2016 NEBO -- Questions

[Venchka]

The evamor bottles have a slightly wider cap than most other bottles. About the size of a 50 cent piece. Otherwise, just browse the bottles in stores. Some are small and some are bigger. Doesn't even have to be water. Could be a juice or tea bottle. There are a bewildering array of packaged drink bottles in supermarkets and well stocked gas station stores.
While you are coming to terms with your Nalgene bottle, why not come to terms with your Gatorade as well? If you do a little internet digging you will find tons of trail worthy foods that will supply electrolytes without all the junk that forms the bulk of Gatorade and most other -ade drinks. Nibble on dried bananas, raisins, mango, Planter's Heart Healthy nuts, chocolate, UBER Larabars, etc. and you will get most (probably all) of the sodium & potassium you need.
Disclaimer: Yes. I am anti-Gatorade.
http://www.drugs.com/cg/potassium-co...oods-list.html
By the way, water for use in a sleeping bag on a cold night doesn't have to be anywhere near boiling. Hot tap water temperature is fine & you won't hurt yourself if you touch it.

Wayne

[MaryandMarc]

I would highly recommend a down jacket instead of the fleece. Same weight, more compressible, can be used inside your bag for extra warmth if it gets cold at night. I had one with a hood and used it inside my western mountaineering 23-degree bag almost every night - upside down! Hood over my butt, sleeves down around my legs, waist up over my shoulders and I was cozy as a bear cub. This time of year you might find one on sale at campsaver - I got a marmot Jenna for $112.

[vireyda]

When I'm only planning to be on the CT I bring the data book, relevant sheets copied/torn from Erik Blacks guide for the topos, and occasionally photocopied sheets containing information from the guidebook on specific sections. I like knowing exactly where I am, which is why I enjoy having a topo, but these also come in handy for areas where following the trail is less clear. The data book won't necessarily help if you get turned around. If you're shipping boxes for resupply, you can just stash the maps for up ahead in your resupply box.

I'm a backpacker who always camps with a bear canister. It's an additional weight, but it gives me a lot of peace of mind, and makes choosing a site to camp very easy. The canister protects my food from rodents, bears, etc and helps keep the wildlife from being habituated to human food. It also means I can camp above tree line, or at sites without places to hang a bag. I do a lot solo, so it does make me feel safer and I've never lost my food.

Weather is difficult to describe for any of those months because the weather can vary so much year to year. The further into the autumn (past August) get you get the less afternoon thunderstorms though. I recommend having a range of clothing for warm daytime, cold nighttime, and some raingear. Try watching/reviewing weather station data from nearby towns and then adding in elevation change and exposure for the months you want to hike. Websites like wunderground have daily average data from year to year stored. Since some people run hot and some people run cold, I'd recommend reading over that data and deciding personally how you feel at those temps. I personally have a puffy coat and bring it. Other people, particularly at the lower elevation portions might feel that's overkill.

[Venchka]

From my kitchen:
1 liter purple Nalgene bottle - 179 grams.
1 quart evamore water bottle from a supermarket - 33 grams.
1 liter Earth Fare brand bottle - 32 grams.
Save your money. Save weight. Reuse store bought water bottles.
I totally agree that you need to be prepared for temps in the low 20s or even the teens in September. The coldest night that I have ever spent in a tent was around Labor Day at 30 Mile Reservoir above Creede, CO. Around dark the temperature started dropping like a stone. The next morning our canvas water bucket had a 2 inch block of ice over 2-3 gallons of water. Every day and night is different in the mountains. You never know what you'll be hit with. 20 degrees is a good number to be ready for.

Wayne


Sent from somewhere around here.

Correction for geographical misinformation:
We were camped at Thirty Mile C.G. below the dam at Rio Grande Reservoir above Creede, CO.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/riogr...a/?recid=29218

Wayne

[FiveZero]

Great thread for us non-resident CO backpackers. Also looking at a 2016 thru. Has anyone used the Guthook CT APP? Guidebook, Maps, and GPS all in one. I'm considering taking Erik the Blacks Pocket Atlas along w/ the Guthook APP. Any thoughts or comments from folks that have used these resources?

Mr. Liberty - have you worked out your resupply points yet? I'm figuring on 100 miles / week give or take and working from there, but I haven't put the pencil to it yet. I have started a list based on other trip reports and there are some points that are pretty obvious to resupply. Hard to pass up Breckenridge. Curious as to what you're thinking on resupplies.

I guess my other concern is fuel. I'm a Jetboil enthusiast (don't throw stones please) and consider it my one luxury item. I'm always the first one drinking coffee in the morning and those simple pleasures on the trail are worth the added weight for me. Just hoping most resupply points will have fuel canisters and that all depends on how long my fuel is lasting. I know I'll do some no cook dinners and a canister usually last me 4 days on the trail, but I also know that altitude and temperature can have an effect on boiling times. I'll likely pack two canisters and resupply as available.

