Recent Posts
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A Post-Holing Misadventure: bailing off the Continental Divide in the snow!
Chama to Pagosa Springs. Days 31 to 35. Miles 797 to 866. Cumbres Pass, near Chama, NM, marks the beginning of a new phase in a thru-hiker’s journey. Here, the trail enters the South San Juans – some of the… Continue reading
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So Long, Land of Enchantment!
~Ghost Ranch to Chama. Days 25 to 30. Ghost Ranch Alt Mile 8 to CDT Mile 797. From Ghost Ranch, the Alt route climbs up through a box canyon and onto a mesa. From there, it gradually ascends into the… Continue reading
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San Pedro Parks Wilderness and Rio Chama
~Cuba to ~Ghost Ranch. Days 23 to 24. Miles 636 to Ghost Ranch Alt Mile 8. Leaving Cuba, hikers face 8 miles on paved and gravel roads. But soon they’re rewarded for their persistence with a long climb up into… Continue reading
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From the Mountain to the Mesa
Grants to ~Cuba. Days 19 to 22. Miles 534 to 636. The section between Grants and Cuba features both mountains and high desert. After Grants, the Continental Divide Trail gains elevation quickly. It rises above 9,000 feet as it traverses… Continue reading
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Walking on highway shoulders in the freezing rain
Pie Town to Grants. Days 16 to 18. Miles 423 to 534 (via Cebolla & Bonita-Zuni Alts; actual mileage ~85 miles). There are several ways Continental Divide Trail (CDT) thru-hikers can get from Pie Town to Grants. All of them… Continue reading
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Bye-bye Gila: cliff dwellings, hot springs, and a wildfire closure
Doc Campbell’s to Pie Town. Days 10 to 15. Gila River Alt Mile 40 to CDT Mile 423. After Doc Campbell’s, the Gila River Alt continues crossing back and forth across the river for many miles. Hikers have the option… Continue reading
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Walking into the Gila River
Silver City to Doc Campbell’s. Days 8 to 9. Mile 161 to Gila River Alt. Mile 40. After Silver City, CDT hikers face a choice. They can continue on the CDT main route, or, take the popular Gila River Alt.… Continue reading
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Leaving the Bootheel and walking into Trail Days!
Lordsburg to Silver City. Days 4 to 7. Miles 85 to 161. After Lordsburg, the Continental Divide Trail gradually climbs up and out of the desert of the Bootheel and into the Burro Mountains. The vegetation transitions from cacti and… Continue reading
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My first days of thru-hiking the Continental Divide Trail
Southern Terminus to Lordsburg. Days 1 to 3. Miles 0 to 85. The Continental Divide Trail begins at the US-Mexico border in a part of New Mexico known as the boot heel. The boot heel is characterized by shrub-steppe desert… Continue reading
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Traveling to the CDT’s southern terminus
It’s a strange moment, waking up and putting on the outfit you’ll wear every day for the next 5 months for the first time. That’s how my day began, yesterday. Since then, I’ve traveled across the country by car, plane,… Continue reading
Adventures with Val 