Thru-Hike of the Continental Divide Trail

[whuppinstick]

Do you have a crew you hike with or are you going it alone?  I'm curious if there is the same culture you see from hikers on the PCT.  I stopped at a diner last fall near a junction in the PCT.  It was interesting listening to the ten or so people talk using "trail names" and referencing different places.

I started alone but picked up a group of four out of the second town stop.  I've been with them since then both because we get along but also because I've been having GPS problems (which I think I finally resolved last night) and their navigation skills are great.  Also, they keep a higher pace than I would have otherwise, so they've pushed me.  I will probably stick with them for awhile yet, though I'm sure we'll go out separate ways somewhere in Colorado.

Yes, we do all have trail names and refer to each other that way.  It made for an interesting conversation with my girlfriend last night to be discussing a deep conversation I had with the hiker, Half-Ounce, yesterday.

Funny you mention the restaurant story because there were five of us in a restaurant here in Cuba yesterday.  We were telling stories about blisters (and cutting them open), how many miles we're doing, and the various ways we're going to consume as many calories as we can while in town.  Before we got up I heard a lady behind speak quietly to her husband and say "sometimes I love eavesdropping on other conversations."

[whuppinstick]

I added some new pictures to the trailjournals site: http://trailjournals.com/photos.cfm?trailname=14668

[CementFinisher]

Awesome! pinky toe looks like it might hurt a bit. Thanks for sharing

[Smossy]

Awesome! pinky toe looks like it might hurt a bit. Thanks for sharing

[Smossy]

I added some new pictures to the trailjournals site: http://trailjournals.com/photos.cfm?trailname=14668

You are one hell of a hiker whuppinstick. Totally Inspiring. Keep it up

[Tony]

Tag

[Becky]

Following this thread, very inspiring!

[Bmcox86]

He updated his blog if anyone's intrested

[whuppinstick]

He updated his blog if anyone's intrested

Sorry for the delay, I tried to write a post on here from Silverton but the site was down. I'm in Salida, Colorado right now and things feel like they're gradually coming together for me.  The snow in the San Juans wasn't too bad, but there was definitely plenty of it (which is why I was only doing 20-mile days).  Since Silverton, though, there's been very minimal snow, so my mileages have been upwards of 25/day, which is nice.

I had a day where I saw 120-ish elk, which was awesome.  The night before I slept below a rockslide that had two cows and three newborn calves on it.  The cows were trying to escape me but the calves couldn't navigate the rocks so there was a barrage of cow calling going on.  Fortunately they seemed to have hooked up again before I went to sleep, but I could see why this is a season of plenty for the predators.

I crossed a stream in the San Juans that had tons of 14-16" trout, but unfortunately I didn't have my fishing pole on me at the time.    Now I'm carrying it and there's no fish around, ha.

Colorado is so much better than New Mexico so far.  I struggle up many of the hills, but am comforted by knowing I'll be in decent shape come this hunting season.    But man, 12,000' with a 35lb. pack and steep hills.. sometimes I wonder what the heck I'm doing out here.  Then I reach the top and get to walk down the other side..

I found out I drew moose in Idaho, so that's a nice bonus that will help guide this training.

Fires haven't affected anything on the CDT so far, but we've still got a couple weeks left in this state.  Really, really hoping I can squeak by.

I'm done with the big, long sections for a couple weeks at least, so I'll hopefully be able to update more often.  If anybody has any lightweight backpacking questions as they begin planning their high country hunts please ask away.  I'm probably a pretty good resource on this stuff right now.  One tip is to look into alcohol stoves (google: Pepsi can stove or cat food can stove or alcohol stove) instead of MSR or canister stoves.  They're simple, super light, and you can cook a lot of stuff on them.

[JoeE]

Goat and sheep last year and a moose this year. You're lucky with those draws! That will be good motivation while you're hiking. What unit in Idaho?

[kerrdog]

Hey Whuppinstick,

I've been following your trip too.  I've adjusted my idea's of what's possible and what's needed. 

I'd love to hear your approach to hunting Westside Elk.  You Da Man.

[Boss .300 winmag]

Well I see you ran into my brother in law , and niece (Balls and Sunshine)on the trail along with Beacon. Hopefully you still have some of your ears left after Butterfly was done talking on the ride her and Mother Treasa help you out with! 

Well happy trails Whuppinstick 

[halflife65]

following...

[Olympics777]

I am curious as well, what unit in Idaho?

