Day 57: 23 Miles Today was a tough and slow going day. We hiked until nearly dark, yet only managed 23 miles. We’re on an alternate, and many times throughout the day the trail we were following would disappear, forcing …
Category: Continental Divide Trail

CDT Days 55-56: Leadville to Silverthorne
Day 55: 24 Miles This morning Tim dropped us off early back at the trail, and after being indoors for 2 days, our bodies were not used to the cold 30 degree morning. As usual for a day coming out …

CDT Days 51-54: Twin Lakes to Leadville
Day 51: 14 Miles We got up early to get over Hope Pass and down into Twin Lakes. It’s a tiny town, but they have a gas station and a food truck for us hikers to resupply and eat some …

CDT Days 48-50: The Collegiate Peaks Wilderness
Day 48: 16 Miles We slept in some pretty comfy beds last night, and woke up to clear skies this morning. We had breakfast at the hotel, packed up and headed out to resupply. We got a ride back up …

CDT Days 44-47: Lake City to Salida
Day 44: 20 Miles Lake City locals are awesome. As we were trying to hitch a ride out of town and back up to the pass, a local saw us and texted her husband to come give us a ride. …

CDT Days 41-43: The Colorado Trail
Day 41: 26 Miles We woke up to clear skies this morning and great views. We climbed over at least 7 passes today and stayed above 12,000 feet nearly the entire day, with a total of 6,100 feet of cumulative …

CDT Days 37-40: The Weminuche Wilderness
Day 37: 5 Miles Today was a great town day. We slept in a little, since we were right by the road at Wolf Creek Pass. We broke camp and headed to the road to hitch into town. It didn’t …

CDT Days 34-36: The South San Juan Wilderness
Day 34: 20 Miles What a day. It was a beautiful morning and every hiker in town was eager to get back on the trail. We got a shuttle from a local trail angel and were back at Cumbres Pass …

CDT Days 32-33: Chama
While we had planned to take our first zero day in Chama, we didn’t plan that the next day would be filled with rain, hail, thunder and lightning. Since we would be climbing up over 12,000 feet, the prudent choice …

CDT Days 28-31: The End of New Mexico
The final days in the state, and New Mexico really turned up the scenery. As we left Ghost Ranch we climbed out of the desert for good, into the high altitude mountains as we moved closer and closer to Colorado. …

CDT Days 25-27: Cuba to Ghost Ranch
Day 25: 5 Miles It was a pretty short road walk into Cuba this morning along the highway. We stopped at the first restaurant we passed and went in for breakfast, sitting way back in the corner to charge our …

CDT Days 21-24: Grants to Cuba
We’re finally hiking on trails! There were still a few dirt road walls in this section, plus the paved walk into Cuba, but for the most part we got to walk on actual trail. Water is still scarce and we …

Days 17-20: The Ley Route to Grants
There are many route options between Pie Town and Grants. Each of them includes a little trail and a little road. The official CDT follows the Rim of Craters trail before joining a highway for 20 miles into Grants. We …

Days 14-16: Dirt Road Walking to Pie Town
It’s been a lot of walking on dirt roads since we left the Gila. It’s hard on the feet, especially after the abuse our feet took walking through the river, but at least it’s usually fast walking. We’ve been climbing …

CDT Days 11-13: The Gila Wilderness
The Gila River alternate was both punishing and rewarding. After such long water carries, suddenly we were following flowing water all day long. We had shade, birds, and beautiful scenery in the canyon. At the same time, when the trail …