Ken Cook is a retired late 50-year old former environmental consultant living in Calgary, Alberta, Canada who along with his partner and spouse, Heather Charbonneau, have a spent a lifetime outdoors. Although relatively new to bikepacking, Ken and Heather are outdoor enthusiasts who have completed numerous marathons in Canada and the US, road cycling in Western Canada and the US and multi-day backpacking adventures including summitting Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, completing the John Muir Trail in the California Sierra Nevada Mountains as well the Teton Crest Trail in Wyoming.
Inspired by Lael Wilcox’s 2019 documentary “I Just Want to Ride”, the couple have spent the past two years successfully bikepacking the iconic Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. In 2021 the couple raised $25,000 for a Calgary non-profit cancer organisation by bikepacking almost 1,000 kms from Jasper, Alberta to Roosville at the Canada/US border. In 2022, they returned to the Great Divide route and bikepacked 4,300 kms from Banff, Alberta to Antelope Wells at the US/Mexico border.
You can follow their continuing adventures on social media (IG & FB) @conquerthedivide2021. Above photo by Heather Charbonneau.
