The CDT Resupply Guide: Class of 2020 Survey

As alluded to above, I often advise hikers not to worry too much about resupply before beginning a thru-hike. Barring any dietary restrictions or a tight resupply schedule (i.e. you’re on a CDT speed run), there’s little reason to stress about where you’re going to buy food in Wyoming in a couple of months. The Continental Divide Trail is (generally) within reach of society and it’s not typically challenging to get yourself to somewhere where you can pause and organize yourself and your hike.

Using data from the 2020 Continental Divide Trail Thru-hiker Survey, I’ve compiled the following picture of what resupply looks like on a Continental Divide Trail thru-hike. Hopefully, this lets all you would-be CDT thru-hikers focus on more important things (like spending all your money on fancy gear).

Sometimes your options are limited to a gas station or a very expensive general store (which is where some hikers may prefer to send themselves packages). Other times, you’ll find yourself in a large town with a supermarket (this is a good place to get a resupply to send ahead somewhere).

Before delving into the “best” strategy for CDT resupply, I must warn you (again) to not fall into the trap of attempting to plan your entire hike ahead of time. It (probably) is not going to work (although I’ve been proven wrong in the past).

Plans change, post offices aren’t always open, boxes get lost, hikes end early – a lot can happen between starting a hike and a resupply box you hope to receive weeks or even months later.

And unless you’ve completed a long-distance hike, it can be difficult to predict what you, in a month (or two…or three…), is going to want to eat all day after having hiked hundreds or thousands of miles.

But since practically all hikers send at least some boxes, let’s examine how many boxes were sent, how frequently they were sent, and what was done before starting vs. on the trail.

Number of Resupply Boxes

Number of Resupply Boxes Prepared Pre-trail

This year’s average number of boxes sent was 9.2, the median was 8, people who sent 10 wanted to send more, and people who sent over 13 wanted to send fewer. So the ideal number of resupply boxes according to this year’s class is somewhere between 11 and 12. Let’s round up to 12?

Remember, there is no correct “number of CDT resupply boxes”, but there are most-definitely places where a prepackaged and curated selection of your own preferences will be preferable to the local selection.

Many hikers fail to realize that you can easily send yourself boxes from towns on the trail (instead of having to prepare your boxes ahead of time). You are not committed to the plan you have on the first day you set foot on the trail.

The CDT is long. However, it simply connects a series of smaller trails between resupply stops. Nothing is stopping you from going to a supermarket, buying yourself delicious hiker food, and mailing it to yourself further up the trail (unless it’s Sunday because the post office is closed on Sunday – which may sound unimportant now, but will be an important thing to remember whilst on the trail).

For the sake of simplicity, let’s suppose you’re strictly following the advice of this year’s CDT class. The number of resupply boxes that you will be sending to each section of the CDT is:

• New Mexico: 2 (Pie Town, Doc Campbell’s)
• Colorado: 2 (Monarch Mountain Lodge, Twin Lakes)
• Wyoming: 3 (Encampment, Brooks Lake Lodge, Atlantic City)
• Idaho/Montana: 3 (Lima, Leadore, Benchmark Wilderness Ranch)

Maybe you’re going to prefer carrying more food and resupplying less often. Maybe you’re going to prefer a lighter load with more frequent stops in town. Maybe you’re going to be injured or quit in the first week and none of this will even matter.

So what’s the right balance between resupply and hiking? It’s different for everyone. A response that many of you may not want to hear, but also the most accurate response I can offer you. That said, here’s a look at what this year’s hikes looked like in terms of resupply.

Between many resupply stops, you may pass a location where you can get a meal (Doc Campbell’s in New Mexico, for example) or a place where you can buy some snacks (Twin Lakes in Colorado, for example). Remember that this post is meant as a tool to gently guide you towards a more successful resupply plan (whatever that means – since, as I’ve already told you, planning resupplies is a not great investment of your time).

Hitchhiking to Town

What about hitchhiking to resupply stops? You may not realize it, but hitchhiking plays a big role on the Continental Divide Trail. It’s not unusual (and is fairly common) for hikers to hitchhike into town to buy or pick up their resupplies.

As part of the CDT Survey, I ask hikers what resupply stops (if any) they had difficulty hitchhiking to from the trail. The top responses were (from south to north):

• Chama via Cumbres Pass (New Mexico)
• Steamboat Springs via Rabbit Ears Pass (Colorado)
• Encampment via Battle Pass (Wyoming)
• Lander (Wyoming)
• Augusta (Northern Montana)

Remember, hitchhiking can be a very subjective/random experience. It may be you get a ride with the first car past at a place where others stand waiting for hours.

Resupply Advice

We’ve covered a lot thus far, but enough with the numbers and colored labels and bulleted lists of places you may or may not have ever heard of. What did thru-hikers have to say about Continental Divide Trail resupply?

• Bars (especially Clif Bars), instant oatmeal, nuts, dried fruit, electrolytes, and desserts (candy) were easily found in the vast majority of resupply towns. I suggest that your resupply boxes should contain mostly hard to find items, such as specialty dinners, protein shake mixes, multivitamins, maps, travel size deodorant, etc.
• Carry butter out from town. Carry town food (pizza, burgers, fresh fruit) from each trail town.
• Carry less weight by resupplying more often but get in and out of town faster. Do more research – there were smaller resupply towns/places that I didn’t know about beforehand.
• Make sure to send yourself some special treats occasionally for a morale boost.
• The CDT has a lot of decent grocery stores to resupply at, mix it up a bit, and try out new things along the way.
• Eat as much variety as possible. Eat more than you think you should. Pack out an onion and a bell pepper whenever you can and add them to meals. Only go stoveless if you’ve done so already and really know you like it. Many hikers we spoke with regret not carrying a stove. No need to send any boxes in Colorado. Barely any need to send any boxes on the CDT period.

If there is anything you can think of that would make this information more useful (or any more resupply related cross-referencing you would like to see), then please leave a comment and let me know.

For more on CDT Resupply, check out these posts.

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