When to start continental divide trail
How Dangerous is the Continental Divide Trail?
hey y'all Dixie here today I want to
address the question how dangerous is
the CD team if you're not familiar with
the CBT or Continental Divide Trail it
is one of the three trails in the u.s.
that is part of what is known as the
triple crown of hiking
it's about 3,100 miles long and spans
from Mexico to Canada
through New Mexico Colorado Wyoming a
little part of Idaho and Montana the
reason I want to talk about this today
is when I started my Triple Crown
journey on the Appalachian Trail I'd
heard that of course the 80 and the PCT
or Pacific Crest Trail would be a
challenge but people talked about the
CDT as if it was just this very
dangerous trail and in the trail of all
trails in the Triple Crown of hiking so
today I want to talk about some of those
fears or dangers that are known to exist
on the CDT and kind of go into where
they as bad as I thought they would be
or as bad as everyone kind of hyped it
up to be the first thing I remember
being warned of was that there is nobody
hiking the CDT and if you look up
statistics you'll see that back in 2016
they estimated that about 150 people
attempted to through hike the CDT
annually in 2018 when I threw hiked
there were 75 people who reported
completing their through hike and
usually through hikes have about a 20%
or so success rate of people who attempt
actually completing the hack so I would
hazard a guess that there are more than
150 people attempting to through hike
each year probably even several hundred
but definitely less than a thousand and
on the 18 PCT there are more than a
thousand attempting to through hike each
year so in comparison to the PCT in 80
there really aren't many hackers out
there now Wow I certainly do agree that
there is safety in numbers and that
having more hackers around you know can
one make you feel more comfortable to
you know there's somebody there if you
do get into a band or get in trouble but
I wouldn't say that being alone
necessarily in and of itself makes the
CDT more dangerous but with that said
just with those numbers alone it doesn't
seem like there that many people out
there but I still did see people almost
daily I saw somebody section hiking
or another through hacker or maybe just
somebody out day hacking especially in
Colorado the people in Colorado love
being outside
they love enjoying hiking mountain
biking climbing so while is in Colorado
I would hazard a guess that I saw
another person every single day and if
not them pretty close to it now there
are areas that aren't as recreational
and you know as beautiful as Colorado
for example the Great Basin in Wyoming
it certainly has its charms in its own
ways but there generally aren't a lot of
people out in the basin just frolicking
around in the deserts and so in these
areas I would certainly say that you
might have to be more aware of your
surroundings you might have to take a
little more precaution than you would
have to on the 80 or PCT or other well
populated trail but there are things
that you could do to mitigate this a
little bit so if you can try to pick a
start date where you know other hikers
are going to be starting you can do some
of that through networking on Facebook
groups so there is a CDT Facebook group
in general and then usually there are
ones for each year so like the class of
2018 or class of 2019 from that you
could kind of gauge when other people
are starting and try to make sure that
you start you know in some kind of
bubble of folks also you could invite a
friend to hike with you that's what I
did I started with perc and Aaron and
while we didn't necessarily stick
together all the time we had a general
idea of where each other was and and
kind of checked up on one another and
also more people are going in a
northbound direction say start Mexico
and finish in Canada versus people
starting in Canada and finishing in
Mexico so if you wanted to make sure to
try to be around more people then I
would definitely recommend going in a
northbound direction and finally if the
CDT kind of freaks you out a little bit
because of the thought of being alone or
camping alone you can always take
something like and in reach that way
you're able to communicate with the
outside world and and feel a little
better you know knowing that somebody
knows you're okay each day and and that
you have people to check in with you can
do that with something like the inReach
where it's a two-way communication or
even a spot device where you can just
kind of push a button and it sends an
automated message to your friends and
family or whoever you choose to receive
that and then both of those have an SOS
button
she did get into danger I think having a
device like that was more important to
me on the CDT because it is the most
remote and lonely of the three trails so
again this doesn't make people magically
appear and be there to hike with you but
it did ease my mind a little bit knowing
that you know even though I was alone I
could still communicate and call for
help if I needed the second thing I
heard about the CDT that kind of freaked
me out is that the trail is not complete
I'm like what the trail isn't complete
so how do you hike it but in December of
2015 it was reported that the CDT is 85%
complete so I had this idea that I was
gonna be like bushwhacking all the time
like walking through a jungle and having
had a hatchet and hack things down but
it really wasn't like that yes there
were some areas where there was not a
