Oh boy, the CDT. That beautiful, remote, wet, brutal, amazing beast. It’s the trail that’s supposed to be the grand reward of the Triple Crown, usually people’s last of the three great American long distance trails. Following the Continental Divide from the Canadian to the Mexican border, it passes through some of the grandest and most isolated areas the Rocky Mountains have to offer. I had the pleasure of doing most of the hike, aside from 2 two week stints, with my partner Shannon (Noisy). In all the lows that came my way on the CDT, she was consistently a highlight of my hike.

Maybe these big hikes have just become too much of a routine during the good-weather months, but this one just didn’t do it for me the way past hikes have. Sure, the weather sucked. Looking back, I feel like it very well could have rained in some capacity about half of the days. Then comes the trail itself: A four month bushwhack would have been good fun, yet a PCT-style highway would have also been welcome. Some of the time trail quality was either great or horrendous, and a good chunk of the time it followed dirt or paved roads. Mostly though, it was just obnoxiously graded and unmaintained enough to annoy me.

The coolest part of the whole hike was when we got off the primary route and did the Big Sky Alternate. Instead of following the Montana/Idaho border to the west through cow country, we went southeast piecing together tread, roads, bushwhacks and scrambles. Highlights included the Tobacco Roots, Spanish Peaks, Yellowstone from top to bottom, the Teton Crest Trail and best of all, the Wind River High Route.

There is no doubt, the CDT is a gem. It’s astoundingly beautiful and rugged, humbling and rewarding. I had an absolute blast, but more excited than ever to be done with the big name trails and on to smaller and gnarlier expeditions of my own. In the meantime, bring on the snow and enjoy the photos!

Trail Name: Couscous

Distance: ~2,700 miles

Termini: Chief Mountain Customs, MT to Crazy Cook Monument, NM

Elevation Gain: 458,735 feet

Days taken: 121

Zero days (no distance traveled): 22

Average mileage including zeros: 22.3 miles/day

Average mileage without zeros: 27.3 miles/day

Highest mileage: 37

Steps taken: ~5,610,000