The Desert Trail: Mexico to Canada

[Colter]

The Desert Trail is a 1,500 mile route from the border of Mexico to SE Oregon, complete with guidebooks designed for hikes of 2-4 days. On March 1 I began an attempt to thru-hike this route and continue through Washington and Idaho to the Canadian border for a total of about 2,500 miles.

I have currently hiked all of the California portion and have completed 800 miles of the whole trail so far.

Years of work have gone into the development of this largely unknown trail. Please check out the journal of my Desert Trail thru-hike and consider exploring part or all of this great trail yourself!

http://postholer.com/Colter

[fiddlehead]

Checked out your route.
Looks very tough as I've hithchiked through Death Valley. Tough hitch and very hot. But then, that was in July.
I see you already went through there about a week ago.
Hopefully it was better.
And parts of Nevada should be very challenging also.
Good luck.
I'll follow your trip.
Thanks for posting.

[Mags]

Looks like a great trip. Unique for sure!

[Colter]

All the trails are different aren't they? There's much more variety on this hike than I had thought, there is more topography, too. The logistics are somewhat more complex with water caching and whatnot. I missed the worst heat in Death Valley by starting March 1. Somewhat less climbIng than the AT, CDT or PCT. Definitely less hikers!

[trailangelbronco]

Let me know if you get stuck anywhere in Idaho, or if you just need anything. Good luck on your adventure, hike your hike.

[WingedMonkey]

It's nice to read an experienced hiker and writer who takes the time to enjoy and journal about the geography, geology, history, and nature of a trail.
It's not always just about the miles.

[Dogwood]

Sounds like a GREAT hike Colter! I envy you. You have found a secret that many overlook - the desert is not deserted!

I'm interested, is your route going to follow the Centennial Trail through Idaho?

I'll tell you another desert hike that's pretty damn GREAT from my perspective - the 900 mile or so Hayduke Trail through southern Utah and northern Arizona. It hits 6 National Parks, including from east to west, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce, Grand Canyon, and Zion, as well as Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Buckskin Gulch, and Grand Staircase National Monument. It has oodles of side hike possibilities, immeasurable solitude, and leaves lots of room to get lost because it's mostly an off-trail route. The route follows rivers, that is hiking in the the river is the trail, necessitates finding a crossing of the Colorado River, without any bridge, and one must find entry into and out of many deep canyons. The route most aptly crosses what one may call "no man's land!"


Hayduke Trail 2009

[Colter]

The Hayduke Trail sounds awesome.

I was considering finishing on the Idaho Centennial Trail but decided that the route I ended up choosing was more direct and likely had more desert than the north part of the ICT.

[Colter]

Hi All,
I've crossed into Washington and its going great. With luck I'll finish in July. Ran into a mountain lion two days ago! I've been posting frequent updates with photos, please check out the link to my journal in my signature! Colter