Life's Little Challenges

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Y'know - we ALL have our little challenges. And some of them are really laughable. And some of them aren't. So what I've done is take some of my notes from the ALDHA CDT workshops and condense them here into short paragraphs that you might want to think about. But these are some of the situations and challenges that previous hikers have faced on the trail. I'll double-dog guarantee that if you hike the CDT you'll run into some of this stuff.

This is not intended to discourage you from hiking the trail. All these issues are manageable, one way or another. How you deal with them, if you deal with them, is up to you. But it's more difficult to deal with things if you're not aware of them before you get to the trailhead. And a little research before you go can make life - and dealing with the issues - a lot easier.

If you don’t leave here with some concerns about your ability to finish – and a desire to LEARN a lot more about the trail before you start it - and some more respect for the trail – and some excitement about the trail, then you either haven’t been listening or we haven’t done our job here.

You CAN walk this Trail – we've told prospective thruhikers that the CDT requires a different skill set from the other trails. And that’s true – the AT requires a set of skills that the thruhikers learn along the way. It’s a very forgiving trail. The PCT requires that you learn different skills in addition to those you learned on the AT. The CDT requires that you learn yet a new set of skills – in addition to those you learned on the other trails. And it’s not as forgiving a trail. Learn some of the skills you'll need before you go. It'll make the trip a lot more enjoyable.

Horses, hunters, pain/exhaustion/injury, ATV’s – all these things and more, tend to drive some hikers crazy. So do flies and mosquitos, bad water, burn areas and cold weather. And long days in the desert – and loneliness. And sometimes, your partners. So let's look at some of those things.

Bears:

A lot of people worry about grizzlies. And with good reason. So - there are five things you REALLY don't want to do to/with grizzlies -

• Don't surprise them. They REALLY don't like that - and they'll let you know about it. Make noise as you walk so they know you're coming. And don't make the mistake of using "bear bells" - they don't work. Try singing instead.
• Don't get between them and their food. Their main business in life is eating. And if you interfere (or if their perception is that you're interfering) with their feeding, they REALLY don't like that and they'll let you know about it.
• Don't challenge them. That means DO NOT look at them directly, and DO NOT try to scare them. They REALLY don't like that and they'll let you know about it.
• Don't tempt them by not hanging your food. Remember what their "main business in life" is (eating). They're serious about food. Certainly more serious than many thruhikers are. Don't be one of the "hungry losers."
• Don't try to dance with them. They have four left feet and no sense of humor about it. And when they DO try to dance they'll step on your toes.

In any or all of those cases, you "may" survive, but you WILL NOT enjoy the experience.

Reality is, most of the time when you see a grizzly, it'll run the other way. Occasionally it will bluff charge you, stopping before it reaches you. As long as you don't run, it will "probably" not actually attack. Read about bears - learn how to avoid them, and how to deal with them when you can't avoid them. Then you'll be among those who are excited and happy when they see a bear, rather than terrified.

Reportedly, no party of three or more has ever been attacked by a griz. If you want to be as safe as possible, travel through "bear country" (Northern Montana at least as far south as Lincoln - or even Anaconda PLUS Yellowstone) with a group of three or more. We've told that to people and then watched them truckin' down the trail one at a time - 15 minutes or an hour apart, assuming that they were safe because they were with a "group." Hate to pop anyone's balloon - but if you're hiking more than 30 seconds apart in bear country, then you aren't hiking in a "group." From the bear's point of view, YOU ARE HIKING ALONE. And the bear has a better sense of reality than you do. Get smart - either hike together - or hike separately - but don't kid yourself about what you're doing, cause you can't fool the bear.

Group Dynamics (Your partners):

If you're planning to hike in a group, keep in mind that ALL groups live or die by something called "group dynamics." For thruhikers, this means things like:

• Hiking speed (pace)- a group is only as fast as its slowest member. Can you adjust your speed to accomodate a slower hiker? How will you handle it if YOU are the slowest hiker and everyone is always waiting for you? Either way can be really wearing.
• Miles per day - if you want to do 20 mpd and someone else wants to do 25 and someone else wants to do 15, your "group" isn't gonna be together very long.
• Town time - if you want to spend time in town and everyone else wants to get in and out - it creates stresses that can crack an otherwise compatible group.
• Compatibility - Just for example - if you've got a "whiner" in the group, how long can you stand it? If you're the "whiner" how long do you think others are gonna put up with you?
• Hiking times - if you get up at o-dark 500 every day and your partner doesn't want to move until 9 am - how long are you gonna be hiking together?

