CDT Thru-Hike (2013)

The Continental Divide Trail is the most challenging of the three long distance trails within the Triple Crown. Traversing five states along the Continental divide, this trail follows the backbone of the United States. To the west of the divide, water flows to the Pacific Ocean; to the east of the divide, water flows to the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. This trail is more remote, generally higher in elevation, and more logistically difficult than the PCT and AT, oh and isn't officially complete yet. With these challenges also comes vast expanses of true remote wilderness, extremes in ecosystems, multiple routes of preference, and most importantly of all...another adventure of a lifetime. 

The remote nature of this hike means that my blogging on this trail may be more sporadic and infrequent. On my PCT Blog I tried to maintain an almost daily account of my experiences along the Pacific Crest Trail. For the CDT, I will try to maintain a more weekly approach to my trip. 

I traveled southbound or SOBO (from North to South) this year which is different from my past two hikes where I went NOBO (northbound). The reasoning for this is twofold. One it gave me time to work longer because a southbound hiker starts later in the season (I started June 19th) as opposed to a regular nobo start around April/May at the Mexican Border. Secondly, I found it an opportunity to try something new. Instead of starting in spring and 'rushing' to finish up north before winter kicks in, I spent a good portion of time 'rushing' to get through southern Colorado, freezing my butt off in the process. It was warmer but still freezing at night as I experienced the New Mexican desert from October through till I completed the CDT on November 13th 2013. This was a stark contrast to my PCT southern California desert experience which was HOT. Instead my desert experience was the opposite which meant as always with thruhiking, new environments and new challenges. 

My blog posts for the CDT can be directly found in the Blog Posts tab within the year 2013.

My Most Recent CDT Posts