Yellowknife (Apr 13/05) - At age 50, NWT nature writer Jamie Bastedo says heading down the Trans Canada Trail this summer will be a dream he's never had time to realize, until now.

"We're talking about the longest recreational trail on the planet," said Bastedo, speaking of the Trans Canada Trail as a whole.

"Once it's finished it will span something like 11,500 km and pass through 800 communities."

The NWT leg of the trail is 2,332 km long, and passes through 17 towns and villages.

The author of seven books will see them all over the next two summers.

He was hired earlier this year to document his travels for a guide book/journal on the Trans Canada Trail that will be published by Canadian Geographic magazine. The project is a joint venture with funding coming from Canadian Geographic, the NWT Parks and Recreation Society, and the Trans Canada Trail Foundation.

Unlike the trails of southern Canada, he said the NWT portion is mostly over water - reflecting trade routes used by the Dene for thousands of years.

"In southern Canada, most of the of the trail is built on old railway embankments," said Bastedo.

"We don't have that kind of stuff up here. The traditional trails are mostly on water, so we want to honour those trails and follow these routes."

The first leg of Bastedo's journey will take him along the Slave River starting at Fort Smith, then down the south shore of Great Slave Lake to Fort Providence.

Bastedo will complete this summer's journey by bicycling down Highway 3 to Yellowknife. The whole trip will last six weeks and should wrap up by mid-September.

He will be accompanied by a guide, who will feed him and supply him with boats and camping equipment so Bastedo can focus on his writing. The expedition will include another party representing the NWT parks society.

He said other people may be joining, particularly as they get closer to a community.

Next summer, Bastedo plans to complete the journey by paddling the Mackenzie River from Fort Providence to Tuktoyaktuk, and then bicycling again down the Dempster Highway from Inuvik to the Yukon border.

"In each community we go to we're going to have a little celebration," said Bastedo.

"We're going to be celebrating the land which this grand trail travels through."