‘My biggest fear going into the trip was forest fires — and that’s what ended it’
Zach Rusk was forced to cut a monumental hike short as hazardous wildfires threated to scorch the trail ahead.
He along with friend Mark Mitchell had set out along the 1,200 kilometre Great Divide Trail on July 12, beginning at Waterton Lakes National Park.
One of the trips seven sections — Section C — was where they began to smell the smoke and see ash falling.
“We confirmed that there was no fire close to us . . . it was just from stuff blowing in,” said Zach.
Luckily, he says, all the fires did not pose a threat to where they were hiking at the time.
They had heard about a wildfire in Jasper before starting Section C, at that point knowing they may have to stop early.
“That definitely put a lot of uncertainty in our head and it was definitely mentally kind of unmotivating,” he said.
‘It just didn’t go as planned’
The first section was “incredibly tough” with a lot of elevation, high temperatures and scrambling for some parts said Zach.
“We were basically rock climbing with pretty severe consequences if one of us were to fall; luckily, no one did,” he said.
They had reprieve during Section B, with a good trail to follow the whole way.
On average they were covering about 30 kilometres on foot each day, with the longest stretch coming in around 46 kilometres, according to Zach.
After finishing Section C in Field, B.C., a nearby wildfire prevented them from continuing on to the next section.
“My biggest fear going into the trip was forest fires — and that’s what ended it halfway through,” Zach said.
After 540 kilometres and 18 days on the trail, they made the difficult decision to come home, arriving back in Okotoks on July 29.
Despite being happy to be home and sleeping in his own bed, he’s upset the trip didn’t work out this summer.
“That’s been weighing on me quite a bit, but it just didn’t go as planned, it was unfortunately out of our control,” he said.
“My thoughts just go to everyone in Jasper — the people that had to evacuate and the people that like to visit there — it’s just terrible.
“Every single year now, in the city we’re completely smoked out to the point we can’t even go outside . . . and then we can’t even go enjoy the mountains because of the fire risk.”
Donations still open, portion of hike could continue
Happy with the donations that have come in, Zach said plans are to leave fundraising open until early September.
If conditions improve in the coming weeks, he’s going to try and finish Section D.
“Section E, F and G . . . those are most likely going to have to wait for other years unfortunately,” he said.
Zach lives with his parents in Okotoks, in part to help care for his dad. Zach, his elder brother Josh and their mother stepped up to help Chris following the accident.
While hunting along the bow river on Dec. 15, 2020, another hunter saw movement and shot Chris.
“He did not mean to shoot me,” Chris said in an earlier interview.
The man who fired the shot stayed with Chris until the air ambulance came to take him to Foothills Medical Centre and was later charged.
Chris was left blind and partially paralyzed, with no functional use of his right arm and his right leg is also partially affected. He still requires a personal trainer three days per week.
— With files from Brent Calver