This past September, Dr. Sonya Richmond and her hiking partner Sean Morton passed through Kimberley and the Kootenays as part of their coast to coast walk of the Trans Canada Trail.
They have now completed their 28,000 km hike, having arrived at Point Zero of the Trans Canada Highway in Victoria on November 25, 2022.
But it’s not over. There is one more coast to go. In 2023, the couple plans to hike 4,000 km from Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta north to Tuktoyaktuk, NT.
Reflecting on completing the east to west portion of the traill, Richmond said that they are only two of a very number of people to have ever completed the main route of the Canada’s Great Trail on foot by hiking from the Atlantic to the Pacific unsupported.
“In the process of hiking coast to coast we are the first duo to trek on foot from the East to the West on the Trans Canada Trail. We are the first to comprehensively blog and document the Great Trail from the Atlantic to the Pacific providing a comprehensive guide and map of the national trail for others to follow in the future for their own exploration of this amazing country. I am the first to bird the nation along the Trans Canada Trail and share more than 400 species with Canadians striving to learn about Canada and its wildlife. Sean Morton is the first to comprehensively photograph and document the TCT and the modern Canadian experience along the trail from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In the process we took more than 750,000 pictures of Canada and have shared more than 100,000 of them on social media. Finally we are the first to trek the national pathway for a cause, dedicated to encouraging Canadians to engage in Citizen Science and using the TCT to campaign for Bird Conservation, the protection of Important Bird Areas and the Boreal forest, as well as promote youth engagement in their home communities.”
Along the way, they gave more than 150 free presentations to school and nature groups and others across the country.
They look forward to continuing to share their journey as they head to the arctic next summer.
You can follow their travels at www.comewalkwithus.online
carolyn.grant@kimberleybulletin.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
