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, train, bus, and van over the course of two days. The destination? The southern terminus of the Continental Divide Trail. I’m planning to thru-hike this trail from end to end – an adventure that will take several months.

If you’re unfamiliar, the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) is a ~3,000-mile-long backpacking route through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. You can learn more about the CDT and thru-hiking here.

Part of the magic of thru-hiking is that it takes you to some really remote places that one might not visit otherwise. In the case of the CDT, it starts in a pretty remote place too. This makes just getting to the beginning of the CDT an adventure in and of itself. In this post, I’ll share the steps I took to reach the southern terminus and start of my CDT thru-hike.

Step 1: Fly to Phoenix

My dad drove me from Madison, Wisconsin to Chicago, Illinois in the afternoon. I booked a 10 pm night flight from Chicago O’Hare to Phoenix, Arizona. But first, I started my journey to the CDT meeting up with a friend from the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail). Rawdog and I started the PCT on the same day last year and hiked together for the first several days. After catching up over dinner, Rawdog dropped me off at the airport.

At the airport, I checked a cardboard box with my trekking poles, other sharp items, and food. I do this to keep my pack light and comfy for the airport and because sharp things can’t go in a carry-on bag.

My flight was pretty uneventful. I landed in Phoenix a bit before 1 am. I retrieved my checked “bag”, transferred its contents into my pack, and recycled the cardboard.

Since my Greyhound bus was scheduled for 7:20 am, I got several hours of sleep at the airport. I found the most comfortable, quiet spot to sleep at a closed Starbucks near baggage claim. I pushed three small padded benches together to make a bed and fell asleep amid chairs turned upside-down on tables.

Step 2: Greyhound Bus to Lordsburg

I groggily awoke on my benches to the sounds of beans grinding and milk streaming. As I rose, the barista smiled over at me. He’d very obviously and graciously left the chairs on the tables closest to me, allowing me to continue sleeping undisturbed while he set up the rest of the cafe for morning. I bought a coffee (probably one of my last for a while!) and set off.

I headed upstairs to catch the Phoenix Airport Sky Train over to the bus station. Out the train window, I watched the sunrise over scrubby little desert mountains. I’m not in the Midwest anymore.

My Greyhound bus will take me to the town of Lordsburg, New Mexico. This trail town is the closest to the Southern Terminus. From Lordsburg, I’ll catch a shuttle ~85 miles south to the terminus (tomorrow morning). Then the long walk begins.

I sat and waited at the 44th Street bus station for my Greyhound bus, watching other people from many walks of life congregate at the stop. I noticed one man had a backpacking pack. And Altra trail runners. And trekking poles. Could this be another thru-hiker?

A brief conversation confirmed that this hiker was also bound for the CDT. I’ve heard that fewer people hike the CDT than the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail. I’d been mentally preparing for some initial loneliness on this thru-hike. So I was pleasantly surprised to meet another thru-hiker even before arriving in Lordsburg.

The Greyhound bus ride to Lordsburg took about 5 hours. Another thru-hiker got on at a later stop, identifiable by her sun hoodie and the eggshell foam sleeping pad strapped to the top of her bag. The Greyhound is starting to feel like the bus to summer camp.

Overall it was not a bad ride, with nice views of the desert. Two deserts, actually. As the bus traveled east, it passed from the Sonoran Desert into the Chihuahuan Desert. Gradually, the saguaro-covered mountainsides transitioned into a shrub-steppe desert-scape. This is the landscape I’ll walk through for the coming weeks.

Step 3: Lordsburg and CDTC Shuttle

I arrived in Lordsburg in the early afternoon. It’s a little desert town off of I-10. On the central street through town (which also happens to be the route of the CDT!) there is a supermarket, a Dollar Store, several hotels, and a McDonald’s.

I quickly discover that McDonald’s is the place where thru-hikers gather in this town. Considering my expectations of relative solitude, the number of hikers is almost overwhelming. Not only are there hikers who start tomorrow (like me), but also people who have just finished the first 85 miles of the trail and are passing through Lordsburg on their journey north. In total today, I met three hikers who will start with me tomorrow and three who started earlier this week.

Also astonishingly, I already received trail magic – in the form of chicken nuggets from my Greyhound bus driver. And a friendly local offered to help me out if I needed anything on my way back through town. It feels odd to get trail magic before hiking even one mile.

Having my fill of socializing after my long day of travel, I soon walked over to my hotel. I’d selected it online in advance based solely on its very low price. Upon arriving, I found the roof of the place is partially made of tarps. Seems about right for $39/room. But a bed is a bed.

Tomorrow, I’ll catch the CDT Southern Terminus Shuttle from Lordsburg down to the Mexican border. Then I’ll begin my thru-hike. But more on that soon.