Information - Continental Divide Trail

imported
#1

Any information on logistics for a CDT THRU would be greatly appeciated!

Yo-YO

#2

What kind of information? I’ve lots of information - could fill a book or two - but I don’t think you want all that;-) (Been there, done that, scared off more than one prospective hiker!)

Ask questions - we’ll try to answer.

Spirit Walker

#3

I am mostly concerened with the most viable re-supply options and information on the weather windows for both N-S and S-N hikes. I am really not interested in flipping.

Yo-YO

#4

North or South as optimum starting places largely depends on the year’s weather. Some years there is a lot of snow in the north, some years there is a lot of snow in Colorado. If you want to do a linear hike, then where the heaviest snows are will partly determine whether you want to start in Canada or Mexico. Year before last, snow levels were extremely low, so people were able to start hiking at the end of April and hike straight through Colorado with little trouble, but that is rare. Assuming a ‘normal’ year - if you start in the south, you will want to start early May, with the plan of reaching Colorado in mid-June. If you start earlier, you will usually run into heavy snows in southern Colorado. The loop around the San Juans is a long way between resupply, which is made much more difficult if you are postholing constantly. On the other hand, in a drought year, you may not be able to pass through parts of New Mexico since they close the forests if the fire danger is high. If you start in the north, and I believe that the best chance of a continuous hike comes with a southbound hike, then you will usually start at the end of June. You may have snow the first couple of weeks, but then you won’t have to worry about it again until Colorado, when you may run into fall snowstorms.

There are a lot of considerations in north to south vs south to north. Some people get so impatient to start, they aren’t willing to wait until late June to start. Starting in New Mexico is an easy start, as there is a lot of walking on dirt roads, so it is fairly flat and easy – but it is means starting with scarce water and long miles. It also means that you end up racing winter, as you must be through northern Montana by the end of September. Going south you don’t have a time limit. We finished November 30 - no problem. Your risk of fire and drought are greater if you are northbound. And I think your chances of running into lightning storms are also greater in northern Colorado - by the time we reached Colorado, most of the thunderstorm activity was over. But it was cold and we had several snow storms to deal with - so it is definitely a trade-off.

Spirit Walker

#5

As to towns - this won’t be detailed - if you want details, write me or check out the CDT-L archives at http://www.backcountry.net/arch/cdt/01/msg00140.html Along the CDT there are decent resupply places every week or so. There generally isn’t a lot of choice, given the distances. Many of the towns are a long way off trail - some were about 35 miles, as I remember. A few were on the trail. A few places are resorts where you pay them to hold your package.

North to south, we used:
East Glacier, MT
Benchmark Ranch (in the Bob Marshall) maildrop only
Lincoln
Helena
Butte
Anaconda
Wisdom (would do Salmon ID next time)
Leadore
Lima
Macks Inn, ID (West Yellowstone is a good option)
Yellowstone NP is an option too, esp. for a maildrop
Dubois, WY (can do drops at Brooks Lodge or Togwottee lodge)
Big Sandy Lodge in the Wind River Range (maildrop only)
South Pass/Atlantic City (mail only no groceries or fuel) we will probably go to Lander next time
Rawlins
Steamboat Springs CO
Grand Lake
Silverthorn/Breckenridge/Frisco/Copper Mountain (free bus takes you to all)
Twin Lakes (mail Only)
Salida
Creede or Lake City
Pagosa Springs, CO
Chama NM
Ghost Ranch (mail only)
Cuba
Grants
Pie Town (mail only)
Reserve
Gila Visitors Center (may not do maildrops any more)
Deming
Columbus

Spirit Walker

#6

I’m a future CDTer. Me and Island Mama have decided. 2005 is our year. We appreciate your input. peace.

Tha Wookie