More gear evolutions; snow; information and apps.

First, the snow

This year I’m seeing lots of posts about early trail snow. Usually snow starts hitting in October but I’m seeing a lot of September snow.

Eg, things like this: https://www.reddit.com/r/CDT/s/BsaKHvHMPJ

Glad I’m not in that mess.

Sunglasses

On the Appalachian Trail, since it was our first trail and we did a number of short hikes to warm up and I read a lot, I stressed a lot about sunglasses.

The more I hike, the less I stress about anything. I tried all sorts of things for sunglasses and other options on various section hikes. I still try things out and experiment.

The AT is the one trail where sunglasses aren’t needed. There were so many variations and approaches I tried on that trail before I realized none of them were necessary or useful.

My bottom line is that anyone recommending sun glasses for the AT is trying to sell you something (probably with an affiliate marketing kickback).

On the PCT sunglasses are more needed. I burned through a number of them due to loss or damage and my last pair was a pair found under a bush. It lasted me through a lot of scratches.

You need sunglasses on the PCT.

For the Continental Divide Trail I was going to get Ombraz sunglasses. Instead I ended up with the Costco ones in the picture with a tether. I got the tether at a discount. That combination works really well.

I’ve gotten about two thousand miles on them and they are like new. I just let them hang around my neck if I’m not wearing them and place them on my hat at night so I can find them come morning.

I owe Happy6 my thanks for pushing that solution.

Reading glasses

Since I had cataract surgery I’ve needed reading glasses.

I’ve been through several iterations on reading glasses and I have used a number of trail magic readers (ie found in the dirt or in hiker boxes) or readers I bought on the trail from grocery stores. Now I always carry a spare.

Currently on trail I am using Amazon blue filter reading glasses (see the picture) with a tether and that has worked well for me. They get lost or damaged less when worn with a tether. I did have one of the lenses fall out of one pair but the tether works well.

At night the readers live in my hat with the sun glasses. A four pack or readers from Amazon costs less than one single pair from some sources. The plastic flexes without bending or breaking.

Pants

My first hiking pants were cotton blend convertible pants from Costco and I quickly learned they were really “hiking styled” pants rather than real backpacking gear.

My first real backpacking pants I bought from a guy on Whiteblaze who was there selling gear. They were REI Sahara convertible pants. That particular model changes cut, fit, colors and characteristics pretty often. The latest change was just in colors offered.

For a variety of reasons I’ve bought other pants. For example, I ended up with some White Sierra pants on trail while on the Appalachian Trail when I needed new pants. I had lost a zip off and wanted complete pants, especially for the cold weather I found myself in.

White Sierra used to be available on line at great discounts. I couldn’t find them last time I needed to buy pants.

Another time on trail I ended up with some PrAna Zion pants. I was on the PCT when my other pants wore out and that was all the two outfitters in town (between them) had in my size.

I’m currently hiking in REI Saharas again. The color I have was discontinued and this time the new colors are pretty much the only change. This time. Who knows what REI will do next.

For comparison on my current choices, the PrAna pants pockets are easier to use, the REI pants pockets are more secure. REI pants zip off. PrAna roll up (and not well over my calves).

PrAna pants have one extra pocket, the REI pants have two extra pockets for “cargo pants” styling. For hiking I only use front pockets, so the back pockets don’t matter.

Generally if I’m going to roll up or zip off my pants legs I wear shorts. Though for water crossings I sometimes roll up or take off the bottom part of pants.

Not really converting my pants very often has me thinking that the $20 wrangler hiking pants might be good when I need another pair. On the AT I converted my pants often. Since then it has been a seldom if ever thing.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/3325312771

Converting my pants just quit happening on the PCT and I wore shorts a lot. In the CDT I only wore my shorts to do laundry.

I often sleep in my pants instead of switching to my baselayer bottoms. That worked out well when Happy6 needed to use my baselayer bottoms because hers were missing.

Bottom line: wear the pants that fit you and you are comfortable in. I don’t have any specific advice on pants beyond that.

“Down” jackets

I’ve ended up using a down jacket for spring, summer and fall on the trail. I wear it to be warm in camp when I am stopped before sleep at night or in the morning before hiking.

