Canadians Start Three-Year Trek Across Great Trail

Ontario couple Sean Morton and Sonja Richmond are trekking across Canada on the Great Trail, formerly known as the Trans-Canada Trail. The trail is 24,000 kilometres long. Richmond and Morton’s mission is to promote youth engagement in nature, especially through birding.

Last week, they arrived in Nova Scotia after having left Cape Spear, Newfoundland, on June 1. After visiting Gros Morne National Park, they spent 39 days to walk 890 kilometres to Nova Scotia, the 1,000-kilometre mark.

“We were finding in our own life, we had desk jobs and were on the computer a lot and were getting sucked into this digital world, more and more and more, and a family member became addicted to video games and was struggling to get any kind of balance in his life,” said Richmond.

For water, they filter lake and stream water along the way and for supplies stop at stores they pass. They’re currently heading north to Cape Breton and have hiked nearly 1,500 kilometres. The trail detours north to Yukon before heading south to Vancouver Island.

“Every day we see something new. It sounds cheesy, but every day is a ‘wow’ day,” said Richmond from Port Hastings, Cape Breton. The next day they cross the Canso Causeway to mainland Nova Scotia.

The Great Trail is the world’s longest trail and only one person, Dana Meise, has walked it.