There are an infinite number of factors that determine how long and how well your group will be able to stay together and function together. Those are just a few of the most obvious ones. Every group will have different dynamics, challenges, irritations – just like the AT or PCT. But the CDT is different even here – because weather, navigation, water, resupply – and route changes all add stresses that the other trails never thought of having. On the AT or PCT you can hike completely independently, plan the evening campsite in the morning, and have a good chance of meeting up at the end of the day. On the CDT it is so easy to get off route, or one may choose to take a different route, or you may find the trail longer or harder than expected, so that if you hike separately, you might not see each other for days. You lose a lot of the safety benefit of having a partner if you aren't actually hiking "together".

Water:

There have been those who didn't believe what we've said about the quantity/quality of water on the CDT, too. But, mostly, they learned.

So - what is the water situation on the CDT? Answer: generally not all that good. Most of the Rockies have had year after year after year of drought. Most of the CDT runs through desert. Not the same kind of desert as the PCT - but still desert. And drought doesn't make the water sources any better. If you get sorta lucky, you'll hit a year like 2004 when there actually IS water. If you hit what's become a more "normal" hiking year, the 2004 precipitation will have run off and you'll be back to drought.

The second point is - cows. You WILL share water with them. Like it or not. In northern Montana (north of Lincoln) and in Yellowstone, you won't see cows, but even there you'll be sharing with elk, deer, bears, wolves, moose, ptarmigan, goats, sheep, quail, etc. If you're southbound, you'll be in cow country before you get to Anaconda. And except for Yellowstone and a few short miles in RMNP, you'll be in cow country for the rest of the hike.

There are people who object to the cows. That's foolishness - or maybe just ignorance. For much of the trail, if the cows weren't there, then there would be no incentive for anyone to develop and maintain the water sources that the hikers use. And there would be no CDT. In New Mexico, we ran into water sources that had been deliberately disabled - some of them by the Park Service, some by the BLM and some by the Border Patrol. Anyplace where the cows have become unwelcome has also reverted to its "natural" state - bone dry. If there are no cows, there is no water. Deal with it.

Altitude:

The magic number for AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) is 5000 ft altitude. We've had conversations with people who have gotten AMS while hiking the AT. We have friends who have had major problems on the John Muir Trail and the PCT. And our personal experience is with not only the usual headaches, nausea, etc, but with HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema) - which is one of the nastier forms of AMS. In 1997 we had to bail out early on a trip to the Weminuche Wilderness because my lungs were rapidly filling with fluid. It took 6 weeks to clear them after we got home. And I was told I'd never be able to hike at altitude again. They were wrong. I hiked in Glacier NP in 1998 and then the CDT in 1999. But if I'd stayed at altitude in 1997, it would have killed me.

The only real cure for any form of AMS is to get to lower altitude. Meaning AT LEAST a 3000-4000 ft decrease in elevation. General consensus in the serious mountaineering community is that it should be 2000 meters. Drugs can help - there are several of them, including Diamox, that are commonly available. If your doctor knows anything about sports medicine you can get a prescription. But not all doctors are created equal.

Snow:

Not all snow is created equal either. It's not so much "snow" that can be a problem, but rather the "type" of snow. For example, it's one thing to be caught by a southern Colorado September snowstorm that'll melt off in a couple days. It's an entirely different world to try to get through southern Colorado snowpack in June when it's melting off and you'll posthole - or snowshoe (and posthole) - for days or weeks at a time.

The fall snow will tend to be powder - and while a foot or two may be hard to walk through, it can be done. The spring snow that you might deal with tends to be either hardpack (which isn't that big a deal) or "rotten" snow (meaning leftover snowpack that's melting and unstable) that you'll likely break through a lot more often than you like (and you "could" twist a knee or do other damage if you're really unlucky).

It's somewhat the same in Montana - if you're early enough (and crazy enough) to be there before snowmelt (like late May/early June), you'd be walking on hardpack (5 to 10 ft of winter snow). It ain't easy - but it's doable. It's an entirely different bucket of worms to be trying to get through the same area in late September or early October when the weather gods dump a foot or two on you - and it won't be going away until next year. In 1998, there was a hunter who died in Montana and wasn't found for 8 months because he didn't understand that difference. More to the point, there have been CDT hikers who walked the last few hundred miles to Canada on the roads. I don't consider that to be anywhere even close to "fun."

What I just said is - the word "snow" is meaningless unless you qualify it, define it, quantify it - and understand what it means to your hike.

Lightning:

Lightning is more of a problem for the NOBO hiker. The real lightning season runs through July and August - but can extend either before or after that time frame. It's mainly a problem in Colorado. Which is more or less where and when the NOBO hikers are likely to be.

As SOBO hikers in '99, we caught only the last couple weeks of the lightning season in early September. The most memorable "experience" was on Poison Ridge. Thunderstorms in front - thunderstorms behind - thunderstorms to the left - thunderstorms to the right ----------------- and an open ridge walk. Lovely. We didn't run, but we sure did walk fast. OTOH - we never got wet that day.

