In an effort to maximize the utility of the Continental Divide Trail Thru-hiker Survey, I have done a deep dive into the gear that hikers used on the trail this past year. The results detailed here should help to give an idea of what gear made hikers successful and what gear hikers realized was
Continental Divide Trail Week 1: The Bootheel
For a detailed account of Day 1 on trail, check out this post: Continental Divide Trail Day 1: The Middle of Nowhere. CDT DAY 2: The First Detour On my first full day on the CDT I wake up what I would generally consider fantastic weather - not a cloud in the sky. However, in the New Mexico
The Continental Divide Trail Thru-Hiker Survey (2017)
Hello and welcome to the results of the 2017 Continental Divide Trail Thru-hiker Survey! Now that I've hiked the Continental Divide Trail, I feel it's a good time to begin disseminating free information on the internet to make the CDT more accessible to people who will ultimately end up ruining
Continental Divide Trail Day 1: The Middle of Nowhere
It turns out that the adventure of a 3,100 mi / 5,000 km thru-hike of the Continental Divide Trail begins before you take your first steps away from the US/Mexico border toward Canada. It starts on the drive down to the southern terminus. Driving from Phoenix (that's in Arizona for all my
Big Agnes Copper Spur 2 Platinum Tent Review
The Big Agnes Copper Spur 2 Platinum is a lightweight, freestanding, two-person backpacking tent that's for anyone willing to spend $600 on their miniature house for the outdoors (or as I like to call it, my palace). I got this tent just before my Continental Divide Trail thru-hike and have spent
Getting To The CDT Southern Terminus
The Southern Terminus of the Continental Divide Trail - where the Mexico meets the New Mexico and where many long journeys begin and end (and where even more shorter journeys begin). Contrary to what you may assume, the CDT Southern Terminus is not as straightforward a place as you may think. In
Hyperlite Mountain Gear 3400 Southwest Review
The Hyperlite Mountain Gear 3400 Southwest came with me on my Continental Divide Trail thru-hike (what's essentially the most grueling test on Earth for any piece of gear) and it performed exactly as I hoped it would - spectacularly. It's currently my default pack and I've been using it since with
Continental Divide Trail Gear List (Post-Trail)
As was to be expected, my Continental Divide Trail gear list at the end of the trail did not match up exactly with my pre-departure CDT gear list. There's no better way to test gear than to take it thru-hiking, and there's no better thru-hike to test gear on than the CDT. I've divided this post
Montbell Tachyon Jacket Review
I've never owned a wind shirt/jacket before and so the Montbell Tachyon Jacket was a new and exciting thing for me to test out. This jacket was a part of my Continental Divide Trail gear, and it accompanied me the entire length of the trail. I used it extensively at high elevations in Colorado