Continental Divide Trail thru-hike

Lindsay kept a real blog of this trip at http://marmotsadventures.com/t...

2014/04/24 A kangaroo rat pooped on our groundcloth at night while we were cowboy camping. This made Lindsay very happy.

2014/05/01 We met a catholic hermit who has lived in the Gila National Forest for 15 years. He said he goes to town once a year to get food. In the winter he usually doesn't see anyone for three months. He tries to keep track of the number of thru-hikers by counting our prints in the trail, but this year there are so many he can't keep track.

2014/05/04 Today I came upon a northbound thru-hiker walking south. He asked me, "Where are you going?" I told him, "We are hiking north up the Gila River." He says, "Am I hiking the wrong way? I wondered why the river was running in the wrong direction." He mumbled something about the river going in circles. He paused, then said, "I smoked a big bowl half an hour ago." Mystery solved.

2014/05/07 It snowed today here in central New Mexico.

2014/05/10 We spent a few days in Pie Town, NM. We ate the following types of pie: sweet potatos, apple and green chili, rhubarb ginger, blueberry, peach and green chili, chocolate cream, peach and green chili (again), and starry blueberry night.

2014/05/17 It is a bad sign when Lindsay asks for alcohol hand sanitizer after getting drinking water from a pond.

2014/06/08 Tody we had a snowstorm so strong that ice formed on the sides of our faces. Welcome to southern Colorado.

2014/06/24 We met a guy in Twin Lakes, CO who claimed to be a former ranger. He told us to watch out for "bobcats". Puzzled, I asked what a bobcat would do to us; I made sure to explicitly say "bobcat" to see if he would correct himself. He said bobcats would stalk us. He said there is not much we could do if they attack except keep a big knife handy so we can stab the bobcat in its eye.

2014/06/27 Lindsay woke me up in the middle of the night saying, "Gabriel, I think the tent fell down." Yep, her side of the tent had collapsed on top of her. A critter ate one of our guy lines.

2014/09/08 - 2014/09/11 We got stuck in East Glacier, MT for a few days until a small snowstorm passed through. While there, we decided to taste test every blueberry pie in the town. We tested blueberry pie at Luna's Restaurant (winner), Glacier Park Lodge (second place), Whistle Stop Cafe, Serrano's Mexican Restaurant (blueberry carrot cake), and the Two Medicine Grill. (Sadly, Glacier Village Cafe was already closed for the season.)

2014/09/14 There is bear scat everywhere in Glacier National Park -- even on the highway. Cow poop too.

Date:

2014/04/23 to 2014/09/16

Car-to-car:

147 days

Round-trip distance:

2800 miles

Trip type:

hike