[whuppinstick]

I made it to Lander, Wyoming (about 1500 miles in) just in time to catch a flight out of Riverton to get to Eugene for a wedding I had to photograph.  Wedding photography is something I'm looking at going into next summer so I scheduled three weddings to photograph this summer (another in two weeks, another at the end of Sept.) to build my portfolio and make sure I could do it. I also planned to spend the two weeks between these weddings with a girl, so this is scheduled time away from the trail.  However, I also drew an Idaho moose tag and my dad drew the Watershed elk tag in WA, so timing has become a bit complicated. The moose hunt will begin in September and hopefully there will be a little scouting before that.  I'd like some time to prep for that and also to make sure my dad is getting in shape for his hunt.  It became clear that I probably wouldn't finish the CDT this summer due to those hunting obligations and the pre-scheduled weddings, so I decided to just stop in Lander and continue the rest of Wyoming and Montana in another year.  I'll spend August catching up on life and getting ready for hunting season while hopefully staying in shape.

Speaking of which, one of my first journal posts on Trailjournals had my body weight, which was 206 at the time.  As soon as I got into Lander I went to the hospital and weighed myself - 170 pounds!  That's probably the lightest I've been since high school.  I was trying hard to keep up with the calories on trail, but I don't think I was taking in much more than 3000/day and I think I've read that thru-hikers usually burn 5000+, so there was a bit of a deficit there that even Ben and Jerry's (when in town) couldn't make up for.  It might be a marketable diet plan (eat whatever you want!) if it didn't require 15 hours of exercise daily.

I was not very enamored with the New Mexico section of the CDT, but Colorado was much nicer.  It was tough, though, as much of the hiking was above 12,000' and the terrain was not graded very well.  For this reason it was tough for me to break above 25 miles/day in that state.  I did hike half of Wyoming and really like most of what I saw, but I know some of the best remains in the Wind River Range and Yellowstone.  And, of course, Montana will be great.  The Divide Basin (water flows to neither the Atlantic or Pacific, but rather evaporates or goes into the ground) was the last section I did in WY.  It's tough because it's hot and there are some long waterless sections (25 miles between good water), but there were a zillion antelope so I liked it.

When I stopped there were just three other northbound CDT hikers that I could account for ahead of me.  That would probably leave 50-60 behind me.  It is not a race, but I cite this fact to show how well I was doing.  When I started there were probably 60-some ahead of me (many have since stopped hiking).  I'm not a fast hiker, but I'm steady and I didn't take many zero days.  This is how I got so far up in the pack.  Also, my body really came around near the end of Colorado and I was feeling very good.  I was doing 30+-mile days in WY and felt like I could just keep doing them without a break.  I think without scheduling conflicts this summer and barring an injury, I probably could've finished the trail by the end of August.  That's encouraging for me to know that my body is still capable of good things (since I'm getting pretty old - 34).

I intend to do a few more posts about gear, but I'll touch quickly on my 'big three' and how they performed for me:

Pack: I reused my ULA P-2 pack which I also used for thru-hiking the PCT in 2005 and many abroad adventures during the eight years between.  That pack is a workhorse.  It's a bit heavy at 40 ounces, but the durability is worth it to me.  On the CDT the pack started to suffer from its age.  The fabric has sun damage and some tears began in various places.  It probably could've hobbled to the Canadian border, but I anticipate replacing it this fall with ULA's current comparable model.

Tent: I used Z-Packs Hexamid Solo-Plus (http://www.zpacks.com/shelter/hexamid_plus.shtml).  Including the bug netting and stakes, it weighs in at 15.2 ounces.  If I thought I was going to use it in real rain I would probably have the extended beak added.  I also hike with trekking poles so I use one of those in the setup.  I would say I was pretty happy with the tent.  I think the .51oz cuben fiber is the thinnest cuben any manufacturer will use for a tent, which means it's both lightweight and also less durable.  I've heard that the lifespan of these tents is about one thru-hike, but mine still seems to be in fine condition so I fully expect it to last beyond the remaining 6-8 weeks of the trail.  Since I spent $350 on it I will cry if it doesn't make it that long.
This is definitely a lightweight, summery tent.  I would probably use it on backcountry hunts through mid-October, but beyond that I'd want to be stepping it up to something with a bathtub floor and a little more protection.  I used my Tarptent on my backcountry Idaho goat hunt last October and would be totally comfortable using this tent for that.  I used a heavier Mtn. Hardwear tent on a November Idaho deer hunt (lots of snow) and would probably do that again.

Sleeping Bag: Marmot Helium 15 degree down bag.  Same bag on the PCT, no problems with it on the CDT.  I will only use down, for weight, compactness, and warmth.


If you have any questions, please ask!
Apologies to the people who were looking forward to seeing me finish this year.  It's very hard to schedule five months to hike a long trail and I knew this might be my best chance for awhile, so I decided just to start hiking and see what would come my way.  I knew I could work around the weddings, but the girl and the moose tag complicated things to the point that it would just be too busy trying to rush to the Canadian border then running back to a moose hunt.  This will be my one shot at an Idaho moose so I want to do it right.  The CDT will still be there next year...