CDT Favorite Alternates????

[Blister]

For the CDT buffs out there....
What were your favorite routes on the CDT. Looking for areas I should plan on spending a bit of time playing in or plan on camping at. Try to name four one in each New Mexico, COlorado, Wyoming and Montana. I eagerly await this threads replies.

[Nean]

It has been awhile since I've been out there, but here are my thoughts: NM- I love the Gila and if you are close to the N-Bar Ranch, stop in and spend a day or 2. Very cool, nice people! In Colorado, check out Creede, great stop, but do not take that short cut! The San Juans rock!! Wy.- The basin can be awesome, forget about the Wamsetter short cut. In Montana I'd cut off the Anaconda roadwalk short cut. Butte gets some bad press but I had a blast there. M & M bar was always fun and friendly w/ huge T-bone specials (on Mondays?). Enjoy Sister!

[Spirit Walker]

I agree about the Gila - take your time there. Colorado - don't do the Creede cut-off if you can help it. I agree that Creede is cool. Lake City is closer to the trail, but it is really spread out, which makes it less hiker friendly, plus there is an outdoor store in Creede. I really enjoyed the Mt. Zirkel wilderness in Colorado - we're planning to extend our hike there. Also the Eagle Peaks Wilderness - take Jim's route if you can get a permit. Wyoming - in the Winds, go visit the Cirque of the Towers - gorgeous! We're planning alternate routes in Yellowstone and north of there - we'll see how it works out. Last time we followed JW's routes.

[Mags]

re: Lake City

Lake City is a also a VERY HARD hitch! The road is fairly busy..but it is mainly out of state people who go buy. No love for hitchhikers. If you can get to Lake City, go to T-Bears campground. They have heated "camper cabins" (a matress , space heater, lights). The owners will shuttle you back up to the trail. So getting into Lake City can be tough. Getting out is easy (if you stay at T-Bears).

Creede is actually easy to get into and out of on a weekend. The Trailhead is for a 14er, so much traffic on this forest service road. It more or less only goes into and out of town. And most of the people on this road are outdoor folks (peak baggers for San Luis, hiker/backpackers, hunters in the fall) who many not know you are on the CDT, but do know about the Colorado Trail (which shares the CDT in this part) and are likely give you a lift.

If you have the time, the Jim Wolf routes in the Indian Peaks and the Never summer wilderness are stunning. The CDTA route avoids the higher parts in esp., in the Indian Peaks and keeps you in the lower wooded areas. The Wolf route goes over the divide East and swings back West. I plan on doing this route myself as the trailhead from Boulder is only 45 minutes away. Friends plan on meeting me with goodies!

Gotta agree with Ginny. Do the Cirque of the Towers. Freakin' awesome! If you don't mind a little scrambling (very minor), the climbers route is shorter and quicker than Jackass Pass into/out of the Cirque.


The usual caveats: Have not done the CDT (yet!), but have hiked extensively in Colorado and a bit in Wyoming.

Hope this helps.

[chris]

Why miss the Tetons? From Yellowstone you can pick up the north end of the Teton range and hike the Teton Crest "trail" south for about 100 miles to near Jackson, which you have to road walk into. Jackson is a real hole, so I wouldn't spend much time there. Hike east through the Gros Ventre to the Winds. This was part of my alternate route last summer, but I didn't do any of it. It is about all of the CDT that I would actually want to do now, and it isn't even on the CDT!

[Blister]

Jacksons a real hole - hhee, heee, hee. Good one!

[Squeaky 2]

hey blister. check out the cliff dwellings in the gila river area in NM and check out the village bean cafe in chama NM very cool!
do not miss the san juans and hike the rocky mountain national park. i still dont understand the reasons for missing that out, VERY scenic and lots of stuff to check out if you have an extra day or two.
the divide basin is tough but very rewarding. it will make you appreciate cow poo flavoured water!!! the trail misses alot of the top spots in yellowstone NP maybe explore that area.
dont take the macks inn cut off, it misses the centenial range which is beautiful. very dry stretch though so watch your water!

