More Questions - Continental Divide Trail

imported
#1

Hi, Little Tree here. I’m Pickle’s friend that’s planning on hiking the CDT with him. I was wondering about shoes. When I thruhiked the AT, I wore trail running shoes even in heavy snows (knee deep being as heavy as it got) and that worked fine. Will the same work for the CDT or do I need to invest in a pair of hard core boots? Also Pickle and I were both wondering about a stove. We both used alcohol burning stoves on the AT (converted pepsi can version). I remember them not working as well in the extreme cold (such as I’m sure we’ll encounter en route on the CDT, but we were wondering how/if the elevation would effect them too. Anyone out there use an alcohol stove or do we need to stick with our Whisperlites? Thanks. -Little Tree

Little Tree

#2

SHOES - I wore running shoes on both the PCT and CDT. They work fine in the snow, and we had a lot of snow on the CDT in 2004! We hiked south and started in Glacier on June 15. The passes were covered with leftover winter snow which was icy much of the time. Goof had crampons with his running shoes and seemed much more confident than Dewey and me (no crampons, but we had hiking poles). When we hit Colorado, the snow we encountered was new snow. This wasn’t icy, but it did get deep at times. Again, running shoes worked fine, even when the snow was knee deep. I wouldn’t consider wearing hard core boots.

STOVE - Same story here. Alcohol stove on both PCT and CDT and never had a problem in extreme cold. On the other hand, you MUST be careful when using an alcohol stove in dry areas. Southern Wyoming and New Mexico come to mind. When the wind picks up, alcohol stoves can easily start fires.

yogi

www.pcthandbook.com

yogi

#3

Can’t vouch for the whole CDT, but I used trail runners and an alcohol stove on the Colorado Trail (same thing for over a hundred miles) recently with no problems. Keep your alcohol fuel warm by carrying it in a pocket before dinner sleeping with it in the foot of your bag to get rid of problems with using the stove in cooler weather. Have fun!

Skittles 03

#4

Yogi,

Any recommendations for shoes. I don’t like gore-tex boots, but I may like gore-tex trail shoes. Or can I get by with just a regular hard-soled pair of trail shoes? I’m on a tight budget and would prefer to save money wherever I can. Thanks!

Pickle

#5

What happened to Peanut? Is that Little Tree that hiked with Walkin Stomach?

Wrocket

#6

I say NO to gore-tex boots, NO to gore-tex trail runners, and NO to hard-soled trail shoes. The phrase “hard-soled trail shoes” actually scares me!

I recommend running shoes. Gore-tex doesn’t perform the way it’s advertised — not with jackets, not with shoes. Your feet will be wet a lot from both sweat and rain/snow. Gore-tex isn’t going to help a bit to keep them dry. When it rains on the CDT, it RAINS!!! The lighter your shoes, the quicker they’ll dry.

Just be sure to find out if you have high arches. I was unaware that I had high arches until I damaged my feet and a foot doctor instructed me to use proper insoles for my foot type. I’ll still wear running shoes, next time I’ll just be sure to add my new insoles.

yogi

www.pcthandbook.com

yogi

#7

I do have a high arch and use superfeet insoles. I assume those are the best. Running shoes shouldn’t be too hard to find, thanks!

Pickle

#8

If you have really high arches - try some long hikes in the running shoes before you take them on a thruhike. While I am comfortable in running shoes with my low arches, Jim with his high arches is miserable unless he has more support. He can wear trail runners for about 6 miles, beyond that, they eat his feet.

FWIW - I prefer to wear boots in snow. I know I’m a dinosaur - but when it comes to kicking steps, I like something a bit more solid than running shoes. On our first CDT hike we hiked with someone wearing very light boots. He let us kick the steps. His shoes also had little tread so he had some problems with slipping on hard packed snow. My feet also are warmer in boots, which is a factor when doing a lot of deep snow and/or stream crossings. I don’t like gaiters and only wear them when the snow is really deep. Boots keep most of it out. On the PCT I used leather boots for the Sierras then switched back to lighter boots. For our CDT hike, I will probably wear midweight boots (Lowas) while dealing with the spring snow in Colorado or Montana then switch back to runners for the rest of the trail. Jim will wear boots all the way. Every time he has tried to switch to trail runners, he has had problems, which he doesn’t have with the Lowas.

So, bottom line - find out how your feet do before you go.

Ginny

#9

Gore-tex works great in my golf shoes, Yogi. We usually play early in he morning when the rough is very wet and my new gore-tex shoes keep my feet nice and dry until the 19th hole.

Bob J

#10

Golfing is not the same as thru-hiking. I’ll bet you don’t golf in pouring rain day after day. I’ll bet your golfing feet don’t sweat like hiking feet do. I’m sure it takes more energy to thru-hike, and that increases the sweat. I’m sure when you go home after 3 hours of golfing, you can dry your shoes indoors where the air is not moist.

Gore-tex works for a very short while. Then it wears out or gets plugged up or whatever. Bottom line is that the supposed breathablility disappears. It may work for golfing, but golfing is NOTHING compared to thru-hiking.

yogi

www.pcthandbook.com

yogi

#11

Ginny,
Did Jim use superfeet insoles? I hiked in a pair of tennis shoes I found at a hostel the last quarter of the AT. They were so much better and I don’t think I ran into any problems with my high arches. I have no idea about kicking in steps, though. Could you use tennis shoes for this? Yogi, what did you do? You said you wore tennis shoes the whole way.

I also have no idea about golfing. I bet gtx would work well for golfing.

Pickle

#12

Maybe not day after day, but living near the self-proclaimed golf capital of the world (at the very least, the golf capital of NC) Pinehurst, I can tell you that those idio-- I mean golfers-- do indeed play in pouring rain, and also in snow.

but, that is not why I am writing. While working at the U.S. Open this year I found a product that I believe is a lot more necessary to a hiker than a golfer or a caddy, even tho it is marketed to the golfing community. It is an electrolyte supplement that comes in hiker-friendly packets of 8 capsules. It is called back9lytes and you can find it at http://www.back9nutrition.com

Wild Hare

#13

Running shoes worked fine on the CDT. Yeah, there were some tense moments, but I don’t know of any hikers who have hiked in conditions so icy that they couldn’t kick steps with running shoes. Honestly, if the conditions are that icy, you better turn around and go back down because thru-hikers are not equipped to be mountaineers.

yogi

www.pcthandbook.com

yogi

#14

Thanks for your advice, that makes a lot of sense. I know nothing at this point so I have to ask a lot of questions. I’ve been reading your journal. It sounds like you encountered a tremendous amount of rain and mosquitos.

I also read all the forums about GPS. I’m thinking of getting the Garmin Geko 301. I just don’t know if it gets a strong signal or not. Thanks!

Pickle