Traveller

Many, but not all, of my favourite travel adventures have involved hiking or observing nature. Others have been about immersing myself in history and culture. Here are some memorable trips that have stayed with me.

Great backpacking trips

  • The Rockwall Trail, a three-pass loop past glaciers and waterfalls in Kootenay National Park, British Columbia
  • The Skyline Trail, highest backpacking trail in Canada, Jasper National Park, Alberta
  • The Routeburn Track, hut-to-hut through the spectacular Southern Alps ofNew Zealand
  • The Abel Tasman Track, five days of beaches, forests and sea lions in New Zealand
  • The East Coast Trail, village to village in the friendliest province in Canada, Newfoundland
  • The Pukaskwa Coast Trail, five days on the wildest coastline of the biggest lake in the world, Lake Superior, Ontario
  • Bright Angel-Kaibab Trail Loop, a beautiful, challenging hike made even tougher by a February blizzard on our return to the South Rim, Grand Canyon, Arizona
  • The Appalachian Trail, a three-week stretch through the highest mountains along America’s most famous long trail, culminating in Mahoosuc Notch the trail’s hardest mile, New Hampshire-Maine
  • The Mantario Trail, four days of boreal forests, lakes, beaver dams, wildlife and solitude, Manitoba
  • Skokie Lake, setting for the most perfect isolated cabin in the world, Banff National Park, Alberta
  • Berg Lake-Mount Robson, highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies, British Columbia
  • Hiking up the back side of Germany’s highest mountain, the Zugspitze, with a stay in the mountain hut in the upper valley
  • Upper Yoho Valley, a circuit of glaciers and waterfalls in Yoho National Park, British Columbia
  • Mount Assiniboine, the dogtooth mountain known as Canada’s Matterhorn, Alberta-British Columbia
  • Juan de Fuca Trail, the hassle-free alternative to the better-known West Coast Trail, Vancouver Island, British Columbia
  • The Quilotoa Loop, three days of village-to-village hiking from 3,200-4,000 metres up in the Andes, Ecuador
  • The Tatranska Magistrala, hut-to-hut through the Tatra Mountains, a great budget alternative to the Alps, Slovakia
  • The Rota Vicentina along the stunning wild coastline of the Alentejo Region, Portugal

 

Great day hikes – international

  • Lost Mine Trail, Big Bend National Park, Texas
  • Dripping Springs/La Cueva loop, Organ Mountains National Monument, New Mexico
  • Chicahua National Monument, Arizona
  • Tongariro Alpine Crossing, New Zealand
  • The Pinnacles, Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand
  • Mount Harney and Little Devil’s Tower, Black Hills, South Dakota
  • Beas de Granada, Spain
  • Kilauea Iki Trail, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
  • Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, Belize
  • Skogarfoss, Iceland
  • Jokulsargljufur, Iceland
  • Angel’s Landing, Zion National Park, Utah
  • The Black Cuillins, The Isle of Skye, Scotland
  • The Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye, Scotland
  • Ihlara Valley, Cappadocia, Turkey
  • Grand Balcon du Sud, Chamonix, France
  • Garden Wall Trail, Glacier National Park, Montana
  • Gasping to glacier level (5,000 metres), Cotopaxi, Ecuador
  • Visiting the world’s tallest palms in the Cocora Valley, Colombia

 

Great day hikes – Canada

  • Mount Rae, Kananaskis Country, Alberta (more of a scramble than a hike)
  • King’s Throne, Kluane National Park, Yukon
  • Goldensides Mountain, Tombstone Territorial Park, Yukon
  • Horse Lake-Marr Lake, Bruce Peninsula National Park, Ontario
  • Gorge Creek Trail, Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba
  • Sprit Sands-Devil’s Punchbowl, Spruce Woods Provincial Park, Manitoba
  • The Tablelands, Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland
  • Mist Ridge, Kananaskis Country, Alberta
  • Crypt Lake, Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta
  • Opabin Plateau-Wiwaxy Gap Circuit, Lake O’Hara, Yoho National Park, British Columbia
  • Glacier Crest-Great Glacier, Glacier National Park, British Columbia
  • Mount Eva, Mount Revelstoke National Park, British Columbia
  • Smuts Creek, Kananaskis Country, Alberta
  • Bluerock Creek, Kananaskis Country, Alberta
  • Elk Mountain, near Chilliwack, British Columbia
  • Broken Hills Trail, Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan
  • Top of the Giant, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario

