Six and a half weeks to go until we set off for America, and I can’t say I ever thought I would feel this physically unprepared at this stage! I really hoped that stopping work would lead to a major improvement in the state of my back and allow me … Read More
Well, after a hectic three days we’re pretty much ready to go! Since dossing down in Manchester Airport on Sunday night, we’ve taken five flights, numerous airport shuttles, way too many security checks, a seriously late Greyhound bus journey, and finally arrived at Lordsburg, New Mexico at 3am Wednesday local … Read More
Just back from our little trial excursion onto the trail, and pleased to report that we really liked it! It is rough, rocky and spiky underfoot, it’s so hot and windy that it feels like you’re walking under a hairdryer, but it is beautiful. We only walked about 4 miles … Read More
We’ve just finished the first stage of our hike, and we’re really hoping it might get a little easier soon! We arrived back into Lordsburg at 6.30 last night, the first 85 miles of trail successfully completed. Neil was still smugly blister-free (if a little footsore), while I was limping … Read More
After our hot slog into Lordsburg, we had a very pleasant and much-needed rest day before getting a lift to ‘Trail Days’ in Silver City – an annual event organised by the Continental Divide Trail Coalition. There were informative talks on topics like desert safety, bike packing the CDT and … Read More
So much for our route getting easier! It’s only been 50 miles since Silver City, but the trail has got harder and harder. After a few easy miles on tarmac then dirt roads on Wednesday evening, we spent Thursday morning winding through the Gila National Forest on steep, rough and … Read More
After six days of hard hiking, we are hugely, immensely thankful to have finally dragged our weary bodies into Pie Town last night. In six and a bit days, we covered 130 miles, and the hiking changed from the sublime to the frankly bloody awful! The first day and a … Read More
I guess I should have known better than to expect sympathy for a poorly toe from someone who makes social calls with a large gun at his hip and only four toes on one foot. Tony the trail angel from Pie Town offered to take my toe off for me … Read More
Two days after getting a lift back to where we left the trail, I am very happy to report that my new shoes have done the job! I can hike, I can carry a fully loaded rucksack, and although we have hiked over some seriously rough terrain, the discomfort from … Read More
It’s been a hot and exhausting five days since we left Grants, but the scenery has been absolutely outstanding! Before we started hiking the CDT, I pictured New Mexico as being just like in the westerns, with huge desert plains and lofty mesas surrounded by towering cliffs. Well that’s what … Read More
With our progress northwards blocked by the closure of Santa Fe National Forest, on Sunday afternoon we got a lift past the closed section of trail to Ghost Ranch. Our driver was UB, a local Navajo guy born and brought up in Cuba, New Mexico. Ghost Ranch is a Presbyterian … Read More
High mountains. Snow. Bright sunshine and bitterly cold winds. Marmots and pikas scurrying around boulder fields, squeaking their alarm calls as we approached. The last few days of hiking since we left Chama have been exactly what we hoped for from the Colorado section of the trail, as we toiled … Read More
Well, I guess we were overdue for some bad weather, and when it arrived it didn’t disappoint! As we neared the end of our 22 mile roadwalk into Creede, the wind gusted stronger and stronger, stirring up dust devils which whirled across the road from the mining spoil heaps. A … Read More
84 miles and 17, 493 feet of ascent over three and a half days – this was probably the most physically challenging section of the CDT so far, and we loved it! When we were planning our resupply however, we just looked at the mileage and reckoned on doing our … Read More
Well, we were passing by, and it is the highest mountain in the Rockies, and the second highest mountain in the contiguous United States … At 14,440 feet high we did feel the altitude a bit as we got near the top! More worrying were the black clouds which had … Read More
Maybe days off are better spent resting up and rehydrating, rather than dashing up mountains. So there were some good challenging ascents and some beautiful views over the last 70 miles, but I think that after our ascent of Mount Elbert we were probably a bit too tired to fully … Read More
This section really has been Colorado hiking at its best! Following high mountain ridges, climbing some of its highest peaks, long days spent above the treeline – it’s been challenging, but we expected nothing less when we set out on this trail. Our first half day out from Breckenridge was … Read More
Well the big mountains couldn’t go on forever, and in the last two days we have dropped down from the relatively cool mountains to a warm and muggy 6700 feet above sea level – the lowest we’ve been in weeks. But before we left the mountains behind, we still had … Read More
We’ve finished Colorado! It’s been amazing, and amazingly challenging. We’ve loved spending day after day, week after week in the high mountains, but it must be said that we are now quite tired after such a tough five weeks. So it’s been good that over the last four days’ hiking, … Read More
In the 60 miles since we left Encampment on Tuesday morning, we have literally dropped out of one world and into another. After one last climb up through pine forest onto Vulcan Mountain on Tuesday afternoon, we started losing height. The forest became more patchy, with dense pines becoming interspersed … Read More
Hot, dry, windy. Flat and featureless. Boring hiking. Something to get over and done with as quickly as possible. We were prepared for the worst with the Great Divide Basin, after dreading it for weeks. But in fact, even though there were some stretches which matched some or all of … Read More
Wow. Just wow. This last section of trail through the Wind River Range has been totally amazing – some of the best scenery and the most exciting hiking of the trail so far. We’ve also had great company, hiking most of the last 150 miles with some or all of … Read More
What a mixed bag this section has been! The geothermal features in Yellowstone National Park were jaw-droppingly amazing, but other than that … well, no long distance hike is exciting all of the time, and we have also had many days of fairly routine plodding. Sometimes the paths were good, … Read More
Just 70 miles since our last write-up, but we covered it in good time (two and a half days) and it was really enjoyable hiking! Coming back from West Yellowstone on Tuesday lunchtime, the positive effects of a massage on my leg saw me all the way up a 3000 … Read More
And so to the PUDs – the so-called Pointless Ups and Downs of the Montana-Idaho border. Except they’re not pointless. Well, no more so than any other part of the trail anyway – and you could argue that hiking for the best part of six months is a pretty pointless … Read More
Oof, that was hard going! Two big obstacles since we left Leadore – a closed section of trail due to a wildfire, requiring a long detour, then just when we were really happy to be back on trail, the weather decided to go all dramatic on us! We had known … Read More
With 450 miles still to go to the Canadian border, it’s starting to feel like autumn is really setting in! Is this just a cold snap, soon to be followed by an Indian summer (as one lady told us) or will winter be following on shortly after, making for some … Read More
Just one more resupply to go before we reach the Canadian border, now that we’re in Augusta! We’ve hiked about 200 miles since we left Anaconda, and we have about 240 to go. The end of the trail feels close, but with two wildfire re-routes still to negotiate our way … Read More
We’ve spent the last five days hiking through the Bob Marshall Wilderness, a 136 mile stretch of trail with a reputation to live up to! We had heard a lot about it from other hikers, and opinion seemed to be divided as to whether it was wonderful hiking or a … Read More
We’ve done it! 5 months and 4 days after leaving the Mexican border and having hiked about 2700 miles, we finally reached the Canadian border yesterday morning. As with any long hike, finishing the Continental Divide Trail brought with it a real mixture of emotions – relief, happiness, sadness that … Read More
After finishing at the Canadian border last Monday, we had one final piece of unfinished business. Back in May when we were hiking through New Mexico, we arrived in the small town of Cuba to find that the next section of trail through the Santa Fe National Forest was closed … Read More