My first down jacket was REI’s economy model and cost me $49 (purchased on sale). It came without a hood. I also bought a bright green Patagonia nano puff on sale at REI. I swapped between them at times and wore both on vacations or section hikes.

I picked up a Ghost Whisperer at REI for Happy6 which she wore out and which Mountain Hardware replaced (in lieu of repairs) with a Ghost Whisper II. She also has a Montbell down jacket I bought her.

She bought me a Feathered Friends EOS (with hood) that I’ve carried thousands of miles on trails and a blue nano puff because she really disliked the green color one I had.

The deal was that the green one would get sent to the consignment shop if she replaced it. It is gone now.

The Patagonia is great on vacations and around town. Wearing the nano puff protects my hiking jacket from damage and wear. The EOS has a broad range of useful conditions I can wear it in and it also makes a great pillow.

Warning: a puffy jacket is not for hiking in. It is for warmth in camp. Your fleece or wind-shirt is for hiking in.

Outside of extreme weather about any solution seems to work well though I’m happy with what I’m using. There are people who just use a fleece in camp instead of a puffy or who just have a windshirt. So far that has been to minimalist for me.

Shorts

I’ve been through a fair number of evolutions on shorts. Sometimes I hike in them. Sometimes mosquitoes or the threat of sunburn or cold weather or brush leaves me in hiking pants.

I’ve discovered that what seemed perfect in the way of shorts changes as my cell phones have gotten larger. It is a matter of how the phones and the pockets work out.

My current shorts are by Spyder. They are the lightest of my shorts and the pockets zip so nothing falls out. My cell phone fits.

This last hike I used them when doing laundry. I bought them for around $12 at Costco. I think Spyder has discontinued the model I bought as I don’t see it on their website. Costco always seems to have great shorts for around $12.

The problem is that the specific shorts available keep changing so it is hard to recommend something that others will be able to find.

Books and Movies.

https://whiteblaze.net/forum/forumdisplay.php/426-Books often has kindle books for free on promotions. What is available changes as the free period runs out and a new book gets promoted.

Drop by Whiteblaze from time to time and you can get quite the library.

For the AT you can read A Walk in the Woods or watch the movie. Both are entertaining but lack accuracy. Being exposed to them does let you know what people are talking about when they come up.

The real “book” you need is FarOut, the App. Hikers used to have the app for the trail and guide books for town. Before that hikers would just carry Wingfoot’s guide. The App now covers it all.

On the other hand, a book offers a different experience and the books often have useful information or perspectives and are great for planning.

The ALDHA guide is currently the best of the three print guides. Whiteblaze was briefly best and the third available guidebook used to be the standard but has been eclipsed. You can get the ALDHA guide for free in pdf form for kindle with a membership.

I’ve owned and used all three books on trail.

For the PCT the book used to be Yogi’s Guide. It was head and shoulders ahead of anything else. The latest edition went out of print and it doesn’t look like it will be updated and reissued. She does have material on line.

The PCTA no longer has guidebooks, just maps where they list guidebooks for sale. https://www.pcta.org/discover-the-trail/maps/.

Otherwise people do read Wild/watch the movie but it is entertainment not a guide.

For the CDT the book used to be Yogi’s Guide. Who knows when or if it will ever be reissued.

The CDT Coalition has some maps and a guide. The guide is very general.

https://continentaldividetrail.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/continentaldividetrail/giftstore.jsp is where you go for their guide.

Otherwise for CDT guides it is all online material.

I don’t know a current guidebook I can recommend for the CDT though there are lots of books written by people about their hikes and lots of trail journals. They can be interesting or entertaining

Bottom line is that two of the three trails don’t have a current, in print comprehensive guidebook. The Appalachian Trail has three.

For documentary movies, see “Videos” below.

Videos

You can find lots of video footage on YouTube.

https://www.tbwproductions.com/ has the best true trail documentary/movies.

Otherwise there is a lot of material that constantly changes and updates. The two “big name” movies are A Walk in the Woods and Wild. Both are more entertainment than inform.

Apps

It should go without saying that FarOut is the #1 consensus best and essential app.

https://faroutguides.com/ It has separate downloads for each trail. Continuously updated after you purchase.

Other apps can be situationally useful and many are a part of other equipment (like the Garmin apps and the InReach) or free.

Here are the ones I keep on my phone:

Some have both free and premium versions.

