Coleman

Hi from the Crowsnest Pass area of Alberta. I'm already leaving town. Got in yesterday afternoon and stayed at a B and B recommended by GDTA et al. I think the hostess and I stressed each other out a bit (having someone watch me do resupply shopping is super stressful, though it is of course wonderfully helpful and nice that she drove me to the store in the first place.) Anyway, I sent three boxes ahead to more remote resupply places, leaving only one more to send later, and I should be good on resupply for most of the trip. The hiker box was FULL of ProBars. Score!

Anyway, I successfully connected my steps from Waterton, without much of any pavement. May be the first hiker to do that this year. That just means I started early and came in shortly after Waterton opened some trails after last year's fire. (My opinion: the trail closures are probably mostly silly, since there did not seem to be any blowdowns or trail work that had been done to open them.)

Waterton was nice, but I bet the west half (normal trail) is way better than the northern route that I had to take. I bushwacked a lot and finally got on the GDT. There was a high route for a bit, but I was stupid and missed a much longer high route alternate that would have kept me ridge scrambling all day. I'm dumb and not carrying paper maps for the non-national parks sections. Just relying on my phone. It's annoying to have to look at all the time. Maybe I'll ask my one Canadian contact if she can print the pages for outside the NPs and send them to me. I think that it's this section, then everything is NP until after Jasper.

I think the A in Alberta stands for ATV. So many of them.

After the high route on La Coullotte Ridge, the trail was pretty weak. Like muddy logging roads with clear cuts. Willoughby Ridge was alright, but brief. This next bit also has mixed reviews, but hopefully after 4-5 more days I'll be on trails for good, even if they're crowded.

I ordered my packraft for Alaska, and I maybe (cross your fingers) found a partner. I may not be able to get the exact boat accessories I want because they are made to order and I'm cutting it close timewise, but I can at least get the right model of boat. (Alpacka Alpaca, I want a cruiser deck if possible.) Due to this, I'm sort of stressed, which is stupid, so I should just start walking.

Weather has been not great so far, but a heat wave is coming. If I'd known better and was just a tiny bit ballsier, I could have run a 100 miler in Coleman this weekend. Sinister 7. I bet no one has done the GDT while walking from Sinister 7 to Canadian Death Race before. But CDR will have to be enough.