Come Walk With Us on the Trans Canada Trail (TCT)

Trans Canada Trail Hiking Guide and Information Atlantic to Pacific Canadian Hiking Guide and Blog Tips and Advice for Trekking Across Canada Welcome to the Come Walk With Us Trans Canada Trail hiking blog! Over the span of 556 days over the span of four years, we hiked 14,000 km from Cape Spear, Newfoundland to Victoria, British Columbia on the world's longest recreational pathway. In this travel and adventure blog, we share photos and stories from our long-distance walk across Canada on the Trans Canada Trail (formerly the Great Trail), as well as gear reviews, trail information, and advice for planning your own thru-hikes. Epic landscapes, stunning wildlife, fascinating histories, daunting challenges, and countless acts of random kindness were all part of our journey across Canada. We hope you enjoy it! NEWFOUNDLAND Our #Hike4Birds across Canada on the 28,000 km long Trans Canada Trail began at Cape Spear, Newfoundland on June 1, 2019. Atlantic Puffins, whales...

 Why Trek Across Canada?   “Walking allows us to be in our bodies and in the world without the burden of being productive.” Rebecca Solnit. Wanderlust: A History of Walking   A Question that Assumes a Simple Answer   It is a deceptively simple question, and one that rarely has a satisfying answer. Why hike across Canada? Why trek the Trans Canada Trail ?  Why walk so far, for so long? Why devote six years to a journey from coast to coast to coast? The question, or similarly related questions, each assumes that the answer will be singular, logical, and easily understood - when in truth it is none of those things.   For some, the idea of crossing a country on foot is framed as an athletic challenge or an act of endurance. For others, it is treated as a kind of personal manifesto and a declaration of identity.  For still more, it is an act of unimaginable insanity that is an utter waste of time and money.   Certainly not Athletic   One of the...

With a Little Help from my Friends   “Backpacking : an extended form of hiking in which people carry double the amount of gear they need for half the distance they planned to go in twice the time it should take.” David T Baker   Walking Coast to Coast to Coast   When we first set out on our cross-country trek on the Trans Canada Trail , many people - including journalists and trail organizations - described our #Hike4Birds as an “unsupported hike.” Technically, that’s true. We carried our own gear. We walked every foot of the route. We were self-funded, unsponsored, and largely unknown.   But from the very beginning, we knew that wasn’t the whole story.   Because the truth is this - there is no such thing as an unsupported hike across Canada.   What “Unsupported” Really Means   In hiking culture, “unsupported” is often worn like a badge of honour. It’s shorthand for independence, resilience, and self-sufficiency. But after trekking 14,000 km from Ca...

Slow Travel and Essential Lessons  This post is a little different from our usual travel and hiking blogs, but having reached the conclusion of such a long journey and with so much in our minds that we are reflecting on ... it seemed an important message for Thanksgiving Weekend before we shared more of our journeys across Canada and around the World.     “There's a rhythm and rush these days Where the lights don't move and the colors don't fade Leaves you empty with nothing but dreams In a world gone shallow In a world gone lean…” José González, Stay Alive Lived Experiences  I grew up immersed in my father’s love of history. He had a way of turning the past into living parables, and one of his favourite tales that he loved to tell (and retell) was about the day the water stopped running into a village in medieval Europe.  Aquaduct Merida Spain, Via de la Plata As he told it, there came a time when one morning, the water simply stopped flowing from ...