In addition my wife has https://www.onxmaps.com/. I used to have the PATC maps and really liked them but they ceased to be updated and are no longer compatible with my phone.

CalTopo can be very useful and the maps for the CDT are free through Avenza.

We pretty much used a lot of resources on the CDT and just FarOut for the AT and the PCT.

On the CDT there were times when none of the maps or apps were accurate for the access or secondary trails and roads.

No supplemental app is as easy to use or as flexible as FarOut.

Facebook Groups/On Line Forums

The online forums have all been gutted by people moving to Facebook. Only Whiteblaze seems to have much activity. Some that used to be active go ten-twelve months between posts now instead of having multiple posts a day or an hour.

Facebook used to have new groups for each trail every year and the official group run by the trail associations.

Now the groups just change their names every year. So “xyz trail hikers 2023” just became “xyz trail hikers 2024” and will soon change to “2025”.

In addition Yogi has a PCT new group each year (it seems to have replaced her guide). https://m.facebook.com/groups/pctclassof2024yogi/permalink/975566657515186/? for an example. Lots of useful files and material.

The bottom line is that Facebook has replaced forums for the most part.

Other

I have other posts with link collections for on-line information sources for each trail.

Note that some links lists are newer than others.

Gear through the years, CDT Planning for next year

Gear: hats

On the AT I needed a hat for about two-three days (other than for dealing with rain).

I started with a hat from Costco that disappeared (I figure I lost it some place).

I replaced it with an almost identical Tilley Hat from REI. It is a neat hat, with an included cult membership; except: it is heavy, nothing I could do would make it waterproof and it really did not breathe well.

I eventually replaced it with a Frogg Toggs hat that cost a lot less, weighed a lot less, and handled rain a lot better.

Then I used an Outdoor Research ball cap that was perfectly sized and a wonderful color until it disappeared at a hostel we were staying at. I followed that for two more days on the AT with a gimme cap from a trail angel.

Since then, I’ve moved to ball caps for a visor under a sun hoodie or a rain jacket. Picked up a hunting season orange cap on the Pinhoti trail that was available, but did not fit well (my head is too large).

For the PCT I bought a FlexFit baseball hat that was polyester mesh in Orange. It disappeared during a family reunion and I replaced it with a ball cap from a local store. When I bought it, the delivery time (with Amazon Prime) was over a month. That has improved since.

For the CDT, I switched to a “Built Cool” which has a great fit and evaporates sweat well–and also was available for less and faster. So far, 2,000 miles and I’ve been happy with it. Even better, it handles being washed very well. I plan to wear it next year.

Gaiters

Now that I have gaiters that work well with my shoes, I’m very pleased. I tend to get rocks and sticks in my shoes, probably need to empty them out once a hour or more. With good gaiters that changes to less than once a week.

I’ve tried lots of gaiter/shoe combinations, most that did not work well for me. But Topo gaiters with Topo shoes work very well (and those gaiters were not a good thing when I tried them with Hoka ATRs or Speedgoats). I’m using the Topo gaiters next year on trail.

Rain gear

Jackets/Tops

I started with ponchos. I really wanted them to work, and they really did not work well for me. On the other hand, ThePacka.com worked like a charm on the Appalachian Trail. Huge pit zip vents. Easily used as a pack cover. All the possible downsides were ameliorated by the shelters and the fact I carried a tarp to use with my tent or over the front of the shelter.

For the PCT I switched to Lightheart Gear’s rain jacket. It is completely waterproof, but does not breath at all, which is fine since I’ve rarely had meaningful results from a rain jacket’s breathing. I really liked it, though I finally wore it out. I used it as both a wind shirt and a rain coat on the PCT and the Pinhoti.

Other rain jackets used include a tourist one from a waystop in the Shenandoah National Park, an Arc’teryx (works really well, but heavy and expensive), and an Outdoor Research Apollo.

It was available on trail at the north end of the PCT when my other rain jacket wore out. It works. 10+ ounces. Pretty color. I use it off trail now.

I’ve used some off-brand jackets (tldr: they wetted through in 10-15 minutes), an OR Helium II (short take: protects for about 45 seconds. Warranty service consisted of being sent some Nikwax which did not solve the problem), etc.

