Australian woman walking 'the length of the Earth' will soon arrive in Canada
Lucy Barnard is hiking from the southernmost tip of South America to the northernmost top of Alaska
When Lucy Barnard crosses the U.S. border into Canada in the coming weeks, it'll have been a journey eight years in the making.
The Australian writer, filmmaker and adventurer is on a mission to become the first woman to walk "the length of the Earth" — or, more specifically from the southernmost city in Argentina to the northernmost town in Alaska.
She first set off from Ushuaia in 2017. Now, more than 22,000 kilometres, 22 pairs of shoes, 12 countries and one global pandemic later, she's arrived at East Glacier Park, Mont., just 150 kilometres from the Canadian border in Alberta.
"It's really overwhelming, actually, just to look back at how far I've come," Barnard told As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal.
"It's been a really long time, and I've been through a lot of life changes while on this journey. And so it's exciting and nerve-wracking all in one."
Field science and scenic vistas
Barnard says she took this challenge to move the benchmark for women adventurers.
As far as she is aware, only three people have walked the length of the Americas, and all of them have been men.
And only one man — British adventurer George Meegan — is recorded to have walked from the southernmost to northernmost cities in the Americas, a feat that took him seven years to complete in 1983.
"I think it's quite an Australian trait to just give things a go for the fun of it and see how far you get," Barnard said. "That is really truly the attitude that I started with."
And the trip has, indeed, been fun.
In the early days of her journey, she kayaked past dolphins, whales and elephant seals — a dizzying diversity of wildlife unlike anything she's seen before.
She describes encountering rare or endangered species, making connections with locals who make her feel welcome, crossing through landscapes "that are completely open and where the air seems to be extra sweet," gazing upon vistas of "trails that span across mountain after mountain," and travelling along 500-year-old Inca road.
She's connected with researchers along the way, using her science background to locate and track leatherback turtles and collect water samples near glaciated areas.
"I have been really enriched from being able to walk this trail," she said.
Bouts of illness and forced hiatuses
But it hasn't been without obstacles.
She was in Columbia in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic sparked lockdowns around the world, and she had to head home for two years. She then had to take another temporary pause back home over Christmas 2024 to renew her U.S. visa.
She's encountered difficulties on the trail, too.
There was the time she had to be dewormed after food poisoning led to an amoeba infection, or when she suffered a bout of "trench foot," a condition caused by prolonged exposure to cold or wet conditions.
But she says she's received tremendous support from loved ones back home, followers online and, most of all, people she's met in the countries she's visited.
"It's just from the generosity of people who've supported me along the way, especially in small communities, that I've been able to keep going," she said.
That, and just a dash of spite.
Early on in her trip, she says she encountered a group of hikers, all men, decked out in the finest adventuring gear, who scoffed when she told them her goal, and laughingly told her she'd never make it past the first 1,000 kilometres.
"That actually did fuel me to push through some very hard days to at least get to that point," she said.
The privilege of travelling for fun
Barnard says her travel woes are nothing compared to those of the people she's encountered who were making their way north to the U.S., not for fun, but out of necessity.
"It's very difficult for me to reconcile that I've chosen to walk the length of the Earth and … it's something that's very extravagant," she said.
"And then I am meeting people who have no choice, who don't have the right shoes or equipment, often who are carrying babies with them and don't know where they're going to sleep or where they're gonna get their next meal."
When she meets migrants, she says, she'll often share a skill, like how to clean water, or a resource, like food or a piece of gear.
"I do what I can to just show the kindness that people have shown me as I pass through their land," she said.
Barnard still has a long journey ahead before she reaches her destination of Utqiagvik, Alaska. But already, she's hit a number of milestones.
According to her website, she became the first woman to walk the Southern Hemisphere entirely on foot in 2019, and the first woman to walk the length of South America from Argentina to Columbia in 2022.
Earlier this year, the Australian Geographic Society named her the 2024 Adventurer of the Year. Her dog — a blue heeler named Wombat — was named Canine Adventurer of the Year.
Canada will be her 13th and final country before crossing back into the U.S. for the final leg. She expects to cross through Glacier National Park in Montana to Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta within two weeks.
"I'm excited for it," she said. "I feel like I'm as prepared as I can be. But, of course, I'm always really eager to chat to people who have done something similar before me and learn from their lessons, so that I don't have to learn them myself."
Interview produced by Morgan Passi
