The Best Moments of the Continental Divide Trail (2024 Survey)

During the Continental Divide Trail Hiker Survey, in addition to sharing the scariest and worst moments of their CDT thru-hikes, CDT hikers also share the best moment(s) of the trail.

It’s good to remember that there will be difficult times on the Continental Divide Trail, but there are also good reasons that inspire people to begin (and stick out) a CDT thru-hike. But really, it would behoove you to remember that a lot of it may be awful and have you questioning what you’re doing with your life.

Some common responses to the question “What was your best moment on the trail?” include:

• The Wind River Range
  • Specifically, Knapsack Col and Cirque of the Towers
• Glacier National Park
• Sunrises

But there’s a lot more to tell than simply the names of some of the most scenic and most recognizable places along the CDT. Here are the best moments of this year’s CDT hikes.

Notes on the Data

• This year, there were 213 completed surveys. Hiking next year? Sign up to take the survey here.
• The Continental Divide Trail and thru-hiking generally use acronyms and jargon. If anything is unclear, the thru-hiker glossary may help. Please comment if you still can’t find what you’re looking for.
• Remember that each bullet point below comes from a different CDT hiker (and not me personally).
• To be notified of new survey results and posts, click here.

Word Cloud

Since a lot of people offered short responses when asked about their best moments on the Continental Divide Trail, I thought it best to express the answers in a word cloud to give a general idea of what words, themes, places, etc., were the most frequent in the responses.

Best Moments

• Hiking into the late afternoon on Aeroplane Mesa on the Orange Line (Gila High Route in New Mexico) with the wind blowing, the sun shining, feeling strong, and finding a horsepacker’s glove on trail, which I picked up and carried to the horse camp, was able to return it to the horsepacker. She gave us each a beer and a tour of her trailer and setup! Great evening.

• Catching a golden trout in the stream feeding Elbow Lake up in the Winds. I knew they were in there, and I worked a couple of holes pretty hard for an hour until I caught the first and then a bigger second one just a few minutes later. My first ever golden trout with my new tenkara pole on the most beautiful day in some unreal mountains. I’ll never forget it.

• I connected with three other women hikers through the lower Gila. The river was high, and we crossed big rock walls to stay dry. I was terrified, but they were so kind and helpful. They even carried my pack while I was clinging to the cliffs. I’ll never forget their kindness. They never shamed me. I’m not sure I could have done this part without them.

• Spectacular Northern Lights in Glacier National Park. The kindness of strangers willing to help hikers. Compliments and encouragement from people in town. Every moment on the trail (except when I injured my knee, woke up to puddles of water in my tent, or had to camp in a forest during high Winds when it seemed every second tree was falling).

• SOBO Trail Days in Leadville was an incredible reunion with many people I hadn’t seen in weeks, and we had an awesome party. Parts of the trail were undoubtedly better, but the two days I spent in Leadville got me back into a good headspace that allowed me to finish the trail instead of getting off at the end of Colorado like I was planning.

• The days when I wake up and have “no plan” but to set out and crush some miles. If I felt good, I would see how far I could push it and try to get in 18-20 mi / 29-32 km before my second break/lunch. Knowing I can do an immense amount of mileage and elevation in a short time feels powerful.

• When hitching into Darby, we were picked up by the friendliest man! He treated us to the most incredible trail magic for a whole morning! He bought us coffee, gave us lots of bars, offered a ride back, and wanted to give us all the money we needed (we didn’t accept it).

• After slugging through the snow in Colorado and running from the sun in the Basin, the Wind River range felt absolutely magical. There were beautiful mountains, endless flowers, and so many lakes to swim in. Mosquitoes were annoying, but nothing too bad.

• After not seeing anyone since Yellowstone, I saw three other hikers in Southern New Mexico. One of them showed up at the Mexican border shortly behind me after not seeing him since Glacier National Park. I was happy to have someone to share the end with.