Again, nice thread for someone living in East Texas trying to plan a CT thru hike. Tentative plans are to begin in Denver on July 1 and try to wrap it up in Durango around August 6, give or take a day or two.

[Coffee]

The guthook app for the CT is very nice and similar to the PCT app. Fuel availability is not an issue. I found canisters readily available in Breckenridge, Leadville, Salida, Lake City, and Silverton. Although I didn't look I'm sure Durango has fuel as well. I'd love to hike the CT again and would go North/East if (when!) I go again.

[Venchka]

Great thread for us non-resident CO backpackers. Also looking at a 2016 thru. Has anyone used the Guthook CT APP? Guidebook, Maps, and GPS all in one. I'm considering taking Erik the Blacks Pocket Atlas along w/ the Guthook APP. Any thoughts or comments from folks that have used these resources?

Mr. Liberty - have you worked out your resupply points yet? I'm figuring on 100 miles / week give or take and working from there, but I haven't put the pencil to it yet. I have started a list based on other trip reports and there are some points that are pretty obvious to resupply. Hard to pass up Breckenridge. Curious as to what you're thinking on resupplies.

I guess my other concern is fuel. I'm a Jetboil enthusiast (don't throw stones please) and consider it my one luxury item. I'm always the first one drinking coffee in the morning and those simple pleasures on the trail are worth the added weight for me. Just hoping most resupply points will have fuel canisters and that all depends on how long my fuel is lasting. I know I'll do some no cook dinners and a canister usually last me 4 days on the trail, but I also know that altitude and temperature can have an effect on boiling times. I'll likely pack two canisters and resupply as available.

Again, nice thread for someone living in East Texas trying to plan a CT thru hike. Tentative plans are to begin in Denver on July 1 and try to wrap it up in Durango around August 6, give or take a day or two.

Good luck with your hike.
A friend and I will be in the San Juans in September. "Jumping off the train and walking around in the woods." We'll be on the CT and CDT for a few miles. I can't wait to get back. It's been way too long since I was there.

Wayne

[FiveZero]

Am I correct in seeing the Guthook CT APP is FREE? That just doesn't seem right, but I couldn't find a pay version.

[MuddyWaters]

Guthooks apps typically are free. You get a short teaser section to see if you like it, and then you have to purchase the rest. You have a chance to within the app.
For the CT guide, you get the first 18 mile section starting at Waterton canyon if I recall, then you got to pony up $. But its cheap since trail is short.

Now, you can download backcountry navigator, and the free USGS topo maps have the CT on them. Theres a few sections that have changed a little, but if you also download free gps waypoints from the CT assoc website, you can overlay it on the topo maps, and the points are close enough together you have a trail thru the changed sections. The waypoints also have descriptions, etc. 2000+ for 485 miles.

[colorado_rob]

Great thread for us non-resident CO backpackers. Also looking at a 2016 thru. Has anyone used the Guthook CT APP? Guidebook, Maps, and GPS all in one. I'm considering taking Erik the Blacks Pocket Atlas along w/ the Guthook APP. Any thoughts or comments from folks that have used these resources?

Mr. Liberty - have you worked out your resupply points yet? I'm figuring on 100 miles / week give or take and working from there, but I haven't put the pencil to it yet. I have started a list based on other trip reports and there are some points that are pretty obvious to resupply. Hard to pass up Breckenridge. Curious as to what you're thinking on resupplies.

I guess my other concern is fuel. I'm a Jetboil enthusiast (don't throw stones please) and consider it my one luxury item. I'm always the first one drinking coffee in the morning and those simple pleasures on the trail are worth the added weight for me. Just hoping most resupply points will have fuel canisters and that all depends on how long my fuel is lasting. I know I'll do some no cook dinners and a canister usually last me 4 days on the trail, but I also know that altitude and temperature can have an effect on boiling times. I'll likely pack two canisters and resupply as available.

Again, nice thread for someone living in East Texas trying to plan a CT thru hike. Tentative plans are to begin in Denver on July 1 and try to wrap it up in Durango around August 6, give or take a day or two.

Jetboils, at least the newer lightweight models (the SOL's), are actually pretty darn weight efficient overall, because of their fuel efficiency, at something like 2X over alcohol stoves in terms of fuel weight. On a trail like the AT this fuel weight efficiency is no biggie because you can get fuel often. But on the CT, fuel availability is further apart, so an efficient stove is worthwhile. For my heating/cooking habits, about three or four 2.5-cup boils a day, an 8 ounce canister (8 of fuel, 5 of canister) lasts nearly 2 weeks, call it a solid 10 days with margin. Two small 4-oz canisters are heavier than one 8 ounce (15 oz total vs 13), but at least you know accurately when you hit the midway point.

