When I first thru-hiked the Continental Divide Trail I went northbound. I’ve always been one of those hikers who thinks, “I ONLY HIKE NOBO!”. As fate would have it, the CDT made me realize just how silly that thought process was and I broke that declaration. I ended up flip flopping twice, due to snow. It was at a huge cost of time, money, and logistics. If I hiked the Continental Divide Trail again I would most likely go SOBO to avoid this.
When it comes to gear there are some items I would change. I would attempt to start with a lower base weight. My goal would be to be under 10 lbs. The reason for this is, the CDT is a beast and if one wants to do big miles you don’t want a heavy pack.
Most of the CDT was a big unknown to me. Because of listening to the lore that surrounds the CDT I started with misconceptions that left me questioning a lot. The two biggest misconceptions were that the trail is hard to follow and that it’s not well established. Both in my opinion are false.
On the other hand I did learn the following: the weather is more extreme, elevation plays a bigger role (mostly in CO), the water sources in NM can be of poor quality, and depending on the year, snow can effect your hike much more.
After so long, my approach to hiking, my skill level, confidence, and the gear available have changed greatly. I wanted to write this post as a companion piece to my original gear list, to show what I would do if I hiked the CDT again.
Keep reading to find out what else I would change about my hike.
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Craig Fowler2020-04-21 12:02:372020-11-06 08:56:08How to Pick the Perfect Campsite
