A project I've been working on for the last couple years is creating a high route up the Rockies / Continental Divide that continues where the CDT and GDT leave off. This summer I managed to hike the 105 mile route and the area is remarkable, so I want to share both the route and my trip report from hiking it.

Route
Trip Report
Gearlist

The CDT and Canadian continuation known as the GDT spend 3800 miles traversing some of the most amazing terrain in North America. When the GDT finally ends in Kakwa Lake Provincial Park, it terminates not because the divide has ended or the peaks have faded from their lofty heights. Rather the trail ends because the landscape has become so wild and rugged that human use has become too scarce to maintain a continuous hiking trail any further. Thus, it falls to the explorer to develop a route to continue northwards.

I've been working on such a high route to extend the trek by about 105 miles to Monkman Provincial Park, which provides incredible topography and a more natural end point for a hike up the divide because north of Monkman the Rockies fade from prominence while the divide leaves the Rockies (but of course the lure persists to go further).

The section of the divide traversed by this high route (from the GDT terminus to Monkman) is amazing area with amazing alpine lakes, icefields, caribou, grizzlies, no people, and no trails. This July a partner and I spent 7 days covering the 105 miles. We crossed the divide about a dozen times, walked past icefields, numerous high alpine passes, incredible lakes surrounded by cliffs, saw a herd of caribou, two grizzlies, and swam a wild river. If you're hiked some tough trails and are looking for the 'next thing' then you might like this route.

- Dan