defined trail and it was a little
bushwhack II but most the time it was in
the desert where you're standing at a
fence post looking for the next fence
post you know so it wasn't extremely
brushy and and there were times where it
got a little like that
but for the majority of the trail there
was a well-defined path and enough
signage to where I just didn't get
completely lost and a lot of the areas
that are deemed not complete our road
walks but compared to the ATM PCT it is
certainly easier to get turned around on
the CDT it is not a highway like it is
on the other two trails so sometimes
it's kind of questionable exactly where
the trail goes but for that I highly
recommend using gut hook and with gut
hook you can look at the track that they
have in the app that you download to
your phone and see exactly how far from
the trail you are and once you get
turned around so many times and end up
doing extra mileage because you know you
got a mile off trail on another path and
realized you know the the clear path
that you thought was the trail was
actually not in the you know barely
beaten down path was actually the
correct way to go so once you kind of
get a feel for things and you make so
many mistakes you start learning to
check that app a little more often but
nowhere on the CDT did I really feel
like I was gonna get lost and perish in
the wilderness because I couldn't find
my way now on the 80 and PC
it didn't stress me out as much not
having a backup form of navigation on
the CDT I definitely wanted that extra
backup form of navigation so I had the
app on my phone gut hook and then I also
had the inReach that had the CDT in it
so I could also use that if for some
reason my phone died or got crushed and
lost so while guess the trail not being
100% complete could make it a little
more dangerous and a little more easy to
get lost it really was not as bad as I
had heard it would be and as I thought
it would be next I was warned of all of
the exposure on the CDT I heard that I
would be up on ridge lines and I would
be just at the mercy of the wind rain
sleet hail snow and it was all true on
the 80 you can make more mistakes as far
as your gear and equipment because you
have the green tunnel to protect you
somewhat from the elements from the Sun
wind hail all of those things on the PCT
you know not as much there is definitely
more exposure on that especially because
the first 700 miles is desert but it's
like desert it's there still trees there
are still areas that you aren't as
exposed but on the CDT it was certainly
the most exposed of the three trails but
this just means that you have to
properly prepare ahead of time you have
to make sure that you're protected from
the Sun so that means either long
sleeves and long pants or a Sun umbrella
I use Sun gloves
sunscreen a hat sunglasses you know you
just really have to make sure that
you're prepared to deal with that and
then at the flip of a switch deal with
hail hail and your bridges you know are
you prepared mentally to okay if it
starts hailing on me am I going to be in
the mindset that I need to take cover so
I need to go hide under a rock or if I'm
in a place that there is nowhere to
really take cover you know I need to
think okay what do I need to protect the
most probably my head so I need to sit
down put my pack over my head and
protect myself the best that I can you
need to make sure that you can stay warm
so whether that's having gloves or an
extra base layer or
whatever you think that you'll need
depending where on the trail that you
are so just knowing that you're prepared
now how do you do that well you can look
at the gear list that I have a line I'll
have that link in the video description
also other people that have hiked the
CDT
you know check out their gear lists
there are people who are happy to share
their experience but I wouldn't be
hard-headed you know I would I would
make sure to take advice from folks who
have done it before like I said on the
80 I saw a lot of people who are like
yeah I've heard this is suggested but I
don't need that you know and they just
kind of brush it off and the next thing
you know they're getting the thing that
was originally suggested to them and
they're like yeah these people who did
it before successfully were actually
kind of right and I probably should have
listened to that advice so there really
isn't as much room for error on the CDT
like there is on the 80 or even somewhat
on the PCT now the exposure talk kind of
leads us into the next thing which is
lightning I had heard in Colorado at the
time of year that I'd likely be going
through that there would be a lot of
storms rolling in and being at a high
elevation up on an exposed Ridge you're
really setting yourself up for some
danger with lightning again this one
definitely proved to be true all of the
rumors and warnings were absolutely true
I'm not saying that the other trails the
80 PCT or any other trail that you're
interested in hacking doesn't have some
risk of lightning but because there are
so many exposed areas on the CDT and you
know like I said the time of year and
everything I feel like the risk just it
seemed a lot higher and it seemed like I
had to deal with hiding from lightning
more often on the CDT so what is
recommended to protect yourself from
being in a situation where you might get
struck by lightning is to avoid peaks
exposed areas high points anything like
that in the afternoon because it could
be a very beautiful day next thing you
