Big takeaways:
- Durston Products are now big on the CDT. That follows as the CDT hikers tend to come from other trails, so trends on the CDT seem to lag a year a so behind other trails.
- Some alternative routes remain much more popular than the “main” route (like the Gila “Gila River Alternate: 90.1%” — for all intents and purposes, it is the main trail now. I know in 2024 it got maintenance while the Red Line was left with blowdowns and in a mess. “Ghost Ranch Alternate: 71.4%” — with the fire closure I’m surprised it wasn’t higher.
- “52.2% – Pacific Crest Trail” had hiked the PCT. Only 47.4 % had hiked the Appalachian Trail.
- 21% never camped alone on the CDT. Another 19% was alone 10% of the time or less. Happy6 & I were alone a little more than that (though we had each other), but not much. Without the Great Basin Divide section we would have been alone less.
- Idaho/Southern Montana was the least favorite part of the trail. Not surprisingly, it is also the part cut off by the Big Sky Alternative route.
- Biggest changes people would have made are training more and getting lighter equipment pre-hike and “More pictures of people (61.2%)” while hiking.
- 20% did not see antelope. How they failed to see a “fluffy but” is beyond me. They are like rabbits, especially in the Great Basin Divide area.
More to come in the future.