Day 126: 20 August, 26.7 miles today, 2011.2 miles total, Beaverhead-Deerlodge [sic] NF, MT The day we walked into Whitehall, my remaining 2L water bladder failed. The first one had sprung a fatal leak after… Read More »Disorganized notes on the Continental Divide Trail, part 19: trying to keep it together while falling apart
Day 115: 09 August, 20.6 miles today, 1813.6 miles total, Gallatin NF, MT Big Sky Alternate, day 01 The end always happens suddenly, no matter how long you’ve had to prepare for it. Even in… Read More »Disorganized notes on the Continental Divide Trail, part 18: the Cutoff
Day 107: 01 August, 21.1 miles today, 1684.9 miles total, Teton Wilderness, WY Hitchhiking, the guide stresses, is illegal in Dubois. We’d had our thumbs out in front of the post office for less than… Read More »Disorganized notes on the Continental Divide Trail, part 17: the last days of Wyoming
Day 96: 21 July, 19.7 miles today, 1507.3 miles total, somewhere in WY The five of us sat in the McDonald’s, our greasy breakfasts long finished, nursing our second or third large coffees and drawing… Read More »Disorganized notes on the Continental Divide Trail, part 16: a terrible, beautiful place
Day 87: 12 July, 20.1 miles today, 1309.4 miles total, middle of nowhere, WY There was a mental phenomenon I experienced on the Appalachian Trail that I came to think of as the Katahdin blues,… Read More »Disorganized notes on the Continental Divide Trail, part 15: a land without shelter
Day 65: 20 June, 16.0 miles today, 913.1 miles total, San Isabel NF, CO The wind was a living nightmare from the moment we exited the camper van whose driver had so kindly agreed to… Read More »Disorganized notes on the Continental Divide Trail, part 12: Waterworld
Day 60: 15 June, 15.1 miles today (+1.3 miles on Creede Cutoff returning to CDT, not added to total), 827.2 miles total, La Garita Wilderness, CO The ride back to the trailhead up the old… Read More »Disorganized notes on the Continental Divide Trail, part 11: My hike with Covid
Day 52: 07 June, 9.4 miles today (+5.5 additional miles returning to continuous footpath, not added to total), 768.1 miles total, San Juan National Forest, CO Elf and PA weren’t bothered about maintaining a continuous… Read More »Disorganized notes on the Continental Divide Trail, part 9: High altitude and low drama on the Colorado Trail
Day 27: 13 May, 17.3 miles today, 439.5 miles total, Mt. Taylor, NM The low point in the day might actually have been the moment we put on our packs in the hotel room. We’d… Read More »Disorganized notes on the Continental Divide Trail, part 5: a land of enchantment and/or burning
Day 11: 27 April, 18.2 miles today, 176.0 miles total, Gila National Forest, NM Gila River Crossings: 0 Today we didn’t even set foot on the official CDT, opting to leave Silver City via the… Read More »Disorganized notes on the Continental Divide Trail, part 3: water and fire