know and afternoon thunderstorm comes
rolling in and you find yourself in a
bad spot so sure they tell you check the
forecast avoid any of these areas
afternoon and you know just don't put
yourself in that situation that's the
general rule of how to deal with
lightning but when you're honest
through hack you can't avoid all of the
exposed areas and Peaks noon and later
because you would just never make it to
Canada on time so the best thing that
you can do if you're at a peak and
suddenly you see the storm rolling in
just go ahead and put your head between
your legs and then kiss your butt
goodbye I'm just kidding there actually
is a lightning stance that they suggest
that I will discuss in a minute but the
idea is if you can take shelter or cover
somewhere to do that now they do tell
you that you don't want to be under the
one highest object or tree or you know
anything like that so if there's like
one tree on a hillside you don't want to
go you know huddle up under that tree to
take cover because chances are the
lightning might hit that tree because
it's the tallest thing in that open area
but if you can seek shelter like in a
3-sided shelter structure if there is
something like that or in a low point
you know in in maybe a more densely
forested area obviously you know get
down to lower ground if you can but if
there is not a prime location to seek
shelter then it is recommended that you
do the lightning stance now the
lightning stance is supposedly the
optimal position to minimize any harmful
side effects of being struck by
lightning so it's supposed to allow the
lightning to travel through your body in
such a way that it does the least amount
of harm to you so you you crouch down on
the balls of your feet with your feet
together and then you're going to duck
your head and cover your ears and that's
supposedly you know covering your ears
protect your hearing somewhat from from
when you're struck I imagine that it
makes a pretty good boom but apparently
there isn't really any evidence that
proves that this is actually effective I
haven't found anything like that if
you'll have I would love for you to
share that in the comments as far as I
know this is all just kind of theory and
what they feel like would be the best
but I don't know that there is actually
anything that says like this actually
does help if you are struck by lightning
so I'm not saying - to not do that but
I'm just saying for myself when I was up
in Colorado on an open Ridgeline and
lightning rolled in I definitely saw
shelter where I could and crouched
behind bushes and stuff if if that's
what I had to do to feel a little bit
better there was one time when my hair
was standing up and it was pretty
obvious that there was some serious
danger and and there were pretty high
chances of me being struck by lightning
in that that moment I probably should
have just gone down into the lightning
pose but I just wanted off the ridge so
I felt for myself the best idea was to
just get low as fast as I could find
tree line and and get down below that
but in a lightning storm how do you know
that you're supposed to seek shelter
like how do you know that it's to that
point the rule of thumb is the 30
seconds 30 minute rule if you see
lightning strike if you see the light
from lightning and within 30 seconds you
hear the rumble then that means that you
should seek shelter or you know get down
low as fast as you can or potentially
the lightning stands and you're supposed
to remain in shelter mode until 30
minutes after the last rumble of thunder
it is important to remember in a
lightning storm you are supposed to
avoid metal objects so be mindful of
things like tent poles are trekking
poles also if you are on an open Ridge
with a group you're supposed to spread
out that way if lightning hits it
doesn't hit everybody and everybody is
laying there unconscious needing CPR you
know that way it just hits one
individual and the other person or
people can come to that person's aid if
need be I did a video previously about
my experiences and protocol with
lightning on the Appalachian Trail it'd
probably be a good idea for me to re-up
date it now that I've been through some
more severe lightning in Colorado but if
you want to check out that lightning
video with some more details I'll add
that in the video description today also
before my experience on the CDT I had
also heard that the water was absolute
garbage or it was very far apart and so
dehydration was something to really be
concerned with I feel like in any
outdoor experience where you have to
carry water and you're not all the time
near water dehydration can be a real
thing so I don't know that it's
necessarily more extreme on the CDT
again come
or to the other two trails I actually
think that I experienced longer carries
on the PCT but on the 80 there is a
water source probably like every four or
five miles so on the CDT I did find that
I went through some carry areas 15 to 20
miles was not abnormal I think on the
CDT you certainly do have to be mindful
of water and when you will get to the
next source on gut hook the app that I
was talking about that I use to navigate
it also has waypoints in there for water
and hikers can comment and say hey this
water source is still running you know
there's still water at such-and-such
Springs that way you can actually look
ahead and not just see that a water
source does exist sometimes but also
find out if it has gone dry or if it
still has flow you do have to get used
