CDT Planning – New Mexico

I’m sitting here at my favorite coffee shop (shout out to Backroads Coffee in Hayward, WI), planning my draft itinerary for New Mexico on the Continental Divide. I’ll start by stating that this really goes against my preferred style of hiking, which is to just wing it. In the “real world” I am a big planner, but I found that while hiking the Appalachian Trail, I really liked spending each day with a minimal plan. Well, the more I consider the nuances of CDT, the more I’m inclined to at least make a tentative plan. Let’s discuss.

Consideration #1: Alternatives

Often described as the «choose your own adventure» trail, the CDT offers a litany of alternative routes that deviate from the official Red Line route. A reasonable first step in planning an estate is to choose which alternatives interest you. In my case, I selected the following (and, in parentheses, how much they subtract or add from the official CDT):

• Gila River (-72.4 mi)
  • Offers the promise of water and resupply at Doc Campbell’s Post
• Govina Canyon (-1.7)
  • I’ve heard it’s quite picturesque, so why not?
• Pie Town Road Walk (-8.6)
  • Allows a stop at Davila Ranch (with a shower!!) and avoids some highways.
• Bonita-Zuni Canyon (-3.1)
  • Avoid walking on a highway into Grants, NM, plus there’s a canyon!
• Mount Taylor (+1.8)
  • Who doesn’t want to climb a mountain?

These alternatives reduce my total mileage in New Mexico from the official 794.2 miles to 710.2 miles. But most importantly, it identifies my necessary plans for replenishment.

Consideration #2: Replenishment Strategy

What is hiking other than stringing together a bunch of hiking sections? This is how I approach replenishment. On the AT, this was pretty easy, as the towns were generally close together, easily accessible, and had more food options. The longest unrefueled stretch on the AT is the 100-mile wilderness in Maine, but the Divide returns mileage greater than that several times within its first state. I roughly described my refueling points and the mileage between them as follows:

The big asterisk here is that this is a rough plan. Many things can happen to derail even the most meticulous itinerary; weather, injuries, vortexes in a city, etc. I like to think that my experience as a production engineer in a factory has taught me that it’s great to plan, but even better to be flexible when things don’t go according to your expectations.

After some research, I found that most people send resupply boxes to Doc Campbell’s Post (on the Gila River Alternate), Pie Town, and Ghost Ranch. These locations have limited or expensive resupply due to their remoteness. So, I’ve prepared a few boxes to mail myself along the way.

A resupply box in the making!

I will note that I am not a fan of making replenishment boxes. I would prefer to just stop at grocery stores along the way, but the CDT doesn’t make it easy. I’m also not looking forward to having my food delivered from Doc Campbell’s to Pie Town; The 127-mile stretch makes transporting food heavy.

Consideration #3: Trail Days!

In my itinerary above, you’ll notice that I’ll be perfectly timed with the April 15 start date to arrive in Silver City during Trail Days, an annual festival held as the kickoff of the NOBO CDT hiking season. I will provide more details on this later, but for now, while I plan, it serves as a “hard date” on my trail calendar. I’m excited to meet other hikers, get free pancakes, go to the vendor fair, and enjoy my first zero day! My pace heading into the Trail days will have me hitting an average pace of 16.5 miles/day for the first leg of the hike, which should be a nice and easy pace to start with.

Final Consideration: Pre-Hike Training

There are many people who say that it is not necessary to train for a hike; that you will gain ground as you progress. That may be true, but I believe that a good foundation in fitness sets you up for success. Over the winter, I used a combination of strength training, running, and walking to prepare for my hike. More recently, I transitioned to hiking only, covering six to fifteen miles per hike, often with my hiking partner Clothesline. There is no better way to train for a hike than walking! Load your backpack and go!

Pre-hike training in northern Wisconsin with a 30-pound backpack!

That’s all for now, friends! I figure I’ll update you all below from New Mexico! I will leave on April 13th to start on April 15th. Things are getting real now! I’ll see you all later!

This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any products or services you purchase using links in articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price they would otherwise pay, and their purchase helps support The Trek’s ongoing goal of bringing you quality backpacking information and advice. Thank you for your support!

For more information, visit the About page of this site.