I am 23, graduating from college, and I am having that adventure bug that led me to my AT hike. I know I am late in planning, but I am looking into a SOBO CDT hike. What kind of money did CDT thru-hikers spend? What kind of mileage did they start off at in Glacier NP and the Bob Marshall Wilderness? I am looking forward to hearing some responses.
Bankrobber
are you thinking about starting? And where? And have you hiked the PCT? Those answers are prerequisite to any mileage answers.
Money - plan on about $1.50 - $2 per mile. If you have no injury or illness. That doesn’t include gear or tranportation. Depending on what you want to get out of the hike, it “can” be done cheaper. But you’ll get what you pay for.
Check out cdt-l. The archives are at http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/cdt-l/
Subscribe at http://www.backcountry.net/
That’s where most of the CDT thruhikers roost.
Jim
I have not hiked the PCT, but I have hiked the AT. Once I hit my groove, I averaged 19 miles a day. I have just about all my gear from my last AT hike, but I plan on getting some new stuff. Judging from what I have seen from a lot of terrain, I think that I could push out some big miles.
How far do most hikers go between resupplies?
Bankrobber
OK - I’m gonna give you a one stop shopping tour of the CDT. But FIRST - I’m gonna tell you that none of this is meant to “scare” you. There’s no reason why you can’t, won’t or shouldn’t do what you want to do - especially if you’re willing to learn what you need to know. And apparently you are.
The PCT question was to find out if you’ve dealt with snow before. Not the AT kind of snow, but the Northwest kind. But I just checked the Snotel reports (http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/snotel_climate.html) and you, sir, are just so lucky I can’t believe it. The present snow levels in N Montana are running about 85% of normal. That bodes well for a SOBO hike. For Glacier and the Bog, that means you might not have 5-10’ deep snowpack. Makes “more miles” a lot stronger possibility. When we went thru, we planned on 14 mpd through that section. We actually varied between 9 and 20. But then, we had 185% snowpack and a 3-week late snowmelt. You DON’T want that. OTOH - we had the Bog to ourselves - except for the bears, wolves, moose, elk, etc. And we had lots of those. With the lower snowpack, the Bog may be open - and if it is, you’ll likely run into horsepackers. In any case, learn how to deal with horses - you’ll run into them on other parts of the trail.
If snowmelt is running high, you’ll also likely have some places where stream crossings are difficult, if not downright dangerous. The lower crossings of Strawberry Creek come to mind. That was the other reason for the PCT question. Caution - not all stream crossings are doable. The Pentagon Creek crossing is one you really want to watch out for. If the water is high - take an alternate route. In August, it’s a rock hop - in June, its a different beast.
Another thought - when you go through Glacier and the Bog, don’t go alone. Bear “incidents” are not at all rare, but last time I checked, no group of three or more had ever been attacked in there. We took on a temporary partner for that section of the trail.
Navigation - will likely be one of your big problems. But you won’t be alone - it’s that way for almost everybody. No - it IS that way for everybody. Learn to use a compass - and especially your maps. Depending on GPS can get you in trouble if you’re not checking the maps as well.
Resupply - let’s start with direction of march. If you’re doing a SOBO, you might want to plan on starting near Butte and go north for a few weeks, first. Even in a normal snow year, Glacier doesn’t generally open up until 1 July - sometimes later. Getting a permit before 1 July is “possible”, but generally unlikely. And you DO need a permit. Someday maybe I’ll tell you some stories about those who didn’t get permits. But not now. But — if you’ve hiked north through the Bog from Butte, you’ll be “experienced” - and the rangers will look a lot more favorably on handing you a permit for Glacier.
If you do it that way, you can do a resupply at Benchmark Ranch. And then you can resupply at East Glacier. For more complete info see the posts by Spiritwalker under this forum and the thread “Information.”
And I’ll repeat the reference she gave for town info - with the caveat that the information is 5 years old and somewhat out of date. But it’s a place to start.
http://www.backcountry.net/arch/cdt/01/msg00140.html
Basically resupply opportunities are anywhere from 70 to 150 miles apart - a week or less depending on where you are hiking. In New Mexico it is easy to do big miles, in Colorado much less so. One big difference from the AT is that your resupply town may be 30 off the trail - there are some very long slow hitches.