• Hiking with friends, both people I already knew and those I met on the trail. It was also such a blast doing the Wind River High Route, especially seeing a wolverine in the Winds and ending up getting to talk to a wildlife biologist about the sighting.

• My favorite moments were off-trail scrambles, including Mount Haggin in Montana, Eighteenmile Peak in Idaho, Mount Neva and Kelso Ridge in Colorado, and Cabezon and Big Hatchet Peak in New Mexico. They were so exhilarating and liberating!

• Early freezing rain out of Pinedale caused us to stop early near Island Lake on the Knapsack alt. The weather turned beautiful and we had an amazing trail nearo, and a perfect next day all the way down to Green River Lakes campground.

• Everything after New Mexico was incredible. Knapsack Col was incredibly beautiful, and San Juan in the snow—wow. Glacier National Park is something else. The Cirque of Towers was insane, and Geyser Basin was incredible at sunrise.

• Climbing Parkview and then Lone Ranger Peak, I felt strong and triumphant. Lone Ranger Peak was so beautiful, and I felt so strong and happy. I met NOBOs on this mountain and felt like I was strong and capable like them.

• Winds in early July–snow had just melted, so we were all alone. I remember sitting on top of Lester Pass and thinking God had ordained me to be in that precise place, and no other, at that moment. It was perfect.

• Ridgeline south of Mountain View with big wind and big storm clouds blowing in on one side, sun evaporating them on the other side, and me in the middle. Mystical like The Lord of the Rings and good versus evil.

• Hiking the Gila River Low Route Alternate. I hiked through alone and thoroughly enjoyed the route finding and crossings. However, the river was quite low due to the dry weather, which made it easier.

• It was our day into Monarch Pass, our last day on the CDT, but we navigated in snow and climbed so well together. There were beers and burgers at Monarch, too, as it was their first day of summer.

• The two guys I hiked most of the trail with had a fantastic sunset north of Cumbres Pass. The aspens were golden, we had a great view of a valley, and the sunset was incredible for twenty minutes.

• The mashup of the routes we did through the Wind River Range, particularly seeing the sunrise in the Middle Fork Valley and the sunset on the Cirque of the Towers.

• When my friend met me with trail magic atop Grays Peak after one of the most difficult days of hiking of my life, up and down ridges and along the Argentine Spine.

• Flagging down a random car at Celebration Lake to take my extra food when I accidentally packed three extra days of food right before a long water carry.

• Moments where we could slow down and appreciate the scenery: seeing unexpected northern lights, a comet, a moose splashing through a lake at sunrise.

• Somewhere on the way from NOBO to Grand Lake, I found myself ridge-walking for long hours, with snowy peaks all around glistening with a golden hue.

• Also, the unexpected kindness of trail angels along the way. The magic was far and few between, but it hit so good when it did happen!

Short and Sweet

• Wind River, Glacier, anytime there was snow in Colorado, Chama, and Grants. New Mexico was fun because it was very social.
• Overall, I loved the CDT experience and the opportunity to spend 5 months in the great outdoors on the continent’s spine!
• Hanging out at the Toaster House, feeding the fire, eating free pie with some cyclists while a snowstorm dumped outside.
• Lone Star Geyser in Yellowstone, Desert camping in New Mexico, First week of ridges in Colorado, all of Glacier.
• Making friends and a partner, swimming in a clear lake, seeing incredible wildlife, and finding trail magic.

• Miles of high-altitude wildflowers on entire mountain sides. And an early morning moose and calf sighting.
• Climbing Grays Peak was a huge highlight for me. We had beautiful weather, and it was my first ever 14er.
• Cowboy camping by Photographers Point, coming into Pinedale with a view of the sunset and the Winds.
• A New Mexico night sky that bestowed me with a comet, satellites, meteors, and the Northern Lights.
• Hanging with hikers at McDonald’s, and having a beer by myself on a nice day in the park in Lander.

Have a tale of greatness from a Continental Divide Trail hike? Comment below to share it with future CDT classes!

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