Ice axe question

imported
#1

what sections of the CDT would you cary an ice-axe through?

  • trying to keep weight down, only places you would absolutly need one.
  • not looking for alernatives, or info about axes, or anything else; just, where would you cary an axe if you were going to thru-hiked the CDT?

flatlander

#2

Depends on when and where you start. If you start in NM late April-early May and head north, you will likely hit snow in Colorado. You may possibly hit snow in the Gila and/or Mt. Taylor, but it is less likely unless you start early. In Co in early June you are as likely to need snowshoes as an ice axe - but that depends on the year. If northbound and it was a normal snow year, I would pick up an ice axe at Chama and carry it northward until late June or early July, depending on snow levels. You’ll know when it is time to send it home. Remember in Colorado you are above 10,000 for most of the state.

If you are hiking south from MT, it depends on when you start. If starting before the beginning of July of a normal year, I would carry the axe for the first two or three weeks, until the snow is gone. We hiked in a high snow year and needed the axe until about July 4th.

Ginny

#3

Colorado, Colorado, Colorado! That’s about it for a northbounder. Send it home when you get finished with that beautiful state! Enjoy, fh

fiddlehead