500 Days in the Wild

Filmmaker Dianne Whelan documents her quest to complete the longest trail in the world, the 24,000km Trans-Canada Trail, largely on her own and largely in what she considers the traditional way i.e. using non-motorized conveyances if any. Her planned path is from the east at the Atlantic side, taking the northern trail when it splits mid-country to the Arctic, then heading from that split west to the Pacific. While some of her films have documented extreme activities, she does not consider herself an extreme sportster, with the task being even more difficult in she well into middle age. Her decision to do so is largely being at a crossroads in her life, she having some goals but not having a plethora of preconceived notions of things like schedules. She is quite aware that despite being a marked trail, it is not always what most would consider such in certain sections not being maintained as easily navigable. Some sections are also water trails, her greatest fears being the open water sections, such as in Lake Superior. Relying on a support team in she having access to a cell or satellite phone and having a GPS tracker, she is not averse to asking for help when needed and accepting the occasional unexpected help from strangers, as the unexpected is always around the corner, such as getting stuck in a tenuous situation, getting out of which which is not always as easy as just turning around to head back to the known. Beyond whether she is able to complete the trek, the question becomes whether she will get out of the experience what she wanted going in.