to the idea of dry camping on the CDT
it's not really feasible that you will
always be camped next to water so dry
camping is just where you don't have a
water source there at camp so you have
to get water at the source before you
stop and then towed it to wherever
you're camping and it is very important
to stay hydrated at higher elevations to
help with this I use different drink
mixes because sometimes you just get
sick of the way that water tastes or
sometimes when you're drinking out of
the cow ponds of New Mexico in the
desert and it doesn't taste the greatest
even after you filter it then having
some kind of drink mix to just cover up
the gross flavor it helps a little bit
in fact there was a certain type of
drink mix called zip fizz that I really
liked it had all sorts of good stuff in
there for you the flavor was pretty good
and it had almost like a carbonated type
feel to it which zip fizz that way if
you were craving like a coke or
something like that it wasn't quite the
same thing but it was something that was
helping to hydrate you and restore some
electrolytes but also had a little bit
of fizz to it so it was pretty good but
the main thing with dehydration that
applies on any trail that you have you
just need to be conscious that you're
drinking water sometimes you can be
having so much fun and everything's so
pretty and you're distracted that you
don't realize like hey I haven't haven't
drink water in forever
next up is wildlife on the CDT I do feel
like it makes sense to be a bit more
concerned about the wildlife out
there because on the 18 you've got
basically black bears and venomous
snakes is for me at least the main thing
that I was worried about and while both
of those are definitely intimidating
when you start the PCT you add in
mountain ones and then when you start
the CDT
you add in Grizzlies on top of all of
the rest of that so I can certainly see
how on the CDT people would be more
concerned with wildlife than the other
two Triple Crown trails and if you look
up Encounters of those types of animals
you are in far more danger driving to
the terminus to start your thru-hike
then then you really are encountering
those and being attacked or you know
killed by one of those animals on your
through hack I have done videos
specifically on black bears Grizzlies
and mountain lions so I will include
those in the video description that way
this video isn't like five hours long of
me going into all those details but if
you want to learn more about those and
how to minimize your chances of having a
bad experience with those animals then
check those out through hackers for some
reason there isn't a whole lot of
history of them being bitten by venomous
snakes and and I'm actually really
surprised because of how many go through
the trails all the time but it's just
especially rattlesnakes most the time
they're gonna let you know they're there
and if you're just paying attention and
you don't have both ear buds in and
you're aware of your surroundings
a lot of that risk is significantly
reduced I would say the best practice
though is to do your research wherever
you're hiking on the wildlife that
you're going to encounter and the best
way to interact and coexist with them on
the trail
I was also warned of snowy traverses
specifically in the San Juan Mountains
now I'm certainly not going to downplay
snowy traverses it is something that can
be intimidating and at times is for me
more of a mental thing than actually a
you know physical challenge there were a
couple of iffy spots on the CDT this
year but for the most part we got lucky
with the San Juans it just wasn't a real
high snow year and we ended up having to
bypass or you know take an alternate and
didn't get to go through the full extent
of the San Juans because of a fire
closure so this is something to
definitely be taken seriously I would
say if you're planning to hike a CDT and
you
are concerned about snowy traverses
especially in the San Juans then you
know it's important to listen to the
snow reports has it been a high snow
year to listen to some of the locals and
find out you know what sections are
still real bad and which ones aren't if
you check the gut hook app like I've
mentioned before hikers leave comments
for one another in there like I would
definitely recommend still having an ass
axe and micro spikes and the proper gear
because there are a couple of traverses
that you know I feel like it's important
to have that and people leave that
information for one another to help each
other out so there was one pretty
sketchy spot in the San Juans that we
went over and we had been warned about
and I was really glad that we did know
about it because had we gone late in the
afternoon when it was real slushy it
could have been more dangerous so I
wanted to go when the snow was still
pretty firm and I knew that my micro
spikes could get a good bite into the
snow so it's good to know all of those
little tips and tricks if you don't have
a lot of snow experience I would highly
recommend going in with somebody else
that has more experience than you if
possible you can sign up for classes to
kind of help with traversing snow we're
at the minimum at least watch some
YouTube videos and then when you start
getting into snowy sections kind of
practice self arresting and learn how to
do some of that because you don't want
to be in a situation where you're like
well I'll have an ice axe and I have
Micro specs but I don't know how to use
them so I'm just gonna tote them across