My wife got good results with a Montbell Versalite Rain Jacket. I’m surrently using a Visp and am pleased with it.

Heads up. All rain jackets will eventually wear out. Given how light wind shirts are (they used to be as heavy or heavier than a light rain jacket), I’m all for using a wind shirt for a wind breaker and the jacket only for rain so the rain jacket will last longer.

There are people who can’t wrap their heads around the fact that rain jackets wear out and that the lighter the jacket, the faster it wears out. That is just a sad fact of life.

Pants/Bottoms

I started with a rain skirt and gaiters. Worked well, but even Eastern Mountain Sports Full Zip Thunderhead pants weighed less than the skirt/gaiter combination. EMS is in bankruptcy and the chain has been acquired, so those pants should be available again. They vent well (full zip), especially when paired with a Packa, and handle underbrush and heavy, sustained rain very well.

After the EMS rain pants on the Appalachian Trail, I switched to Montbell Versalite Rain Pants for the PCT and the first two thousand miles of the CDT. Lighter. Work well where the trail isn’t overgrown with brush and rain paints are needed rarely, but are needed.

They also can be worn when doing laundry or when it is really cold. Mine have finally started to wear out so I’ve looked at others. What I wanted was pants to go with my new jacket.

However, the Visp rain pants have been discontinued. I’m currently in a toss up between another pair of Versalite pants (I’ve kind of worn my first pair out) or Dutchwear Xenon pants. They are about two and a half ounces.

I’ve never used rain pants when it wasn’t cool or cold so the need for venting for warm weather use isn’t as pressing for me.

While Texas has warm rain, I’ve not encountered it on the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail or the Continental Divide Trail. As an aside, most on-line ratings and comparisons of rain pants rate only rather expensive and rather heavy pants. I already have a great pair of heavy pants.

The common alternative, Frogg Toggs, which makes a solid rain jacket at a great price makes rain pants known for ripping out. I’ve even picked up a pair from a hiker box and tried them. They went back to the next hiker box.

Often in the west you can wait out the rain.

This is especially true for the CDT, for afternoon monsoons we just set up the tent and wait the reoccurring rain out. After the afternoon rain we would then hike some more.

I would never have believed I’d be that cavalier about stopping for an hour or two to wait out rain, but the CDT changed me. Rain pants are more of an emergency item, which makes lighter weight more important.

Shirts/Fleeces

I started with an UnderArmor t-shirt but quickly moved to Merino. For the t-shirts I eventually used a wool with 10% nylon/spandex. The blends wear much better. 100% merino wore holes in it too quickly. As for brands, I just bought what was least expensive that week.

Once we decided to try to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail I would vary between a long sleep and a short sleeve t-shirt. I never needed a sun hoodie.

With fleeces I found myself talked into a Stio by a brand ambassador (he just really liked his), and I still have it (just not for trail wear). The problem is that the Stio weighed as much or more than a fleece and was basically a replacement for a fleece/wind shirt.

Old fashioned fleeces work just fine at wind protection. I have some long blog entries on what works well for the AT. For other trails, Alpha Direct fleeces are so much lighter and pair well with a wind shirt that weighs less than two ounces.

Back to shirts, on the PCT I started with a Black Diamond Sun Hoodie and after a very unsatisfactory replacement, ended up with a Mountain Hardware Sun Hoodie. I really liked it and bought another for the CDT.

The PCT hoodie wore out and I bought a Tyr hoodie on trail (link is to Tyr, but not the hoodie I have). It is great for off-trail wear. I’m embarassed at how often I find myself wearing it.

I also have a Patagonia hoodie. It is also great for off-trail wear. It just lacks thumb loops, the hood doesn’t grip a ball cap and the gray color is just ok. It may be discontinued?!? I’ve worn it on trail but decided it needed replacement.

Most recently I moved to a Jolly Gear Sun Hoodie. It is comfortable, wicks moisture well, is warm when it is cool and cool when it is warm. I like it. Win got hers (in long sleeve, that model was for a 2024 hiking season only) for the CDT and that eventually persuaded me for next year to get mine.

Great sun hoodie. Also not a bad shirt.

CDT Next Year

I want to start right after North Texas RPG Convention, but that starts us a little early for going SOBO from the north. However, we have a few days of New Mexico to finish and still need to head south from Rawlins.