[fiddlehead]

The San Juans is the best part of the CDT. Try to climb up to the window. The creede cutoff is tempting because it cuts off a lot of miles but should be considered a sin. All of CO is great!
Others: Gila hot springs (a bit off trail but awesome) , NIta's house! (a must) (tell her i said Hi)
Wyoming: illegal to hitchike in this state (the only state that has that rule that i've found) Big winds almost always so, try to do WY southbound (eastbound) The wind's are cool of course but i think you've noticed that already last year, aye? Yellowstone is great if you can get past the red tape. There's a great hot creek about 5 miles before your first blacktop road northbound. ( forget the name and wouldn't put it on here anyway) Pieps and i spent a lot of time there. It is illegal to soak in hot springs in Yellowstone but not in hot creeks. Keep that in mind and enjoy them. No one else does!
Montana is amazing as it is usually hiker free and you can hike naked and know you won't see anyone. It's mostly ALL good! enjoy!
ps. Ramblin is here visiting and we just came from one of Thailand's famous full moon parties. He is resting today!

[ARambler]

I think the "paramont" decision is whether to hike over Grays peak. No, I don't know much about the CDT, I just know Grays peak is the highest point on the divide.
Last summer I day hiked this route from the south and turned around before the summit of Grays. I could have made it, but it is a long exposed ridge and the afternoon showers were coming early. Also, the ridge near Grays is rocky enough to be called a scramble. I would say that the trail is not built in this section and you should probably take the alternative through Silverthorn, CO. I did this alternative section in 2004. It was easy to find using Jonathan Ley's maps.
Also did the Window last year. Highly recommended.
Rambler

[The Hog]

I did Jonathan Ley's version of the Anaconda Cutoff, and I would recommend it. There are a couple of places to stop for "refreshments" in Anaconda, and also one in Warm Springs. If you're NOBO, you have to be a little careful finding the route coming out of Warm Springs heading over to the Helena section of CDT.

I've been thru Butte, and was not terribly impressed.

[The Hog]

Helena, MT is a nice town,not to be missed!

[Sly]

An unplanned stop, I thought Helena was a great town, as were most in Montana. Anaconda was barroom heaven. I've never been to Butte but would probably take that route the next time just because.

If you take the Mack Inn Cut-Off you don't miss the Centennials but avoid a long loop around the north of Henry's Lake. North of Mack's Inn there is a bit of bushwhacking and cross country before you pick up trail proper again.

If you take the loop through Rocky Mountain NP, and don't plan on 30 miles that day, plan on staying in the Park where you're required to get an overnight backcountry permit. How you do that from the trail is probably the reason most thru-hikers don't bother.

It's big country out there with lots of alternatives. Many are in the guidebooks, Jonathan has some on his maps and of course the regular maps have other trails that can be linked. I'd venture to say they're all good and worth exploring given the time and inclination.

[Mags]

I think the "paramont" decision is whether to hike over Grays peak. No, I don't know much about the CDT, I just know Grays peak is the highest point on the divide.

FWIW, I would avoid Gray's like the plague. Why? It is an easily accessible 14er and is often VERY crowded. Even on weekdays! If you are into peak bagging or absolutely want to do a high point, you can get Greys and nearby Torrey's (on the other side of the saddle, less than a mile away) easily.

But, as mentioned, because both Grays and Torreys are so close together, near the highway and not far from Denver it is a freakin' zoo on the summits!

Besides, the CDTA route looks to be kinda blah. But that's me. I usually don't do 14ers because of crowds.

Which reminds me: Be sure to do the Wolf route near Berthoud Pass (Winter Park). This stretch is along the divide on a ridge, goes over several 13ers is awesome. Because the peaks are "only" 13k, you tend to see less people.

As you can tell, hiking the CDT in Colorado will be like seeing an old friend for me! Had the same feeling when I did the LT portion of the AT and when I did the Whites.

