outside of that, it was once again, nothing but great trails and ridiculous, breath-taking views. A little over 30 km travelled before we camped in a spot near the Pipestone River, fencing off a spot with plenty of belly deep grass for the horses. Tomorrow would be an easy half day to Pipestone trailhead near Lake Louise.

Day 20, Saskatchewan Crossing to Banff leg.
Decision time. Our original plan was to continue down Pipestone, then head south-east at the Lake Louise trail junction and ride all the way to Banff. It would be 110km from where we were camped and require crossing three mountain passes after Pipestone. Three long, tough days.
The other option was pull out early and stay south, continuing down the Pipestone valley, to Lake Louise. It would be all mostly downhill from our camp, and we’d be out in a day-and-a half. We could give the horses an extra day of rest in Banff and then back on track for Leg 4: Banff to Coleman.
Geez, I sure wanted to ride that section through to Banff! Pulsatilla Pass is in that stretch and is the cover photo for Tania Millen’s book "Pack Em Up, Ride Em Out". However, the common agreement, commitment and bond between the three of us was the horse’s welfare would always be our top priority in our decision making. First, they’d done an unplanned, extra day of travel to the trailhead and back, thanks to Dixon. Second, the planned route to Banff required crossing three mountain passes versus none if we pulled out early to Lake Louise. Finally, Leg 4: Banff to Coleman was the longest stretch of the bunch, included several mountain passes, and some of the most challenging terrain yet. Two friends, Guy and Eric, both seasoned backcountry packers, had ridden it earlier in August and on one particular section that had always been a concern of mine, Eric’s comment was, “… Be prepared to get your asses handed to you.” If they say it's tough, it's gonna be TOUGH!
Ultimately, the decision was a no-brainer and unanimous. We would pull out early and give the horses an extra rest day in Banff. We’d just have to come back and ride that stretch another time on a future trip. We messaged Peter G, Captain of the Mother Ship, via Garmin InReach to advise him of the change in plans and updated meeting place.
Outside of that, it was once again, nothing but great trails and ridiculous, breath-taking views. A little over 30 km travelled before we camped in a spot near the Pipestone River, fencing off a spot with plenty of belly deep grass for the horses. Tomorrow would be an easy half day to Pipestone trailhead near Lake Louise.