CDT Joy: Counting until the beginning of the path

Time is flying both incredibly slow and incredibly fast in my time between walking along the path of Arizona and Continental Divide Trail. I have spent more time preparing for my trip SOBO CDT than any other adventure I have been before.

Chapter 1 Outstanding:

• 6 weeks until the beginning: He completed the Arizona path and taking a week to rest, relax and recover.
• 5 weeks until the beginning: Downloaded maps and planned refueling points. Ordered equipment.
• 4 weeks until the beginning: Created a strength and stretch routine. Buy and pack consumables without food to replenish.
• 3 weeks until the beginning: He bought plane and hotels tickets.
• 2 weeks until the beginning: Final Shakedown Wike. Buy and full food for resupply boxes.
• 1 week until the beginning: Say goodbye to friends and family. He sent the refueling box by mail to Benchmark Wilderness. Flying to the Glacier National Park.

Preparing my body

After the Arizona path, I suffered some pain in the band in my right knee that I knew I had to board for this next walk. I have made a soft yoga routine almost daily and I am enjoying short walks with long stretch episodes later. The pain is gone, but I am very aware that this could become an injury on the way if it is not addressed. In high school and the university I enjoyed running long distance and this was a common injury that I faced, so I am mentally prepared for the slow time to heal. I also completed the 800 miles through the Arizona Trail walk this spring and I feel that I have a good resistance and base, so I am not focusing as much as increasing my mileage, but on maintaining a weekly long walk.

Online preparation for CDT

There was enough research that should be done before embarking on a walk. I took the time to download the Farout map of the CDT and the paths of paths in Avenza and Gaia. Then I set out to determine a replenishment strategy knowing that it will be a framework and there will be many changes in the plan on the road. For my walk, I will be as self -sufficient as possible and take substitutes to walk towards the city instead of hooking or moving. I will also send packages to small towns to guarantee better nutrition for my time on the road. If you want to know more about my refueling strategy, let me know in the comments below and I can gather a separate publication on the subject.

In addition to planning the refueling, I also used chatgpt to help cure an audiobook list, music albums and podcasts to entertain myself during the point on the walk where you need to lower your head and make miles. I found as many books as I could of applications associated with my library and then used Audible and Spotify to compensate for the rest of the books I wanted to read, but that was not available in the library.

Then I bought plane tickets and reserved hotels for a few days before my CDT start date to explore the Glacier National Park. I hope to meet other hikers in the hostel on East Glacier and obtain walking permits together.

Finally, I learned more about social networks, photo editing and the creation of video content. Recently I got an Instagram account, in the middle of my 2024 through Hike to connect with friends I met on the path, and I got a lot to do so. I hope to share photos and videos while walking on my social media platforms, in addition to my blog.

Get new team

Online I investigated the equipment I needed to replace before this trip. There were several critical pieces of team that were no longer reliable from my kit after my walk along the Arizona path. My first duplex store in Zpacks now has thousands of miles (more than 4,000) and is no longer reliable, so I replaced it with a lighter version. My swollen shelter zipper did not always work (Mountain Hardware Ghost Whisperer of 2020) and updated Montbell Plasma Down 1000. The zipper didn’t sometimes fail in my ULA FANNY package, so I changed to a literary feather weight fanfare pack. During my research on new teams, I also took the time to choose some new luxuries for this path: a sleeping pad inflator and new catches. Finally, I asked for clothes and shoes that I will wear for the path. You can find my complete gear list on my author page.

Representation of refueling packages

For my next CDT through the walk, I will send resupply packages more frequently than the previous paths. I have planned boxes every 250 miles plus some of food boxes. I have also planned to exchange shoes and socks every 500 miles.

I have a quite sensitive skin and I discovered that I do not always trust small towns to carry certain items in a leather version without fragrances or sensitive (body wipes, laundry soap, sunscreen). I have also discovered that sometimes it is cheaper to buy in bulk and send a supply in each city than to pay more in a city every time you need it. Things like Benadryl, Ibuprofen, Bandaids, KT Tape and Leukotape fall into this category.

My parents will help with mail packages along the path and review everything together before I left. They will also add some sweets along the way to fun surprises while walking.

Flying to the Glacier National Park

Ghost Pepper, with whom I walked on the path of Arizona and the second half of the Sendero of the Appalaches, will transfer me to the Canada border for the beginning of the path. Our flight left at 6 in the morning of the Phoenix Sky Harbor airport, so we woke up around 3 in the morning to drive to the airport from my parents’ house in Peoria, Az. The first stage of the flight was without problems to Lax, but we had an hour of delay in our connection flight because we were short pilot for the plane. When we land at the Glacier Park International Airport in Kalispell, we rent a car and go to the Glacier National Park for a short walk and view of Lake McDonald. Then we went to a brewery called Backlope Brewing for dinner and then headed to the hotel in Kalispell for the night after being raised for 18 hours.

McDonald Lake View

Explore the park and obtain permits

The next morning we planned a day of tourist activities in the National Park. Currently you must obtain a permit for the timed entrance at the west entrance or arrive before 7 AM we plan a start at 4:30 am to take us to a very popular path called Avalanche Lake Trail. We slept through the alarm and when I woke up naturally at 6 am, we hurried to wake up everything in the car and we went to take the 45 -minute trip to the park at 6:08 am we could enter the park and we could a miracle find a parking lot near the start of the path. The Avalanche Lake Trail walk was approximately 6.5 miles and saw mule deer and we had a good break for snacks in the lake and observed the fog clear on the lake to show beautiful waterfalls and mountain glasses with snow cover. Next, we went through Logan’s pass on the way to go to the Sun road and walk Hidden Lake Overlook. This 1.4 mile path was covered with snow most of the road and I was glad to have micro picos. From there we headed to East Glacier and registered at our hotel at the Whistling Swan Motel and ate a great dinner at the Mexican Restaurant in Serranos nearby.

Mountain view with snow cover from Avalanche Lake

The next morning we headed to the two medicine rangers station and we arrived at 7 am (30 minutes before the opening). I heard from other hikers in the shelter that would arrive early to see the current availability of the camp and plan the route. It is also the first service for the first time, so arriving early would make it more likely that the camps are no longer taken. At the ranger station, another through hikers was waiting and I could get to your permission and get a very good itinerary. Also in the ranger station I learned that at 4:30 pm the day before the Rangers deliver the current availability of campsites so that hikers can take it with them and plan during the night. The permission process at the Razchasques station took about an hour and a half. From there, I had breakfast in the two medicine stores and confirmed that there would be food to replenish for a day from here to East Glacier. For an exercise, I walked Aster Falls and then I went to the glass basement appearance to see that they held a package of hikers and to buy a bear spray, since I was not lucky when verifying the hotels around the glacier. The afternoon passed by making a final package of my backpack and relaxing at the hotel.

Tomorrow, I put the Canadian border to start my CDT walk!

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