the snowy Traverse and you know slide
down and fall to my death and I have the
proper equipment I just didn't know how
to use it properly now on this people
could say to me that I should practice
what I preach because on the PCT when I
hiked it in 2017 it was a very high snow
year and I had no experience with snow
whatsoever but I made a point to not go
in alone to have other people around me
to ask people you know hey do you mind
practicing with me on self arresting I
want to learn how to do that so just
using all of the resources that you can
using your brain taking it slow you know
don't have too much pride if you hit a
point where you're like I don't feel
comfortable with this at my current
level of experience then you know have
enough sense to turn back and either
wait flip ahead come back to that
section later whatever you have to do
but the good news is on the CDT there
are a lot of different alternates there
there are alternates from Mexico to
Canada and you can create your own
alternates as long as you're within 50
miles of the geological divide and you
have a continuous foot path from Mexico
to Canada it is considered a thru-hike
of the CDT so if you did not feel
comfortable with going into the San
Juans there are areas to to bypass and
take alternates if you have to and
finally a big concern of mine on the
trail was hypothermia a lot of folks
think that you have to be in freezing
cold weather like I was at the end of
the ATP CT and CDT to get hypothermia
but the truth is you it doesn't have to
be the winter or even snowy or extreme
cold temperatures to get hypothermia it
just means that your body loses enough
heat that it drops below your normal
temperature significantly enough that it
starts to affect the function of your
body now being in snowy rainy sleety
exposed windy conditions certainly can
increase your chances of having
hypothermia something else to be mindful
of in regards to hypothermia on the CD T
is how drastically the temperature can
change from daytime to nighttime now
this isn't just early in the spring or
late in the fall but also in the
summertime when you're at higher
elevations like you see on the CDT you
can be hiking during the day and be
completely comfortable but then at night
it really gets pretty cool and say
you're hiking into the evening you stop
and take a break your clothes are just
matted with sweat but you don't really
think about it you could potentially put
yourself into a situation where you're
dealing with hypothermia so it's just
something to think about and something
you might want to evaluate if you do
stop for a break and you've got a lot of
sweat on you from the day and the
temperatures have already dropped I
learned for myself that it's important
to have the proper layers you have to
have enough clothing and an extra set of
dry clothing to be able to sleep in at
night you need to have enough clothing
to hike in and stay warm while you're
hiking I think having dry socks even
things like having proper waterproof
gloves to keep your hands warm and again
all of the stuff that I used is in
my gear list which will be in the video
description also it's important to know
the signs of hypothermia so if you
notice that one of your buddies is
constantly shivering they become
confused or kind of disoriented if they
seem sleepy or they're being irrational
or just kind of sluggish you know those
are things to tune into if you think
that there's a chance that they could
have hypothermia I definitely read up on
hypothermia how to recognize it and make
sure you're prepared to prevent that
from happening
the best that you can be I guess the
risk of this could be a little bit
higher but the risk is constantly there
when you're doing things outdoors so I
don't think that it necessarily makes
the CDT all-in-all more dangerous those
are the main points or fears or warnings
that I heard before starting the CDT and
I think that it's important to remember
that any experience outdoors can be
dangerous there are risks involved with
anything after you step out your front
door and I mean even in your house I
don't prefer to live my life sheltered I
feel like taking risks and having
adventure is is part of living and
feeling alive I don't think that it's so
dangerous that it can't be somebody's
first through hike in fact if you look
at halfway to anywhere blog he does
surveys for the PCT and CDT each year so
in 2018 the year that I hike 20% of the
people who started were starting their
first through hike on the CDT and if you
saw CS or famous in my videos those are
two of the folks that were starting
their first through hacks and Aaron just
to one up it was his first backpacking
experience ever and even though the CDT
is kind of viewed as the scary trail of
the AC PCT and CDT 60% of the people who
started last year started alone now I'm
not downplaying this trail at all or
saying like oh it's so easy it's like a
little stroll in the park
it is a difficult trail that has its own
challenges but I don't think that it's
necessarily significantly more dangerous
than 80 or PCT but I do feel that it is
worth taking some extra precautions like
carrying an in reach spot device or
personal locator beacon
and making sure that you are truly
prepared to deal with the elements but I
think in the wilderness in general that
you can minimize most risk by just using
your brain and making smart decisions
all right well that is all I have for
you all today if you like this video or
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