It’s been 9 years in the making but Dana Meise, a forestry technician from Prince George, is about to hike to his third and final Canadian coastline. Meise will be the first individual to walk from Canada’s Atlantic shore to the Pacific and, finally, up to the Arctic. And the whole thing began as a joke.
“I was inspired by my father who can’t walk and I promised him as a joke,” says Meise, whose father suffered a stroke that left him unable to walk. “It actually started as a joke. I didn’t realize I was going to be setting world records. One step at a time – it’s how life should be.”
Meise has already traversed the country, from Newfoundland to Clover Point in Victoria, BC along the Trans-Canada Trail – the first person to make that trek. In 2015, The Royal Canadian Geographical Society awarded him Expedition of the Year.
Meise will begin the last leg of his journey on July 2, when he’ll travels to Whitehorse, where he was forced to stop last year in the face of winter. He says he should be back on the trail, headed for his final destination of Tuktoyaktuk, on July 4. He’ll be walking a newly built road from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk that isn’t even scheduled to open until next year.
Meise says he’s already looking forward to wrapping up his hike, about two months from now.
“Don’t get me wrong it’s been wonderful and beautiful but at some point I’m going to move on to real life. I’ve had an opportunity to do something that’s never been done before and I feel so unbelievably lucky. It blows my mind. I just can’t believe I got that lucky in this day and age. Everyone thought it had all been done but it hasn’t.”
Many people, Canadians included, don’t often think about the northern parts of the country, says Meise. He says people often have trouble wrapping their heads around his trek to the Arctic coast.
“To this day, I’ll be up in the Arctic and they’ll be like, ‘Oh you’re walking across Canada?’ I already did! Canada’s not just east to west. And even the distances. I’ve tried to explain that I’ve walked the equivalent of around the world. Just in one country. Just in this country.”
While the scenic views have been breathtaking and the wildlife encounters occasionally hairy – Meise once woke up to a black bear sniffing his head – he says it’s the people that have made the biggest impression.
“There’s these little moments. It’s the everyday people that I meet that are outstanding, really good human beings, and you’re just left in awe. It’s really the everyday Canadians I meet. There’s something to be said about someone who doesn’t have internet and doesn’t know who you are that will offer you a cup of tea and a warm bed.”
The trek has not been without its challenges or its dangers. Meise says he’s gone weeks without being near any form of assistance and has even run out of food, being forced to live on cattails and berries because there wasn’t any other option.
“There are times you just have to dig deep and you gotta do it. Cause there’s no calling in sick. If I don’t feel well and I’m in the middle of nowhere…there’s no rest stops for you. It’s the world’s longest trail.”
When he finishes, Meise estimates he will have hiked more than 21,000 kilometres. Meise says he’s rarely been lonely on his trek but his time alone in the wilderness has left a mark.
“Yes, it’s changed me, sometimes not in a good way. Being alone that long and just solo doing for 9 years has taken a toll on me, no doubt about that. But it’s also on a positive level, when this is all said and done.”
He’s received thousands of emails in support and Meise says many people have contacted him to say his trek has inspired them and help them overcome obstacles in their own lives.
You can follow his Great Hike on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, which he updates periodically, internet connectivity permitting.