Dianne Whelan, 59, is an award-winning Canadian documentary filmmaker and author. In 2015, with little hiking experience, she set off from St John's, Newfoundland, to walk, bike and canoe the Trans Canada Trail, which stretches some 14,900 miles across the country as the longest trail network in the world. For most of her six-year journey she travelled solo, filming for her latest independent documentary, 500 Days in the Wild.
What did the route involve? My goal was to complete the journey in one continuous line, beginning on the Atlantic coast and making my way across Canada to Alberta, where I'd head north up to the Arctic Ocean before heading back down to the finish line on the Pacific. In all, the route is made up of 487 separate trails, involving lots of paddling and portages where you carry your canoe between two bodies of water in addition to hiking and biking.
This story is from the January/February 2025 edition of National Geographic Traveller (UK).
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This story is from the January/February 2025 edition of National Geographic Traveller (UK).
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