And like you say, the convenience and speed for that morning coffee is well worth a few extra ounces... And altitude actually lowers boiling temperatures and hence boiling times. The only thing that slows down canisters at altitude is the colder air, so keep you canister in your tent and even warm it up in your sleeping bag for 10 minutes before you crawl out... My wife and I have a little canister warming ceremony every morning... rock-paper-scissors to see who has to put a cold canister in their warm bag!

I just use the little 2 ounce CT pocket guide, plus I have TOPO jpegs for the entire trail on my phone, no other guide really needed, though that guthook app looks cool and is of course, weightless, assuming you have a phone anyway.

Lots of info on resupply info out there, I'd personally use Breck as my first, about 7 days over fairly easy terrain and limited high altitude stuff. I realize that's starting kinda heavy with food, but makes it easy-peasy not having to hitch into Jefferson for rather skimpy supplies.

I'd try to start on a Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday or so because you'd be doing well to not be hiking on the sections heavily used by mountain bikers, sections 2-3 in particular. Hitting those on a weekend is a bad idea. Same with section 6. So if you started on a Wed. morning or later on a Tuesday, for example, you'd be past section 3 before the weekend, into sections 4-5 over the weekend (bikes not allowed in 4, and hence you don't see them in 5 either), then section 6 on the following Monday, something like that. No big deal, but sections 2-3 get really crowded with bikes on weekends.

When you firm up you plans, let me know if you need a ride to the trailhead from a public transportation point in SW Denver; I gave roughly a dozen WB folks rides last summer, and if I'm home, I'd be more than happy (I live near the Waterton trailhead). I'm generally home Monday-Wednesday, some Thursdays, rarely Friday-Sunday in the summer.

[bearcreek]

Am I correct in seeing the Guthook CT APP is FREE? That just doesn't seem right, but I couldn't find a pay version.

Guthooks has in-app purchases, so you should get the free one then do the purchase. I recently completed a thru hike of the AZT using Guthooks and nothing else. No books, gps, or paper maps - just the App. We had two phones with us with Guthooks installed which provides a bit of redundancy in case one goes dead for some reason. It has a built in databook, BTW.

Guthooks updates their apps and maps often, and the updates are free so you could purchase the app now and check it out, and when the next update comes along this spring you won't be out any extra money. I use a Iphone 6 with a Lifeproof waterproof case which contains a backup battery which will charge the phone 1.5 times. I kept the phone in airplane mode and turned it off completely at night. Recharged once every week when we resupplied. That worked well - never ran it completely dead.

I would feel fine about doing the CT with Guthooks plus the CT Databook.

There are two map changes to the CT this year so be sure to get the update.

[FiveZero]

When you firm up you plans, let me know if you need a ride to the trailhead from a public transportation point in SW Denver; I gave roughly a dozen WB folks rides last summer, and if I'm home, I'd be more than happy (I live near the Waterton trailhead). I'm generally home Monday-Wednesday, some Thursdays, rarely Friday-Sunday in the summer.

Appreciate the information Colorado Rob and good advice on when to begin those segments and using the larger fuel canister! I'll be driving in to Denver and was planning on leaving my vehicle at Sedalia RV and getting a shuttle to the TH from there, but if that shuttle doesn't pan out I may get in touch with you.

Guthooks has in-app purchases, so you should get the free one then do the purchase.
Guthooks updates their apps and maps often, and the updates are free so you could purchase the app now and check it out, and when the next update comes along this spring you won't be out any extra money.
I would feel fine about doing the CT with Guthooks plus the CT Databook.

Thanks! Now I know how that works. I did download Guthook and didn't realize it wasn't the complete trail. I'll get back in it and see where the purchase options are located.

I'm currently planning to use Guthook CT APP with Eric the Black's CT pocket guide.

I may post my tentative resupply points when I get there in my planning stage and get some feedback. There seems to be a lot of strategy involved. Pack weight, time off trail, hostel stays, and supply options (Post Office vs. grocery stores). I'm typically more about being on the trail w/ as few resupplies as possible, more about the backcountry experience rather than wanting to get in town for luxuries. I'd be happy with a drone resupply at the end of a segment.

Thanks again for all of the helpful information.

[bearcreek]

Just be aware that a couple of map changes have occurred this year and are only shown on the CT Databook 6th edition (just released), the 2016 Mapbook which will be available soon, and Guthooks. Both of these changes are fairly minor so you probably will be fine with what you have decided to do. Just pay close attention to Guthooks in Seg 05 of the Collegiate West and the first 3 miles of Seg 9.