Ed Talk: Jenny Feick

Canada’s Great Divide Trail (GDT) traverses the vicinity of the high elevation continental watershed divide designated as the interprovincial boundary between Alberta (Alta.) and British Columbia (B.C.). It crisscrosses the vast northwest to southeast trending Canadian Rocky Mountains for more than 1,100 kilometres from the US/Canada border in Waterton Lakes National Park in the south to Kakwa Provincial Park in B.C. in the north. Although not always officially designated and sometimes merely a wilderness route, it inspires today’s adventurers to walk some of the same paths as the initial Indigenous peoples and European explorers in the area. The GDT has become one of the most spectacular and demanding long‐distance trails on the planet, providing hikers with challenges, scenic rewards and inspiration. But, how did it arise?

Join Dr Jenny Feick, author of Tales from the Great Divide, Vignettes on the Origins and Early History of Canada’s Great Divide Trail and Great Divide Trail Association for an evening of stories and photos about how the vision for the Great Divide Trail originated and its route devised. You will journey back to the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s when the daunting challenge was to consider thousands of square miles of rough and often unmarked terrain to define and establish the GDT route from Mount Robson Provincial Park, B.C., south to the US/Canadian border in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta. Over the years, several idealistic individuals felt compelled by the vision of a long-distance trail along the crest of the Rockies. Their dedication and tenacity kept them going in the face of challenging and sometimes even life-threatening adventures, expanding industrial developments and motorized recreational use, financial limitations, and bureaucratic obstacles. The work completed in those early days and in the decades to follow laid the foundation for today’s successful GDT and the Great Divide Trail Association.

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About the Speaker

Jenny Feick is an environmental biologist and geographer whose career with Parks Canada and the B.C. Ministry of Environment gave her field experience and an understanding of land use and policy issues in the mountains of western Canada. She currently provides technical editing and environmental policy research services through Nature Wise Consulting. Part of the history of Canada’s Great Divide Trail since 1973/74, she maintains an active interest in seeing it completed and its corridor protected.

This picture, taken by her husband Ian Hatter on July 21, 2018, shows her where she loves to be — out on the High Rock Section of the Great Divide Trail in Alberta.