Take a Hike!

BY STUART FOXMAN

In one part of the Canol Heritage Trail, Dodo Canyon, you’d swear you were in the U.S. southwest. Cliffs, boulders, and hoodoos – tall spires of rock – dominate the landscape. But it’s not the southwest at all. You’re in the northwest, as in the Northwest Territories.

The trail runs about 350 km, from the town of Norman Wells to the Yukon border. “It’s the path of least resistance through the Mackenzie Mountains,” says Alasdair Veitch, a wildlife biologist with NWT’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources, who has hiked the trail and skied and mountain biked part of it.

Seeking an adventure that’s off the proverbial beaten path? Canada has a rich abundance of paths, from the far north to the Atlantic shore.

English writer William Hazlitt wasn’t thinking of us when he wrote On Going a Journey in 1822, but many hikers in Canada would share his sentiments. “Give me the clear blue sky over my head, and the green turf beneath my feet, a winding road before me…and then to thinking!” wrote Hazlitt. “I begin to feel, think, and be myself again.… The soul of a journey is liberty, perfect liberty.”

Those who hike the Canol Heritage Trail experience two to three weeks of perfect liberty. The trail follows a route that’s part of World War II lore. In 1943, the American military, with Canadian support, began to build a pipeline and road to bring oil from Norman Wells to Whitehorse, Yukon. Though the project was abandoned soon after its completion, you can still see remnants like pump stations and trucks along the entire length of the trail.

But it’s the “jaw-dropping” scenery and the challenge that will captivate you, Veitch says. From the narrow canyons to the river valleys, the snow-capped mountains to the spruce forests, the surroundings change dramatically throughout the journey.

Even experienced hikers see Canol as a notch on their belt. The remote trail has no facilities or services. Most hikers arrange air drops of food in advance. The terrain is tough, and crossing the fast-flowing rivers, like the Carcajou and Twitya, presents a test. However you traverse the trail, once you start, says Veitch, “you’re on your own. The demands of the Canol Heritage Trail are too great for the occasional weekend hiker, and even the experienced ones should carry a SAT phone and inform the RCMP before and after a journey.”

But when you finally reach the end of the trail, he adds, there’s no feeling like it: “You say thank goodness it’s over—but you’re exhilarated.”

For a hike that will leave you just as thrilled, if not challenged in quite the same way, consider the Fundy Footpath in New Brunswick. This 41 kilometre trail is one of the most spectacular stretches of undeveloped coastline on the eastern seaboard.

The rugged trail, located east of Saint John, runs across a dozen ravines between Big Salmon River and Fundy National Park. You’re whole trip will take three to five days, but you can take day trips or overnight excursions, too.

Mike Carpenter, co-owner and lead guide of River Valley Adventures, says the entire trail presents amazing vistas, from steep valleys to rolling hills. To start with, you’re on the edge of the Bay of Fundy, with its dramatic high tides.

“Along the trail, it’s about a 30 foot rise and fall from low to high tide,” notes Carpenter. “It is commonly believed that if you took every freshwater river in the world, and calculated their discharge over a 24-hour period, that’s what comes in and out of the Bay of Fundy twice a day.”

Even with his intimate knowledge of the trail, he’s still finding new lookouts. A favourite “hidden” area comes at about the halfway point.

“At Little Salmon River, there’s a beautiful beach, just a great camping spot. You hike up the river and go left at the first brook. When you climb up, it opens into a huge canyon called Eye of the Needle. There are 200 foot cliffs on either side, and you go through a 20 foot wide meandering canyon, hopping over boulders. It’s pretty amazing.”

And it’s just another reminder that when it comes to trails, Canada trails few if any places on earth.

For more on the Fundy Footpath, check the New Brunswick Department of Tourism and Parks. For more on the Canol Heritage Trail, contact the Town of Norman Wells. And for more on other Canadian hiking destinations, visit www.canadatrails.ca.