Continental Divide Trail Resupply Guide (2021 Survey)

I often advise hikers not to worry about resupply before beginning a thru-hike, but I am not always believed. 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 Colorado in a couple of months. The Continental Divide Trail runs society adjacent and it isn’t difficult to get yourself to somewhere where you can pause and organize yourself and your hike.

Using data from the 2021 Continental Divide Trail Hiker Survey, I’ve compiled the following picture of what resupply looks like over the course of a Continental Divide Trail thru-hike. Hopefully, this helps all you would-be CDT thru-hikers rest a little easier.

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 your start date and the resupply box you hoped to retrieve weeks or months later.

On top of all that, unless you’ve done a long-distance hike before (and based on the statistics from the CDT Survey – you probably haven’t), it can be hard to imagine what you, in a month (or two…or three…), is going to want to eat all day after having hiked hundreds of miles.

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

This year’s average number of boxes sent was 6.1, the median was 5, people who sent 4.8 wanted to send more, and people who sent over 8.7 wanted to send fewer. Sounds like the average of 6 is just what this year’s class wanted.

Remember, there is no “correct number of CDT resupply boxes”, but there are most-definitely places where a prepackaged and curated selection of your 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. But 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: 3 (Doc Campbell’s, Pie Town, Ghost Ranch)
• Colorado: 1 (Twin Lakes)
• Wyoming: 2 (Encampment/Battle Pass, Old Faithful Village)
• Idaho/Montana: 4 (East Glacier Village, Benchmark Wilderness Ranch, Leadore/Bannock Pass, Lima)

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 (or die) 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 (Cuba in New Mexico, for example) or a place where you can buy some snacks (Monarch Pass 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 not a 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 quite 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).

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. Don’t start crying if nobody picks you up after an hour, don’t flip off cars who don’t pick you up, and don’t hate on people who have saved up enough to call an Uber.

Resupply Advice

We’ve covered a lot thus far, but enough with the numbers, 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?

• Always pack a surprise food item to keep you happy.
• Check expiration dates! Especially in towns where options seem scarce – there is probably a reason you’re lucky enough to get the last pack of tortillas or block of cheese 😉
• Be flexible, don’t be afraid to mix and match! You can always change your strategy as you go.
• If possible send resupply to places like hotels or hostels, not the post office.
• Focus on variety and taste. Your diet will be limited, so try to only have one type of each meal each resupply (i.e. don’t plan for three ramen meals in a resupply). This can help prevent burnout on certain foods. Also, get at least one food item each resupply that’s just for you to enjoy and not think about calories or weight. Eating can easily become a chore that you put off if you’re not into what you have.
• Don’t repackage your food two months before you need it. It will go stale!
• This was my first thru-hike. I wished I sent more boxes because a lot of the food in some of these smaller towns sucks. I remember getting to Lordsburg and being pissed at the selection wishing I had sent a box with healthier foods.
• Pack and mail your resupply boxes from on trail, and don’t do it too far in advance. Many hikers (not me) sent boxes to Leadore and Lima too early and then didn’t end up going because of fires.
• Bring lots of money, and if you’re plant-based, SEND BOXES.
• Even after my PCT hike I still bought food beforehand that I didn’t end up loving. So I recommend not buying any food beforehand and just buying what you feel in the moment, and if you need to send a box then you can send it from a decently stocked town a section or two before.
• Hiker boxes are rare so it’s hard to supplement limited options or ditch overpacked boxes. You could hike this trail without boxes if you are not picky. Pie Town, Leadore, Lima, and East Glacier are the only ones I would send again.
• It’s all about the cheese. Not that $3 mild cheddar block, but that gourmet $8.
• Resupply towns on the CDT were generally farther from the trail than the PCT, so resupplying took longer.

But most of all – have fun out there! And don’t die.

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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