Hi gang, a fellow experienced hiker will join me to section hike Wolf Creek Pass to Stony Pass first week of July. We are [now] local to CO, have section-hiked the PCT and AT, and are in relatively good shape. But reading about the CDT (no experience here) worries me a bit. Some questions:
(1) Will snow be an issue at this time in this section? Recent trip reports are alarming, but accounts and wx estimates vary wildly. We will NOT be equipped with axes or any other hard-charging snow gear.
(2) We're not planning to bring bear canisters or spray as CO is meant to be fairly safe. Any objections?
(3) For navigation, we'll use the paper strip maps from the CDT Coalition, with Guthooks CDT Colorado for iPhone offline. I know CDT is poorly marked vs PCT/AT, so will CDTC paper maps + Guthooks be sufficient?
(4) I've read accounts of very cold temps at night, despite hot days. Confirm we'll need cold-weather gear for night?
(5) We're hoping to make 20-25 miles/day on this section (we did 30/day on PCT). Is this too ambitious?
Invite answers or commentary on anything related to this - thank you.