 

Awe-Inspiring nature and wildlife experiences

  • Spotting whooping cranes at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Texas
  • Little Blue Penguins, Otago Peninsula, New Zealand
  • Kauri forests, North Island, New Zealand
  • Seals and sea lions fighting, New Zealand
  • Musk Ox, East Arm of Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories
  • Swimming with sea turtles, Hawaii
  • Sea Lion Rocks, Kyuquot Sound, Vancouver Island, British Columbia
  • Grizzly bears feeding, Haines, Alaska
  • Snorkeling Belize’s Great Barrier Reef
  • An off-season polar bear encounter, Churchill, Manitoba
  • Watching a deer swim across a lake, Mantario Trail, Manitoba
  • The Wave rock formation, Arizona
  • Seeing a pod of orcas at sunset, Vancouver Island, British Columbia
  • Admiring Canada’s “Gnarliest Tree” at Avatar Grove, Vancouver Island, British Columbia
  • Seeing rainforest creatures at the Cuyabeno Forest Reserve, Ecuador
  • Encountering the wax palm, the tallest palm tree in the world and Colombia’s national tree
  • Walking the coast of Haida Gwaii
  • Nightly coyote serenades and star-gazing at Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan
  • Seeing the sun rise from atop 5,600-metre Pico de Orizaba, third highest mountain in North America
  • Geysers, steam vents and thermal pools at Yellowstone National Park

Enriching cultural experiences

  • Lapping up the Diego Riveras, the Freda Kahlos and the street food, Mexico City
  • Hitting the Georgia O’Keeffe, Native Arts, International Folk Art and other galleries, plus the insane Meow Wolf, in Santa Fe
  • Watching a play of mine open on Broadway (Okay, a staged reading at New York University, but still…)
  • Singing Takin’ Care of Business on stage with an Austin, Texas, bar band
  • Getting locked in a carpet shop by a very determined Instanbul carpet seller
  • Biking to see Gaudi’s architectural marvels in Barcelona
  • Touring Steampunk HQ in Omauru, New Zealand
  • Getting jostled by crowds during the Edinburgh Fringe
  • Wandering through Spitalfields, in East London, to explore the world of my abandoned MA in history
  • Eschewing the hotels of Union Square to stay in The Mission in San Francisco
  • Exploring Minneapolis-St. Paul by bike, one of the greatest biking cities anywhere
  • Comparing the St. Viatur and Fairmont bagel shops in Montreal
  • Spending hours decoding the stories in the stained glass at Chartres Cathedral, France
  • Biking and hanging out away from the tourist throngs in Belleville, Paris
  • Producing shows and living on adrenaline at the Winnipeg and Edmonton Fringe Festivals
  • Soaking up jazz and history, from the Garden District to the Marigny, in New Orleans
  • Touring the magnificent Alhambra from a base in a little rental apartment in Granada’s old city
  • Discovering communist stagnation and creative ferment in Havana
  • Touring the once-deadly, now resilient Comuna 13 in Medellin, Colombia, with a resident who lived through the violence and the recovery
  • Dodging fireworks during the the fiesta of the Virgin of Guadeloupe, in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas
  • Exploring ancient Mayan cities at Palenque, Bonampak and Yaxchilan, Chiapas
  • Climbing up to the ancient cliff dwellings at Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico

 

Getting my Old West on and finding inspiration for my novel Prodigies:

  • Volunteering to play the bartender in the re-enactment of the shooting of Wild Bill Hickok in Deadwood, South Dakota.
  • Touring the cemetery in Tombstone, Arizona.
  • Visiting Dodge City’s Boot Hill.
  • Exploring Palo Duro Canyon in Texas, site of the last stand of the Comanche before being forced to move to reservations.
  • Walking the steep streets of former mining boomtown Jerome, Arizona.
  • Crossing the Pecos River and continuing south and west to Big Bend and the Rio Grande.
  • Touring the Alamo, San Antonio.
  • Walking around Fort Walsh National Historic Park, built near the site of the Cypress Hills Massacre, Saskatchewan.
  • Hiking the largest remaining piece of unmodified native prairie in Canada at Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan.
  • Biking North Dakota’s Maah Daah Hey Trail through badlands and grasslands near Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
  • Living in Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, site of the last train robbery in Canada, as well as the Hillcrest Mine Disaster.
  • Wandering New York’s Chinatown and Lower East Side and mentally reconstructing the legendary Five Points district.