[Blister]

You guys are aewsome, not mentions my best resource for info. FH, Give Ramblin Rich a big hello for me. It's been ten years since I have seen him!!!! I have already been planning on hittting some of your suggestions, the Cliff dwellings, the Cirques again, the rocky loop, and I think I am going to do an alternate route going through Yellowstone since I did that official section last year. Nean - N-Bar Ranch first time I have heard that mentioned, any more info?? FH - Nita's house??
Just reading some of your suggestions is getting me ooohhhh sooooo excited, almost too excited to be sitting here in the library!

[Sly]

Which reminds me: Be sure to do the Wolf route near Berthoud Pass (Winter Park). This stretch is along the divide on a ridge, goes over several 13ers is awesome. Because the peaks are "only" 13k, you tend to see less people.

Yes that was an awesome section of alternate trail and coined "the gem of the CDT" by Jim Wolf. Five 13,000 ft peaks in 10 miles. We camped at Berthoud Pass the night before and only managed 17 miles that day, stayed that night at a gorgeous alpine lake past Lolo Pass, King's Lake I think. I was beat, but it was well worth it.

Some of Cobweb's photos of the traverse can bee found here starting with photo 15 on page 8 and continuing on page 9

http://gallery.backcountry.net/album18?&page=8

[Spirit Walker]

I love the pictures. Sly - before you hiked, were you paying close attention to the snow levels? If so, how does this year compare to then? It seems like this year has less snow in the south and more in the north, but I wasn't paying as much attention then, since we weren't hiking. What date did you leave Chama?

[Sly]

I love the pictures. Sly - before you hiked, were you paying close attention to the snow levels? If so, how does this year compare to then? It seems like this year has less snow in the south and more in the north, but I wasn't paying as much attention then, since we weren't hiking. What date did you leave Chama?

I was paying close attention, but knew well in advance it was a low snow year. If it had been a "normal" year or Colorado received lots of late snow I was prepared to leap to Canada and hike south. As it was, the National Forest got closed in northern NM due to dry, drought conditions once we reached Grants, so I called a buddy in Albuquerque to take us to Cumbres Pass around May 27th. We had 2 days of serious postholing in the South San Juans but after that if wasn't bad at all. We also started dropping to, and walking up the relatively snow free valleys between ridges when snow was pervasive on the northern sides. It was easier to drop 500 feet and reclimb it, than postholing up to my waist, squirming out, walking a couple feet and postholing again.

As it turned out, leap frogging a couple hundred miles and hiking straight north from there worked well. We reached Canada Sept 16. Adding two weeks on the northern end of the hike very well may have ended it prematurely. I actually enjoyed going back to NM and finishing up in Grants on Oct. 4th. Mt Taylor was my Katahdin.

[Sly]

By the way I never did go to Chama until after my hike when Cheryl flew out and we rented a car. We did lots of touristy things like driving the "official" route from the south end of El Malpais to Grants (it had more water than I expected), and other places along the CDT, visiting El Morro, Pecos, Capulin Volocano, Taos, Santa Fe etc. One vacation I'll never forget...

[Spirit Walker]

Do you think this year has more or less snow in Colorado?
It seems to be about 60% in southern Colorado and 120% in northern Colorado, so far. NM is about 25% of normal. How does that compare to your year?

[Mags]

Do you think this year has more or less snow in Colorado?
It seems to be about 60% in southern Colorado and 120% in northern Colorado, so far. NM is about 25% of normal. How does that compare to your year?

As I type this response, it is snowing outside. Freakin' cold, too! Supposed to go down to negative temps tonight. Brr! I did a local hike today..even moving, was barely warm. All this snow in my neck of the Colorado woods makes for some great backcountry skiing...

Anyway...

All bets are off with Colorado snow levels. In 2004, many CDTers were S.O.L. who were going NoBo. As with this year, the snow levels southern Colorado were low-ish during winter. However, there was a spring snow storm that dumped lots of snow! I would not be surprised if it happens again this year. It happens just about every year!

To get a true gauage of the southern Colorado snow levels, look in late April/early May. Just about the time most NoBos start...

Wait and see it looks like.