It seems to me that this is our probable route:

  • Cuba (using the free shuttle from Albuquerque) and head south, catching the short segment I missed due to pneumonia. SOBO.
  • Rawlins (catching a shuttle from town to twenty miles south) and south to Grand Lake Colorado. That gets us through before the water is gone (and even in the worst of times has us with only twenty miles to the “nice” trail again). SOBO.
  • “The Bob” from the trail head south. Take a shuttle from East Glacier to the trail head. Doing the other hiking gives The Bob Marshal Wilderness time to finish melting so we miss the snow if it lingers at all. SOBO.
  • Maybe do the Big Sky Cut-off (gives us prettier trail to hike). Faster. Prettier and faster, what is not to like.
  • Finish the CDT just past Big Sandy Lodge. Catch a shuttle to Lander.

Then, we would finish the last 150 miles of the PCT using local permits (link goes to Yogi’s details on local permits).

For the PCTA take on local permits: https://www.pcta.org/2023/returning-to-the-sierra-92790/.

With the schedule for next year and when we cut-off that is time to train (especially in April and May), time to hike in June, July, and August and a way to wrap up what we’ve missed.

CDT: snow on the trail (especially southbound)

Snow and data scientist here! This is a great question with lots of fun data available for answers. The data from postholer that others have linked is one great tool, but it comes from model outputs, which can have some issues at the highest elevations that we care the most about! Here’s some data from real observations that are also worth considering:

First things first, it’s helpful to get a sense of how big the snowpack is this year for an area of interest, GNP in your case. We can look at this map of real time, on-the-ground snowpack measurements from the SNOTEL (snow telemetry) network, and see that in general, the GNP region is sitting at about 85-100% of average for this date. Checking the Flat Top Mtn sensor (nicely representative of the area), we see that this year’s snowpack is looking similar to the 2019 and 2016 snowpacks.

The CDT Hiker Survey for 2019 suggests that for a snowpack like this, SOBO hikers were happiest with start dates around 6/15-6/13. But in 2021 and 2022, the snowpack was closer to average, and people preferred later start dates closer to 6/25. This is worth considering as a high-end estimate, in case the snow melts slower than usual, or they have some big late season storms.

Rud Platt also has a great tool that lets you access historical weekly snow coverage data for free in a map format, so you get a sense of the location and size of lingering snow fields. Since this year’s snow is probably going to be somewhere between 2019 and 2021, we can go back and look at snow coverage for June 2019 and June 2021 to get an idea of how this year’s June snow coverage might look. If things stay drier, starting around mid-June seems like a safe enough bet. But if those values from the snotel sensors start ticking up above 95-105%, you’ll probably be happier starting around 6/20-6/25.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CDT/s/SR1uzfCdhZ


On spam. I’ve deleted thousands of spam posts. Luckily the filters have caught them all.

Over 85% of the spam gets posted to “Into Big Bear” :: “Cuben Fiber Tent” and one of my gear posts. I’m not sure what makes those posts so attractive to spam bots.

So…September 11 … south of Rawlins.

We were rained on last night which heralded a change in the weather.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/MeAYQJpfiSjpHR2M/?

Then my three liter platypus burst (user error) and the caches were dry and the only water we found (finally on day two of our hike) was “water of desperation” — full of algae and smelling terrible.

Happy6’s update

As we got that slime filled water we were still twenty miles to a maintained cache and Happy6 was really over the “embrace the suck” or “embrace the brutality” part of the trail.

Not to mention the weather shift suddenly meant instead of a low of fifty degrees tonight it would be a low of twenty?!?

So I was willing to agree to Happy6 hitching. Which put us in the back of a pickup truck on the way to Rawlins. Then we got dropped off exactly where we walked north earlier this year.

Fenced off. City reservoir. .

Then back to the truck stop for breakfast.

Kind of neat how getting back we retraced the route we walked going north months ago.

Salt Lake tonight then grab luggage and decide where to go. We will get back to Heather’s eventually but not rushing it.

And we got to see Noodles at the Truck Stop. We met him in 2019 on the AT and saw him again when visiting Lady Di. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100066679583080&mibextid=LQQJ4d

More on Noodle

He is back from Antarctica and he and his girlfriend plan to return to Antarctica.

Great guy.

