Trekking hundreds of kilometres in the footsteps of Alice the moose

Two decades ago, a moose named Alice migrated from the Adirondack Park in New York state to Algonquin Park.

The 640-kilometre voyage, tracked by a team of researchers, saw her crossing busy highways and swimming the St. Lawrence River en route to the Ontario provincial park.

Nature Canada's storyteller and grant writer Jamie Findlay admitted he doesn't know exactly what motivated Alice to travel all that way, but he was inspired by her transnational trip.

"The journey of Alice the moose just kind of captured, symbolized this need on the part of wildlife to move and travel," Findlay said.

"And I thought it would be really neat to just follow in the footsteps of Alice the moose and do that route,"

Last week, Findlay completed the Adirondacks to Algonquin (A2A) trail, which follows a winding network of hiking paths, highways and back roads in honour of Alice's journey.

The route was conceived by The A2A Collaborative, a nonprofit that aims to connect and preserve the ecological corridor between the two parks.

'Nature is flow'

Findlay didn't cross Highway 401 or swim the St. Lawrence but said he's gained an appreciation for Alice's lengthy migration.

"We create parks and protected areas for wildlife and we think that they stay in these places and that they're happy there," he said, adding that many animals, especially large mammals, move across human-made barriers, like roads, railways and agricultural development, often to their demise.

"Nature is flow — living things have to move and circulate and intermingle and it's hard for a lot of the animals to do that in the sort of environment they live in."

A 'patchwork quilt' of terrain, stories

Over 36 days, Findlay walked, cycled and paddled his way along the "patchwork quilt" of terrain, often bringing friends along for days or weeks at a time. He and a friend even hitched a ride on a horse and buggy on a section of country road in upper New York state.

"We figured that was a legitimate means of travel because it wasn't mechanized," Findlay said.

Findlay and his companions stopped at parks and schools between legs of the trek to share stories from the trail.

"Without exception, people were interested in what we were doing and they wanted to know more," he said.

"I hope to get people interested in this region," he said. "I'm hoping that people will be inspired to explore it and protect it."