Enuff for now. We’ll answer any specific questions you want to ask, but we can’t give you everything in one post - and probably not in one thread. We spent a couple hours talking about this in our Gathering workshop and barely managed to scratch the surface.
We’ll give you the info you want (if we’ve got it) - but we’re not into dumping info on those who don’t want it. BTDT. You only got this much tonight cause I’m feeling lonely for the trail. It was our favorite. And as the man said - We’ll be back.
Jim
Jim-- Thank you for the informative post.
When you say “Bog”, are you referring to the Bob Marshall Wilderness?
My wife and I are considering going northbound from around Helena starting on June 15. Whaddya think? Is this a reasonable plan? In terms of skills, we’re really not prepared to be on dangerous snow slopes. Are we likely to experience these in the Helena Forest or Bob Marshall Wilderness areas? I’m hoping things will melt down a bit by the time we reach Glacier.
Eric
Yes. Those who have gone through the Bob Marshall in spring/early summer know how much of a bog it can be. One friend warned me that he’d sunk to his hips in the mud. He’s 6’4". When we went through, the mud wasn’t that bad - it was still frozen and snowmelt was still in the early stages.
Hmm - it’s possible you won’t hit much of that - they were doing major turnpiking in there even when we went through. Also - a lot of people in the past have blamed the horses for ALL the damage. Not so. When we were there, there wasn’t a horse track in sight. The trails were definitely torn up - but by the elk, moose, bear etc. Be careful who/what you blame for trail - or environmental damage. It’s not all as simple or obvious as some people think.
Northbound from Helena - in a “normal” snow year is definitely doable, but likely to be wet both because of snowmelt and because June is monsoon season in Montana. They didn’t warn you about that, did they? Take good raingear.
Snow - if this turns out to be a “normal” snow year - will be there, but will probably be patchy. You’re not likely to run into the conditions we did. Although I’d love to do it over again even under the same conditions. Personally, I’d still take the ice axes, but that’s a decision you’ll have to make for yourselves. We waffled about it, changed our minds at the last minute and were thankful we did take them. We didn’t send them home until Leadore, where it was 90* and sunny.
I think you’ve got a good plan - and I’ll wish you the best. If there’s anything else we can do for you, you know where to find us. Yeah - US. There are two of us and we’re a team. And we’ve spent the last 12 years helping others to do what we’ve done - and wishing we’d done more.
You should also realize that everything I’ve written may be wrong. Advice is worth what you pay for it - and this is free. The guarantee is 4 hours or sundown, whichever comes first. 
Jim
It seems that more hikers are becoming interested in the CDT. Maybe a group of folks can get together and do a supported trip. The CDT website has 2008 as the projected completion date but from what I have heard from hikers this is about 15-20 years from completion(moderately well marked,treadway considered trail etc) Heard an interesting story last year from a hiker completing his Triple Crown that he hid from a smokejumper for 4 hours in Montana-big trouble(like maybe jail) if caught in areas closed due to fire hazard. I think the CDT is like going from high school to a graduate school. You need proven navigational skills and mountaineering exper. With some of the changes in the trail community along the AT this year, the PCT looks like a good option for a first long distance hike. Sorry, I sidetracked abit. Anyhow, the CDT looks like it would be fun to do in 3 years,easier on your body and able to enjoy the wilderness exper. Good luck on your CDT adventures. 2 Spirits
2 spirits
Don’t need mountaineering skills, but you might want to know how to navigate. Some years ago there was a hiker who got lost for 5 or 6 days, ran out of food and got rescued by a family that was out for the weekend. In '99 we had it easier - there were only a couple sections where we didn’t see a blaze for 150 miles or so. 
And I think it might be hard to find anyone who’d agree about it being easier on your body. It sure wasn’t easier on mine.
Just do it!
Jim
i was thinking along the lines of doing it in 3 seasons-that would be easier on your body and allow more flexibility in what sections you hike and when. Definitely will hike it after New Zealand hut hopping and trips to the ALPs. Peace, 2 Spirits
2 spirits
Sorry - I misunderstood the 3 years thing. That’s actually a really good plan - it also gives you a chance to pick your season for each section and get the best of the trail. Before we started we were told that it wasn’t possible to spend 6 consecutive months on trail. But we did. We were also really, really lucky with regard to snow in CO and NM. We only got snowed on 5 times - and only one of them was a major winter storm. But doing it over 3 years, you could avoid that kind of slippin’ and slidin’. 
Jim