The CDT Survey

https://www.halfwayanywhere.com/trails/continental-divide-trail/2024-cdt-hiker-survey-open/

I was looking at the survey, friends finishing the CDT, TBD finishes, and thinking about getting another section in before November 1.

First, we weren’t sure if we would thru-hike or lash. The real problem is hiking exhaustion. Skeeter, Skip and others we hiked with all kind of ran out of “embrace the brutality” while Swiss Cake has bounced back and forth and Free Will and Packrunner finished.

We were happy with our start date, though the snow and the flipping took energy.

We usually started just before sunrise and stopped in the late afternoon. Unlike the PCT we never did night hike.

I am happy with our resupply strategy. The one real change is that granola took too long to eat.

We got lucky with mosquitoes and water crossings. Elevation gave us some problems.

Rain and hail not so much of a problem. Wind was a problem once or twice (looking at you, passes in Glacier). Mice were not a problem.

We got lucky with cold and heat.

Smoke and fires were problems we got lucky with avoiding (but would have been huge a couple times).

We never ended up with a trail family though we overlapped some people.

Used a Durston Kakwa 55 pack, (“kawa” in the survey) which I was very happy with. We used a non-freestanding tent (Zpacks Off-set Treo) that we were happy with. The zippers did need repaired.

Our Feathered Friends bags have worked out well as did our Thermarest pads. Always used the pump sacks.

We both used puffies for warmth in the evening and we’ve been happy with them. The Visp rain jacket I used wasn’t in the survey (it was out of stock a few years) but I was happy with it.

Our alphadirect Senchi brand fleeces were great. An improvement over prior fleeces.

We both ended up in Topo shoes. I’ve used Costco house brand hiking socks. I liked that they were more cushioned than what Happy uses. I’m transitioning to the REI socks which are more padded than Darn Toughs (which I have in my gear collection at home). They also have less compression.

We used our GasOne canister stove all of this year. Our stove that finally wore out is in the gear box along with a Jetboil and an MSR Windburner.

We never cooked breakfast or lunch.

Never cold soaked. Usually filtered or treated our water.

I started with Black Diamond carbon cork poles, which broke (I fell on them) and currently hike with Costco carbon cork poles I bought on a lark for $27.98 but started using when my poles broke. Happy bought a new pair of the same brand poles —Foxlli Carbon—she started with “just because”. She is happy with them.

Our Black Diamond ice axes were fine to carry but never used. The same for our micro spikes. The Garmin InReach MiniII worked well enough I also have one now.

The umbrella ended up in a hiker box this time. Never got used. No watches or fitness trackers (a big change from the Appalachian Trail).

Of his options list:

  • Base layer top and bottom
  • Trowel
  • Gaiters
  • Buff
  • Pain pants
  • Wind Shirts (not the heavier jackets
  • Battery pack
  • “Crocs”
  • Kindle on phone
  • Shorts and pants (the pants got worn on trail, shorts on town/laundry).
  • Microfiber washcloth (instead of a towel).

We ended up using a number of apps. On other trails we never did. On the CDT we had the Ley Maps and other services as well.

We saw a lot of animals. Built no fires. Surprisingly we both flossed a fair amount and we both brushed our teeth.

Anyway. My reflections on the survey.


Hiker advice from the survey.

My thoughts (with some quotes):

  • Training enough to be able to twenty mile days to start is about right.
  • Take enough zeros.

It’s a National Scenic Trail, and you may have certain expectations regarding trail quality. You should lower those expectations. No, lower them a bit more. Lower still. Yup, that’s about right.

  • Be willing to flip or alter your route for snow and fire.

Take the Big Sky Cutoff. Hiking Idaho is not worth it, spend more time in the Yellowstone backcountry. The Big Sky Cutoff still gives a few miles of Idaho hiking just to say you hiked it.

  • Expect a lot of burned areas is advice you will hear. It is accurate.
  • The weather has a large window of variability.
  • The Colorado Trail is one of two places with a number of hikers (the other is Glacier). The CDT has only about 300 hikers a year.
  • Trail families are much less common. Instead you often find 2-3 people hiking in the same cluster where they overlap each other.
  • There seemed to be a higher percentage of female hikers and couples than other trails on the CDT.
  • We got lucky with our water crossings.