We're not gonna discuss a lot of "solutions" here - but I'll tell you that a lot of the usual recommended actions aren't gonna work well when you're on an open ridge at 12,000 ft and it's a couple miles to get "down" to lower altitude. Best is to make sure you don't get caught on the ridge in the first place. Hike early, camp early, then hike late if you want. Thunderstorms don't usually last all day, just part of the afternoon.

But don't take that as gospel either - we've also seen "different" patterns at times. So pay attention to the pattern that you're having to deal with - and adjust accordingly. We've seen "all-day/all-night" storms at 12,000 ft. As well as "thundersnow". It can be "interesting." Or maybe it's more like an "adventure." In any case, what it requires is - flexibility.

Loneliness:

Most long distance hikers think they want to spend time in the "wilderness" - and they generally think in terms of being "alone in the wilderness." There are some who can handle that. But not many - most of the CDT hikers we've known have spent considerable time and effort trying to link up with other CDT hikers. Think about hiking the AT or PCT with no other hikers around you - and nobody to talk to who would have any understanding of what you're doing. Loneliness is not an insignificant factor on the CDT. More than one has said that they enjoyed the solitude on the trail -- it was being alone in a strange town that was painful.

Pain/exhaustion/injury:

All of which are constant hazards - as they are on other trails, but even more so. When Lynne Whelden did his "How to Hike the CDT" video, he told us he had yet to meet any CDT hiker who had not had some major trauma on the CDT - whether physical, emotional or otherwise. And nearly everybody had physical problems. You can read about some of "our" problems elsewhere on this site - but even that didn't cover "everything" we had to deal with. Carry lots of Advil - or Aleve - or whatever you use.

Hunters/Hunting season:

Related to wildlife, of course. I don’t care how you feel about hunting – ignoring hunters – or worse yet, antagonizing them, is just stupid. Hunters in CO and NM have been sources of water, food, information and sometimes help for CDT hikers. For our hike, we had an armed escort for several hundred miles through southern CO and northern NM. They knew we were coming – they watched for us – and they watched out for us. All because we were friendly rather than antagonistic. Hunters are people - and they enjoy the outdoors as much as you do.

Attitude:

Do whatever you have to do to keep your attitude from going sour. A lot of hikers end up in Winter Park for a night. As we did in ’99. It wasn't a planned stop, and it was expensive. But between the weather and my attitude, we NEEDED the break. A couple meals, some beer and ice cream, and a shower cured the attitude. Didn't do anything for the weather, though, except to buy us some time.

The James Peak to Berthoud Pass segment can be a bitch-kitty. Especially in bad weather.

To paraphrase what more than one smart hiker has said:

If you're not happy with what you're doing - then change what you're doing, or at least the way you're doing it.

As someone else once said of the CDT - "I hate it, I hate it, I hate it ---- I can't wait to go back." But I didn't hate it - and dammit, I can taste it. And I want more of it.

Going Home:

You could call this "social adjustment/reentry issues."

For some of us this may be the hardest part of the hike.

Some people can go back to "normal" life without missing a beat. Most take a few months to adjust. Many, if not most, don't go back to work for 6 months or so. And then it's usually out of financial necessity. I got lucky on the AT - I'd been on a leave of absence and when I got back, they laid me off. Two ways lucky - because being on LOA meant I could keep the medical insurance while I was on the Trail. Being laid off meant I could collect unemployment for a while. That's as close to welfare as I've ever been - or ever want to be. But I needed the time to adjust.

When we finished the CDT, we were both de-socialized to the point that more than two other people in the same room totally freaked us out. We went to the PA Ruck in January and spent the whole time wondering what we were doing there. We were supposed to visit friends in Florida and New England - but couldn't face either the travel time - or other people (even though they were friends). We had to hike the PCT in order to get re-socialized.

A few of us never recover - we hike the AT 8 times like Baltimore Jack - or go on to hike other long trails, to explore new places. And we're always restless, always looking for something or someplace, always planning the next hike or the next "adventure".

When you get home, take your time - give yourself time to explore the dimensions of what you've become. I was constantly surprised by myself after the AT - by new and different ways of thinking and feeling, by different attitudes and actions.

You may find the same kind of surprises in your life - enjoy them. Some of them will last - others won't. And NOBODY - not me or anyone else - can tell you what those changes will be - or what to do about them, because you're the only one who lives inside your head.

I can advise you to keep active but, as usual, that advice is worth what you pay for it. For me, what helped was hiking - and then, later, maintaining trail. One year Ginny and I spent 46 weekends doing one or the other - plus two weeks on vacation (hiking, of course). That was back when I was still "keeping records." After our 1999 CDT thruhike, I stopped counting that kind of thing.